The Invasion of Locusts 1This is the worde of the LORDE, that came vnto Ioel the sonne of Phatuel: 2Heare o ye elders: podre this wel, all ye that dwell in the lode: yf euer there happened soch a thinge in youre dayes, or in ye dayes of youre fathers. 3Tell youre children of it, & let them shewe it vnto their children, & so they to certifie their posterite therof. 4Loke what the caterpiller hath lefte, yt hath the greshopper eaten vp: what the greshopper lefte, that hath the locuste eaten vp: & what the locuste hath lefte, that hath the blastinge consumed. 5Wake vp ye dronckardes, & wepe: mourne all ye wyne suppers, because of youre swete wyne, for it shal be taken awaye from youre mouth. 6Yee a mightie & an innumerable people shall come vp in to my londe: these haue teth like the teth of lyons, & chaftbones like the lyonesses. 7They shal make my vinyarde waist, they shal pyll of the barckes of my fygetrees, strype them bare, cast them awaye, and make the braunches whyte. A Call to Mourning 8Make yi mone as a virgin doth, yt gyrdeth her selfe with sacke, because of hir bryde grome. 9For the meate & drynkofferynge shalbe taken awaye from the house of the LORDE: & the prestes ye LORDES ministers shal mourne. 10The felde shalbe waisted, the londe shalbe in a miserable case: for the corne shalbe destroyed, the swete wyne shal come to confucion, & the oyle vtterly desolate. 11The husbodemen & the wyne gardeners shal loke piteously & make lamentacion, for the wheate wyne & barley, & because the haruest vpon the felde is so clene destroyed. 12The grape gatherers shal make greate mone, when the vynyarde & fygetrees be so vtterly waisted. Yee all the pomgarnettes, palmtrees, apletrees, & the other trees of the felde shall wyther awaye. Thus the mery cheare of the children of men, shal come to confucion. A Call to Repentance 13Gyrde you, & make yor mone, o ye prestes: mourne ye ministres of the aulter: go youre waye in, & slepe in sack cloth, o ye officers of my God: for the meat & drynkofferynge shalbe taken awaye from the house of yor God. 14Proclame a fastynge, call the cogregacion, gather the elders & all the inhabiters of the londe together into the house of the LORDE yor God, & crie vnto the LORDE: 15alas, alas for this daye. And why? the daye of the LORDE is at honde, and commeth as a destroyer from the Allmightie. 16Shal not ye meates be taken awaye before oure eyes, the myrth also & ioye from the house of oure God? 17The sede shal perish in the grounde, the garners shall lye waist, the floores shalbe broken downe, for the corne shalbe destroied. 18O what a sighinge make the catell? the bullockes are very euel likynge, because they haue no pasture: and the shepe are famesshed awaye. 19O LORDE, to the will I crie: for the fyre hath consumed the goodly pastures of the wyldernesse, and the flame hath brent vp all the trees of the felde. 20Yee the wylde beestes crie also vnto the: for the water ryuers are dryed vp, and the fyre hath consumed the pastures of the wyldernesse. |