The word of the Lord, that came to Joel, the son of Phatuel.

Verbum Domini, quod factum est ad Joël, filium Phatuel.

This message came from the Lord to Joel, the son of Phatuel.

Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land: did this ever happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Audite hoc, senes, et auribus percipite, omnes habitatores terræ: si factum est istud in diebus vestris, aut in diebus patrum vestrorum?

Citizens, hear and heed, ruler and commoner alike! Tell me, what happenings are these, in your days and in your fathers’ days unmatched,

Tell ye of this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

Super hoc filiis vestris narrate, et filii vestri filiis suis, et filii eorum generationi alteræ.

a tale you must needs hand on to your children, and they to theirs, and theirs to a fresh generation yet?

That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed.

Residuum erucæ comedit locusta, et residuum locustæ comedit bruchus, et residuum bruchi comedit rubigo.

That locusts, breed upon breed of them, so ravage yonder country-side, Swarmer devouring what Spoiler, Ruin-all what Gnaw-all has left?

Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.

Expergiscimini, ebrii, et flete et ululate, omnes qui bibitis vinum in dulcedine, quoniam periit ab ore vestro.

Weep they and wail, the tipplers that must be ever at their cups, for the sweet wine they drank, and shall drink no more!

For a nation come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion’s whelp.

Gens enim ascendit super terram meam, fortis et innumerabilis: dentes ejus ut dentes leonis, et molares ejus ut catuli leonis.

Alas, my country, how valiant an enemy is this, in number past all counting, that comes to invade thee; lion nor lion’s whelp has teeth can grind so pitilessly.

He hath laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Posuit vineam meam in desertum, et ficum meam decorticavit; nudans spoliavit eam, et projecit: albi facti sunt rami ejus.

Spoiled thy vineyards lie, stripped of the very bark thy fig-trees; bare and blanched and ruinous every bough.

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Plange quasi virgo accincta sacco super virum pubertatis suæ.

Weep bitterly, then, as maid that goes clad in sackcloth, untimely widowed;

Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of the Lord: the priests, the Lord’s ministers, have mourned:

Periit sacrificium et libatio de domo Domini; luxerunt sacerdotes, ministri Domini.

in the Lord’s house, bread nor wine is offered now; for the priests, the Lord’s own ministers, no office now but tears.

The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourned: for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil hath languished.

Depopulata est regio, luxit humus, quoniam devastatum est triticum, confusum est vinum, elanguit oleum.

Desolate the land lies, every field forlorn; crops ravaged, the vine thirsty, strengthless the oil.

The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.

Confusi sunt agricolæ, ululaverunt vinitores super frumento et hordeo, quia periit messis agri.

Alas, for husbandman’s labour lost, for vintage-song turned to lament! Alas for harvest perished,

The vineyard is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished: the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withdrawn from the children of men.

Vinea confusa est, et ficus elanguit; malogranatum, et palma, et malum, et omnia ligna agri aruerunt, quia confusum est gaudium a filiis hominum.

for vineyard withered, and drooping fig-tree! Pomegranate, and palm, and apple, no tree in the wood but fades there; what wonder? Has not joy faded in human hearts?

Gird yourselves, and lament, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God.

Accingite vos, et plangite, sacerdotes: ululate, ministri altaris; ingredimini, cubate in sacco, ministri Dei mei, quoniam interiit de domo Dei vestri sacrificium et libatio.

Mourn, priests, and lament; in mourners’ garb go about your work at the altar; ministers of God, to his presence betake you, and there, in sackcloth, keep vigil; your God’s house, that offering of bread and wine has none!

Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly; gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord:

Sanctificate jejunium, vocate cœtum, congregate senes, omnes habitatores terræ in domum Dei vestri, et clamate ad Dominum:

Then proclaim a fast, assemble the folk together, ruler and commoner alike summon to the temple, and there for the Lord’s help cry lustily.

Ah, ah, ah, for the day: because the day of the Lord is at hand, and it shall come like destruction from the mighty.

A, a, a, diei! quia prope est dies Domini, et quasi vastitas a potente veniet.

Woe betide us this day! The day of the Lord is coming; his the dominion, his the doom.

Is not your food cut off before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Numquid non coram oculis vestris alimenta perierunt de domo Dei nostri, lætitia et exsultatio?

Here in our sight, here in the temple of our God, the festal cheer abolished, all the contentment, all the rejoicing!

The beasts have rotted in their dung, the barns are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the corn is confounded.

Computruerunt jumenta in stercore suo, demolita sunt horrea, dissipatæ sunt apothecæ, quoniam confusum est triticum.

Beast on dung-heap rots; barn-wall gapes, and store-house lies in ruin, the hope of harvest gone;

Why did the beasts groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished.

Quid ingemuit animal, mugierunt greges armenti? quia non est pascua eis; sed et greges pecorum disperierunt.

echoes byre with lowing of bewildered cattle, that pasture have none; even the flocks dwindle.

To thee, O Lord, will I cry: because fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness: and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the country.

Ad te, Domine, clamabo, quia ignis comedit speciosa deserti, et flamma succendit omnia ligna regionis.

What help, Lord, but thine? Parched are the upland meadows, every tree scorched in the forest;

Yea, and the beasts of the field have looked up to thee, as a garden bed that thirsteth after rain, for the springs of waters are dried up, and fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness.

Sed et bestiæ agri, quasi area sitiens imbrem, suspexerunt ad te, quoniam exsiccati sunt fontes aquarum, et ignis devoravit speciosa deserti.

to thee even the wild beasts make their dumb appeal, from dry river-beds, from upland pastures laid bare.