Joel 1

1 The word of theLordthat came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell ye your children of it, andletyour childrentelltheir children, and their children another generation.

4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw teeth of a great lion.

7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

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

9 The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of theLord; the priests, theLord’S ministers, mourn.

10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

11 Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen, howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished.

12 The vine is withered, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: for joy is withered away from the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselveswith sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old menandall the inhabitants of the land unto the house of theLordyour God, and cry unto theLord.

15 Alas for the day! for the day of theLordis at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come,

16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes,yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17 The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

19 OLord, to thee do I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

20 Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee: for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Joel 2

1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of theLordcometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2 a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and none hath escaped them.

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.

5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6 At their presence the peoples are in anguish: all faces are waxed pale.

7 They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.

8 Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path: and they burst through the weapons, and break not offtheir course.

9 They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.

10 The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble: the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining:

11 And theLorduttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of theLordis great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

12 Yet even now, saith theLord, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto theLordyour God, for he is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, and repenteth him of the evil.

14 Who knoweth whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering unto theLordyour God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17 Let the priests, the ministers of theLord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, OLord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

18 Then was theLordjealous for his land, and had pity on his people.

19 And theLordanswered and said unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations:

20 but I will remove far off from you the northernarmy, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, his forepart into the eastern sea, and his hinder part into the western sea; and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21 Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for theLordhath done great things.

22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in theLordyour God: for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the firstmonth.

24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of theLordyour God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am theLordyour God, and there is none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of theLordcome.

32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of theLordshall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as theLordhath said, and among the remnant those whom theLorddoth call.

Joel 3

1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land,

3 and they have cast lots for my people: and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

4 Yea, and what are ye to me,OTyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head.

5 Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things;

6 the children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border:

7 behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head;

8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for theLordhath spoken it.

9 Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war: stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

11 Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, OLord.

12 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.

13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of theLordis near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

16 And theLordshall roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake, but theLordwill be a refuge unto his people, and a strong hold to the children of Israel.

17 So shall ye know that I am theLordyour God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth of the house of theLord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 And I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for theLorddwelleth in Zion.

Hosea 1

1 The word of theLordthat came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 When theLordspake at the first by Hosea, theLordsaid unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom: for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from theLord.

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son.

4 And theLordsaid unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.

5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. AndtheLordsaid unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that I should in any wise pardon them.

7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by theLordtheir God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

9 AndtheLordsaid, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be yourGod.

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that, in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them,Ye arethe sons of the living God.

11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Hosea 2

1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

3 lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst;

4 Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they be children of whoredom,

5 for their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will make a fence against her, that she shall not find her paths.

7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

8 For she did not know that I gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

9 Therefore will I take back my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, unto which she burned incense; when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith theLord.

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall make answer there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

16 And it shall be at that day, saith theLord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

17 For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.

18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.

19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know theLord.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith theLord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;

22 and the earth shall answer the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall answer Jezreel.

23 And I wilt sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say,Thou artmy God.

Hosea 3

1 And theLordsaid unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved ofherfriend and an adulteress, even as theLordloveth the children of Israel, though they turn unto other gods, and love cakes of raisins.

2 So I bought her to me for fifteenpiecesof silver, and an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

3 and I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man’s wife: so will I also be toward thee.

4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim,

5 afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek theLordtheir God, and David their king; and shall come with fear unto theLordand to his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 4

1 Hear the word of theLord, ye children of Israel: for theLordhath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2 There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

4 Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

5 And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.

8 They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

9 And it shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and will reward them their doings.

10 And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to theLord.

11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding.

12 My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your brides commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for they themselves go apart with whores, and they sacrifice with the harlots: and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.

15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As theLordliveth.

16 For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will theLordfeed them as a lamb in a large place.

17 Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.

18 Their drink is become sour: they commit whoredom continually; her rulers dearly love shame.

19 The wind hath wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hosea 5

1 Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, ye house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king, for unto you pertain the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2 And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou hast committed whoredom, Israel is defiled.

4 Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not theLord.

5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them.

6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek theLord; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.

7 They have dealt treacherously against theLord; for they have borne strange children: now shall the new moon devour them with their fields.

8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin.

9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10 The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11 Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; because he was content to walk after the command.

12 Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judahsawhis wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound.

14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.

15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

Hosea 6

1 Come, and let us return unto theLord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2 After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.

3 And let us know, let us follow on to know theLord; his going forth is sure as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.

4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away.

5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments areasthe light that goeth forth.

6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

7 But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, it is stained with blood.

9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem; yea, they have committed lewdness.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen an horrible thing: there whoredom isfoundin Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

11 Also, O Judah, there is an harvest appointed for thee, when I bring again the captivity of my people.

Hosea 7

1 When I would heal Israel, then is the iniquity of Ephraim discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood: and the thief entereth in,andthe troop of robbers spoileth without.

2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face.

3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

4 They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stirthe fire, from the kneading of the dough until it be leavened.

5 On the day of our king the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

7 They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

8 Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knowethitnot: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knowethitnot.

10 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they have not returned unto theLordtheir God, nor sought him, for all this.

11 And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding: they call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria.

12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven: I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

13 Woe unto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto them! for they have trespassed against me: though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, they rebel against me.

15 Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

16 They return, but not tohim that ison high; they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.