| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: | 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel: |
| 2Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? | 2Hear this, you elders; listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? |
| 3Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. | 3Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation. |
| 4What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. | 4What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten. |
| 5Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. | 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine, for it has been taken from your mouth. |
| 6For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness. | 6For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness. |
| 7It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white. | 7It has devastated My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away; its branches have turned white. |
| 8Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth. | 8Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the husband of her youth. |
| 9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD. | 9Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, who are ministers of the LORD, mourn. |
| 10The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. | 10The fields are destroyed; the land grieves; indeed, the grain is destroyed; the new wine is dried up; and the olive oil fails. |
| 11Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. | 11Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. |
| 12The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man. | 12The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the date palm, and the apple-- all the trees of the orchard--have withered. Indeed, human joy has dried up. |
| 13Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. | 13Dress in sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar. Come and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, because grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. |
| 14Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. | 14Announce a sacred fast; proclaim an assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land at the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. |
| 15Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. | 15Woe because of that day! For the Day of the LORD is near and will come as devastation from the Almighty. |
| 16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? | 16Hasn't the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? |
| 17The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. | 17The seeds lie shriveled in their casings. The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down, because the grain has withered away. |
| 18How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer. | 18How the animals groan! The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. |
| 19To you, O LORD, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field. | 19I call to You, LORD, for fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have devoured all the trees of the countryside. |
| 20Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. | 20Even the wild animals cry out to You, for the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness. |
|
