Joel 1

The Locust Plague Announced

¹The LORD’s word that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

²Hear this, you elders, and listen, all you inhabitants of the land! Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

³Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.

⁴What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.

Lament Over the Devastated Land

⁵Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.

⁶For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.

⁷He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.

⁸Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!

⁹The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from the LORD’s house. The priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.

¹⁰The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.

¹¹Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished.

¹²The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered— the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men.

Call to Mourning and Prayer

¹³Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.

¹⁴Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD.

¹⁵Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

¹⁶Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

¹⁷The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.

¹⁸How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

¹⁹LORD, I cry to you, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

²⁰Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Previous Hosea 14

Next Joel 2

Joel opens with a devastating locust plague that serves as both literal catastrophe and prophetic symbol of divine judgment. The prophet calls all inhabitants of Judah—from elders to farmers to priests—to witness this unprecedented destruction that has consumed crops, halted temple offerings, and brought the land to mourning. This ecological disaster becomes the catalyst for Joel's urgent call to national repentance, as he warns that this plague foreshadows the approaching 'day of the LORD.'

Context

This opening chapter establishes the historical crisis that prompts Joel's entire prophetic message about judgment, repentance, and restoration that unfolds in chapters 2-3.

Key Themes

Outline

1-4
The Unprecedented Locust Invasion Joel announces an unparalleled locust plague that demands generational remembrance due to its complete devastation.
5-7
The Invading Army Described The locusts are portrayed as a fierce nation with lion-like teeth that has stripped the land bare.
8-12
Universal Mourning Over Agricultural Ruin All segments of society—from young women to farmers—are called to lament the destruction of crops and fruit trees.
13-14
Priestly Call to Fasting and Assembly The priests are commanded to lead the nation in sackcloth, fasting, and solemn gathering before the LORD.
15-20
The Day of the LORD Approaches Joel connects the current crisis to the coming day of divine judgment, ending with his own cry to the LORD amid the desolation.

The Locust Plague Announced

1:1–1:4

prophecy narration solemn

The prophet Joel receives God's word and announces an unprecedented locust plague that will devastate the land in successive waves. He calls the elders and inhabitants to hear this message and pass it down through generations as a testimony of divine judgment.

person_contrast

Joel's prophetic commission breaks from his typical portrayal as a leader figure, uniquely positioning him as a divine messenger announcing catastrophic judgment through nature's devastation.

Lament Over the Devastated Land

1:5–1:12

prophecy exhortation mournful

Joel describes the complete devastation caused by the locust invasion, comparing it to a fierce army that destroys crops, vineyards, and all vegetation. The destruction is so severe that temple offerings cease and all joy is removed from the people.

theme_rarity

Joel uniquely links the cessation of grain and drink offerings with communal mourning, making this the only biblical passage where liturgical interruption and collective grief explicitly converge.

Call to Mourning and Prayer

1:13–1:20

prophecy exhortation urgent

Joel calls priests and people to mourning, fasting, and prayer in response to the devastation, warning that the Day of the Lord is at hand. He leads by example in crying out to God as fire and drought compound the agricultural disaster.

theme_rarity

Joel uniquely combines ritual fasting with eschatological urgency, making this the only biblical passage where communal fasting directly prepares for the approaching Day of the Lord.

Insight Character Study

Joel's prophetic commission breaks from his typical portrayal as a leader figure, uniquely positioning him as a divine messenger announcing catastrophic judgment through nature's devastation.

Insight Rare Theme

Joel uniquely links the cessation of grain and drink offerings with communal mourning, making this the only biblical passage where liturgical interruption and collective grief explicitly converge.

Insight Rare Theme

Joel uniquely combines ritual fasting with eschatological urgency, making this the only biblical passage where communal fasting directly prepares for the approaching Day of the Lord.