דְּבַר־ה' אֲשֶׁר הָיָה אֶל־יוֹאֵל בֶּן־פְּתוּאֵל

The word of the Lord that was with Joel son of Petuel.

שִׁמְעוּ־זֹאת הַזְּקֵנִים! וְהַאֲזִינוּ כֹּל יוֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ הֶהָיְתָה זֹּאת בִּימֵיכֶם וְאִם בִּימֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם

Hear this, elders, and listen, all inhabitants of the land. Was this in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Have such grave misfortunes, like those which I am about to describe, ever been witnessed in history?

עָלֶיהָ לִבְנֵיכֶם סַפֵּרוּ וּבְנֵיכֶם לִבְנֵיהֶם וּבְנֵיהֶם לְדוֹר אַחֵר

Because of the powerful impression it will leave behind, you will speak about these events and pass down the account from one generation to the next: Tell your children about it, and your children will tell it to their children, and their children to another generation.

יֶתֶר הַגָּזָם אָכַל הָאַרְבֶּה וְיֶתֶר הָאַרְבֶּה אָכַל הַיָּלֶק וְיֶתֶר הַיֶּלֶק אָכַל הֶחָסִיל

A tremendous swarm of locusts will descend upon the land and consume all its crops: The remnant from the caterpillar [gazam], the desert locust[arbeh] ate; and the remnant from the desert locust, the migratory locust [yelek] ate; the remnant from the migratory locust, the Moroccan locust [h·] ate. The gazam, arbeh, yelek, and ḥasil are various species of locusts that together will destroy all that grows from the ground. Alternatively, these are not distinct species of locusts but different stages in the life of a single type of locust. In any case, the verse means that the swarm of locusts will remain in the land for a substantial period of time.

הָקִיצוּ שִׁכּוֹרִים! וּבְכוּ וְהֵילִילוּ כָּל־שֹׁתֵי יָיִן עַל־עָסִיס כִּי נִכְרַת מִפִּיכֶם

Awaken from your inebriation, drunkards, and weep; wail over the nectar, all drinkers of wine, for it is eliminated from your mouths. All the wine is spent. Even drunkards, who are not fully lucid, will be unable to ignore the immense damage caused by the locusts.

כִּי־גוֹי עָלָה עַל־אַרְצִי עָצוּם וְאֵין מִסְפָּר שִׁנָּיו שִׁנֵּי אַרְיֵה וּמְתַלְּעוֹת לָבִיא לוֹ

For a people has come up upon my land, mighty and without number. The prophet compares the colossal swarm of locusts to an enormous military offensive. Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the canines, or molars, of a young lion.

שָׂם גַּפְנִי לְשַׁמָּה וּתְאֵנָתִי לִקְצָפָה חָשֹׂף חֲשָׂפָהּ וְהִשְׁלִיךְ הִלְבִּינוּ שָׂרִיגֶיהָ

Locusts eat not only soft crops; they have the extraordinary ability to devour almost anything: They have rendered my vine a desolation and my fig tree an outrage; they have stripped it bare and cast it away. Rather than consuming the trees themselves, locusts gnaw at the bark until the wood of the vines and fig trees is exposed, and as a result its branches have turned white. Alternatively, the verse means that the trees will become so dry that they will turn white.

אֱלִי כִּבְתוּלָה חֲגֻרַת־שַׂק עַל־בַּעַל נְעוּרֶיהָ

The tragedy will be so terrible that Israel will have no recourse but to wail. Lament like a young woman girded with sackcloth who mourns for the husband of her youth.

הָכְרַת מִנְחָה וָנֶסֶךְ מִבֵּית ה' אָבְלוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים מְשָׁרְתֵי ה'

Meal offerings and libations, which are produced from vegetation, have been eliminated from the House of the Lord; the priests, servants of the Lord, mourn. In general, people would bring to the Temple storehouses anything they could afford. Due to the plague of locusts, the Temple’s reserves will be entirely depleted, as available crops will become so scarce that people will stop bringing meal offerings and libations.

שֻׁדַּד שָׂדֶה אָבְלָה אֲדָמָה כִּי שֻׁדַּד דָּגָן הוֹבִישׁ תִּירוֹשׁ אֻמְלַל יִצְהָר

Rather than attacking the soil, locusts settle upon the crops in the field. Consequently, after such an enormous swarm of locusts ravages all the vegetation, the field itself is plundered, the land forlorn; as the grain was plundered, the new wine dried up, the oil ill-fated.

הֹבִישׁוּ אִכָּרִים! הֵילִילוּ כֹּרְמִים עַל־חִטָּה וְעַל־שְׂעֹרָה כִּי אָבַד קְצִיר שָׂדֶה

Farmers, be dismayed, vintners, wail, over wheat and over barley that have died out; because the harvest of the field is lost.

הַגֶּפֶן הוֹבִישָׁה וְהַתְּאֵנָה אֻמְלָלָה רִמּוֹן גַּם־תָּמָר וְתַפּוּחַ כָּל־עֲצֵי הַשָּׂדֶה יָבֵשׁוּ כִּי־הֹבִישׁ שָׂשׂוֹן מִן־בְּנֵי אָדָם

The vine has become dry and withered and the fig tree is ill-fated; the pomegranate tree, as well as the date palm and apple tree, all the fruit-bearing trees of the field have withered, because gladness has withered from the children of man.

חִגְרוּ וְסִפְדוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים! הֵילִילוּ מְשָׁרְתֵי מִזְבֵּחַ! בֹּאוּ לִינוּ בַשַּׂקִּים מְשָׁרְתֵי אֱלֹהָי כִּי נִמְנַע מִבֵּית אֱלֹהֵיכֶם מִנְחָה וָנָסֶךְ

Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, priests; wail, servants of the altar; come, sleep in sackcloth, servants of my God, for meal offerings and libations are withheld from the House of your God.

קַדְּשׁוּ צוֹם קִרְאוּ עֲצָרָה אִסְפוּ זְקֵנִים כֹּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ בֵּית ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְזַעֲקוּ אֶל־ה'

Set, establish, a fast, convene an assembly of the people, gather elders, all the inhabitants of the land to the House of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord over the impending calamity. A fast day is observed not merely by refraining from food and drink; it is also a day on which the community gathers together to hear speeches of admonishment, and it is also a day for crying out.

אֲהָהּ לַיּוֹם כִּי קָרוֹב יוֹם ה' וּכְשֹׁד מִשַּׁדַּי יָבוֹא

Alas for the day on which the locusts will arrive! As the day of the Lord is apparently near, when God will carry out His judgment and punish the people with a plague of locusts. Alternatively, here the phrase “day of the Lord” refers to the Day of Judgment at the End of Days. The impending plague of locusts renders us fearful of the even more terrible ultimate judgment before God. And as rapine will arrive from the Almighty.

הֲלוֹא נֶגֶד עֵינֵינוּ אֹכֶל נִכְרָת מִבֵּית אֱלֹהֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה וָגִיל

Is it not food eliminated before our eyes, have not joy and exultation ceased even from the House of our God?

עָבְשׁוּ פְרֻדוֹת תַּחַת מֶגְרְפֹתֵיהֶם נָשַׁמּוּ אֹצָרוֹת נֶהֶרְסוּ מַמְּגֻרוֹת כִּי הֹבִישׁ דָּגָן

The seeds grew moldy and rotted, even the ones buried under their mounds of earth; storehouses became desolate, silos for storing crops were destroyed, because the grain withered.

מַה נֶּאֶנְחָה בְהֵמָה נָבֹכוּ עֶדְרֵי בָקָר כִּי אֵין מִרְעֶה לָהֶם גַּם־עֶדְרֵי הַצֹּאן נֶאְשָׁמוּ

How fiercely the animals groan, herds of cattle are confused, because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep, which are more mobile than cattle, are damaged and made desolate. The locusts will obliterate the pastures for herd and cattle.

אֵלֶיךָ ה' אֶקְרָא כִּי אֵשׁ אָכְלָה נְאוֹת מִדְבָּר וְלֶהָבָה לִהֲטָה כָּל־עֲצֵי הַשָּׂדֶה

I call to You, Lord, for this is not a blow that affects a limited area alone, but a fire that has consumed the oases of the wilderness, and a flame that has seared all the trees of the field. The locusts’ voracious appetites and tremendous expansion are like an unstoppable fire.

גַּם־בַּהֲמוֹת שָׂדֶה תַּעֲרוֹג אֵלֶיךָ כִּי יָבְשׁוּ אֲפִיקֵי מָיִם וְאֵשׁ אָכְלָה נְאוֹת הַמִּדְבָּר

The animals of the field bellow to You, for the water courses have dried up, and fire has consumed the oases of the wilderness. Apparently the Land of Israel also suffered from a severe drought at that time.