---
title: "Commentary on Joel, Amos and Obadiah"
author: "John Calvin"
translator: "John Owen"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 63 of 79
url: https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-joel-amos-and-obadiah/63/
cite: "John Calvin, tr. John Owen, Commentary on Joel, Amos and Obadiah, section 63. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-joel-amos-and-obadiah/63/"
---

# Commentary on Joel, Amos and Obadiah

*John Calvin, tr. John Owen*

Calvin on three of the shorter prophets: Joel, Amos and Obadiah.

## 63. Chapter 1

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-joel-amos-and-obadiah/63/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-joel-amos-and-obadiah/63/#p-N

[¶0] 1 The word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

[¶1] 2 Hear this, ye the aged; And give ear, al ye inhabitants of the land; Hath this been in your days, Or in the days of your fathers?

[¶2] 3 This to your children declare, And your children to their children, And their children to the next generation, —

[¶3] 4 “The residue of the locust hath the chafer eaten, “The residue of the chafer hath the cankerworm eaten, “The residue of the cankerworm hath the caterpillar eaten.”

[¶4] 5 Awake ye drunkards, and weep; Howl ye all who drink wine for the new wine; For cut off it is from your mouth.

[¶5] 6 Verily a nation came up over my land, Strong and without number: Its teeth the teeth the teeth of a lion, And its jaw-bones those of a young lion:

[¶6] 7 It exposed my vine to desolation, And my fig-tree to the stripping of the bark; By denuding it denuded it and cast it away, White have been made its branches.—

[¶7] 8 Lament as a young woman, girded with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.

[¶8] 9 Cut off is offering and libation From the house of Jehovah; Mourn do the priests, the ministers of Jehovah;

[¶9] 10 Wasted is the field, mourn does the land; For laid waste is the corn, Dried up is the wine, destroyed is the oil.

[¶10] 11 Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, howl, ye vinedressers, On account of the wheat and the barley; For perished has the harvest of the field,

[¶11] 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree is destroyed; The pomegranate, the palm also and the apple tree,— All the trees of the field have dried up: Verily dried up is joy among the children of men!

[¶12] 13 Be girded and lament, ye priests; Howl ye ministers of the altar; Come, spend the night in sackcloth, Ye ministers of my God; For withheld from the house of your God Is offering and a libation:

[¶13] 14 Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, Gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, Into the house of Jehovah your God, And cry ye to Jehovah.—

[¶14] 15 Alas the day! For nigh is the day of Jehovah, And as a desolation from the Almighty it will come.

[¶15] 16 Has not the meat before your eyes been cut off, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

[¶16] 17 Rotted have the grains under the clods, Desolate are the granaries, Pulled down have been the barns, For dried up has the corn.

[¶17] 18 How has the beast groaned! Confounded are the herds of oxen! For wanting to them are pastures; The flocks of sheep are also desolate.

[¶18] 19 To thee Jehovah will I cry; For the fire hath consumed the pastures of the desert, And the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field:

[¶19] 20 The beasts of the field will also cry to thee; For dried up have the streams of waters, For the fire hath consumed the pastures of the desert.