The Invasion of Locusts

1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, O elders;

and give ear, all who dwell in the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your days

or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell it to your children;

let your children tell it to their children,

and their children to the next generation.

4 What the devouring locust has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locust has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locust has eaten.[fn]

5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;

wail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of the sweet wine,

for it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded My land,

powerful and without number;

its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has laid waste My grapevine

and splintered My fig tree.

It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away;

the branches have turned white.