Bible (Bishops')/Joel

Chapter 1
The worde of the Lorde that came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel.

Heare ye this you elders, & hearken with your eares all you that dwel in this lande: was there euer such a thyng in your dayes, or in the dayes of your fathers?

Of this thyng tell your children, and let your children [shewe it] to their children, and their children to [their] posteritie afterwarde.

That which the caterpiller hath left the grashopper hath eaten, and what the grashopper left hath the canker worme eaten, and what the canker worme left the locust hath deuoured.

Awake ye drunkardes, & weepe, howle all ye wine bibbers for lacke of newe wine: for it is cleane taken away from your mouth.

For a nation is come vp vpon my lande, mightie and without number: his teeth are as the teeth of a lion, and he hath the iawes of a great lion.

He hath destroyed my vine, & barked my figge tree, he hath pilled it and cast it from him, and hath left bowes therof whyte.

Lament as a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the husbande of her youth.

The meate offeryng and drinke offeryng is cut of from the house of the Lorde, the priestes [I meane] the Lordes ministers mourne.

The fielde is wasted, the lande mourneth: for corne is destroyed, the newe wine is dryed vp, the oyle is vtterly taken away.

Be ye ashamed O ye husbandemen, howle O ye wine dressers for ye wheate and for the barly: for the haruest of the fielde is perished.

The wine is dryed vp, and the figge tree is decayed, the pomgranate tree, and the paulme, & the apple tree, [euen] all the trees of the fielde are withered vp: for ioy is withered away from the sonnes of men.

Girde your selues and lament O ye priestes, howle ye out ye ministers of the aulter, come and lye all night in sackcloth ye seruauntes of my God: for the meate and drynke offerynges are taken away from the house of your God.

Proclayme a fast, call a congregation, gather the elders together, [with] all the inhabitauntes of the lande vnto the house of the Lorde your God, and crye vnto the Lorde,

Alas for this day, for the day of the Lorde is at hande, euen as a destruction from the almightie shall it come.

Is not the meate cut of before our eyes, [yea] mirth and ioy from the house of our God?

The seede is rotte vnder their cloddes, the garners are destroyed, the barnes are ouerthrowen: for the corne is withered.

O howe cattell mourne? the heardes of beastes are in wofull case for lacke of pasture, and the flockes of sheepe are destroyed?

Unto thee O Lorde wyll I crye, for feare hath destroyed the fruitfull places of the desert, and the flambe hath burnt vp all the trees of the fielde.

The beastes also of the fielde crye out vnto thee: for the riuers of waters are dryed vp, and fire hath deuoured vp the fruitfull places of the desert.

Chapter 2
Blowe vp a trumpet in Sion, and showte in my holy hyll, let all the inhabitauntes of the earth tremble: for the day of the Lorde is come, for it is nye at hande.

A darke and glomie day, a cloudie and blacke day: as the mornyng is spread ouer the mountaynes [so is this] populus & strong people, like it there was none from the beginning, nor shalbe herafter for euermore.

Before him is a deuouryng fire, and behynde him a burnyng flambe: the lande is as a pleasaunt garden before him, and behinde him a waste desert, yea and nothyng shall escape him.

The shewe of him is as the shewe of horses, and like horsemen, so shall they runne.

Lyke the noyse of charrettes vpon the toppes of the mountaynes they shall skip, like the noyse of a flamyng fire deuouryng the stubble, [and] as a strong people prepared to battayle.

Before his face shall the people tremble, the countenaunce of all folkes shall waxe [blacke] as a pot.

They shall runne like strong men, and climbe the walles like men of warre: & euery one shall march on in his way, and they shal not linger in their pathes.

No man shall thrust another, but euery one shall walke in his path: and if they shall fall on the sworde, they shall not be wounded.

They shall runne to and fro in the citie, they shall runne vp & downe vpon the wall, they shall climbe into the houses, they shall enter in at the windowes like a theefe.

The earth shall quake before him, the heauens shall tremble, the sunne and the moone shalbe darke, and the starres shall withdrawe their shinyng.

And the Lorde shall geue his voyce before his hoast, for his campe is exceeding great, for he is mightie that executeth his commaundement: for the day of the Lorde is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?

But nowe saith ye Lord, turne you vnto me with all your heartes, with fasting, with weepyng, and with mournyng.

And rent your heartes and not your garmentes, & turne you vnto the Lorde your God, for he is gratious & mercifull, slowe to anger, and of great goodnesse, and he wyll repent him of the euyll.

Who knoweth whether the Lorde wyll returne and take compassion, and wyll leaue behinde him a blessing, [euen] meate offeryng and drynke offeryng vnto the Lorde your God?

Blowe vp a trumpet in Sion, proclayme a fast, call an assemblye, sanctifie the congregation.

Gather the people, gather the elders, assemble the children & suckyng babes: let the bridegrome come foorth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

Let the priestes the Lordes ministers weepe betwixt the porche & the aulter, and let them say, Spare thy people O Lord, and geue not ouer thine heritage to reproche, that the heathen shoulde rule ouer them: Wherfore shoulde they say amongst the heathen, Where is their God?

And [then] the Lorde wyll be ielous ouer his lande, & wyll spare his people.

Yea the Lorde wyll aunswere, and say to his people, Beholde I wyll sende you corne, and wine, and oyle, and wyll satisfie you therwith, and wyll not geue you ouer any more to be a reproche among the heathen.

And I wyll remoue farre of from you the northen [armie] and I wyll driue him into a lande barren and desolate, with his face towardes the east sea, and his hinder partes towardes the vttermost sea: and his stinch shall arise, and his corruption shall ascende, because he hath exalted him selfe to do this.

Feare not O thou lande, be glad and reioyce: for the Lorde wyll do great thinges.

Be not afrayde ye beastes of the fielde, for the fruitfull places of the desert are greene: for the tree beares her fruite, the figge tree and the vine yeelde their strength.

Be glad then ye children of Sion, and reioyce in the Lorde your God: for he hath geuen you moderate rayne, & he wyll sende downe for you the rayne, [euen] the first rayne & the latter rayne, in the first [moneth.]

And the barnes shalbe fylled with corne, and the presses shall ouerflowe with wine and oyle.

And I wyll restore to you the yeres which the grashopper, the canker worme, the locust, and the caterpiller haue deuoured, my great armie which I sent amongst you.

And you shall eate in plentie and be satisfied, and shall prayse the name of the Lorde your God which hath dealt wonderously with you, and my people shall not be ashamed any more.

And you shall knowe that I am in the middle of Israel, and [that] I am the Lorde your God, and none but I: and my people shall neuer be ashamed.

And it shall come to passe after this: I wyll powre out my spirite vpon all fleshe, and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecie, your olde men shall dreame dreames, your young men shall see visions.

Also in those dayes vpon the seruauntes and vpon the handmaydens wyll I powre out my spirite.

And I will shewe wonders in heauen and in earth, blood, and fire, and pillers of smoke.

The sunne shalbe turned into darknesse, and the moone into blood, before that great and terrible day of the Lord come.

But whosoeuer shall call on the name of the Lord, shalbe saued: for there shalbe deliueraunce in mount Sion and in Hierusalem, as the Lord hath promised, and [also] in the remnaunt whom the Lorde shall call.

Chapter 3
For beholde, in those dayes and in that time when I shall bryng agayne the captiuitie of Iuda & Hierusalem,

I wyll also gather all the gentiles, and cause them to come into the valley of Iehosaphat, and I will pleade with them there for my people and heritage Israel, which they haue scattered amongst the nations, and haue parted my lande.

And thei haue cast lottes for my people, and chaunged the boy for an harlot, and solde the gyrle for wine, that they might drynke.

And what haue you to do with me O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coastes of Palestine? wyll ye render me recompence? and if you recompence me, I shal swiftly [and] speedyly returne your recompence vpon your owne heades.

For ye haue taken my siluer and my golde, my pleasaunt & pretious thinges, & haue caryed them into your temples.

You haue solde also the children of Iuda and the children of Hierusalem to the Gretians, that you might send them farre from their owne countrey.

Beholde, I will rayse them out of that place whither you haue solde them, and wyll returne your recompence vpon your owne heades.

And I wyll sell your sonnes and your daughters into the handes of the children of Iuda, and they shall sell them vnto the Sabeans, to a nation that dwelleth farre of: for the Lorde hath spoken it.

Publishe this thyng among the gentiles, proclayme warre, wake vp the mightie men, let all the men of warre drawe neare and come vp.

Breake your plowe shares into swordes, and your sithes into speares, let the weake say, I am strong.

Assemble your selues and come all you heathen, and gather your selues together rounde about, there shall the Lord cast downe thy mightie men.

Let the heathen arise and come vp to the valley of Iehosaphat: for there will I sit to iudge all nations rounde about.

Put in your sithes, for ye haruest is ripe: come ye [and] descende, for the wine presse is full, [yea] the presses ouerflowe: for their wickednesse is multiplied.

O people, people [come] into the valley of finall iudgement: for the day of the Lorde is at hande in the valley of finall iudgement.

The sunne and the moone shalbe darkned, and the starres shall withdrawe their light.

The Lord also shall rose out of Sion, and out of Hierusalem shall he geue his voyce, the heauens and the earth shall shake: but the Lorde wyll be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

So shall you knowe that I am the Lorde your God dwellyng in Sion my holy mountayne: then shall Hierusalem be holy, and there shall no straungers passe through here any more.

And in that day shall the mountaynes drop downe sweete wine, and the hylles shall flowe with mylke, & all the riuers of Iuda shall runne with water, and a fountayne shall come out of the house of the Lorde, and shall water the valley of Sittim.

Egypt shalbe waste, and Edom shalbe a desolate wildernesse: for the iniuries [done] to the children of Iuda: because they haue shed innocent blood in their lande.

But Iuda shal dwel for euermore, and Hierusalem from generation to generation.

I wil also clense the blood of them [that] I haue not clensed, and the Lord dwelleth in Sion.