1 This is the Lord's message to Joel son of Pethuel.
2 Pay attention, you older people;everyone in Judah, listen.Has anything like this ever happenedin your time or the time of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it;they will tell their children,who in turn will tell the next generation.
4 Swarm after swarm of locusts settled on the crops;what one swarm left, the next swarm devoured.
5 Wake up and weep, you drunkards;cry, you wine-drinkers;the grapes for making new wine have been destroyed.
6 An army of locusts has attacked our land;they are powerful and too many to count;their teeth are as sharp as those of a lion.
7 They have destroyed our grapevinesand chewed up our fig trees.They have stripped off the bark,till the branches are white.