| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New Living Translation |
| 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: | 1The LORD gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel. Mourning over the Locust Plague |
| 2Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers' days? | 2Hear this, you leaders of the people. Listen, all who live in the land. In all your history, has anything like this happened before? |
| 3Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. | 3Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation. |
| 4What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten. | 4After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too! |
| 5Awake, drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth. | 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine-drinkers! All the grapes are ruined, and all your sweet wine is gone. |
| 6For a nation has invaded my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness. | 6A vast army of locusts has invaded my land, a terrible army too numerous to count. Its teeth are like lions’ teeth, its fangs like those of a lioness. |
| 7It has made my vine a waste And my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white. | 7It has destroyed my grapevines and ruined my fig trees, stripping their bark and destroying it, leaving the branches white and bare. |
| 8Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth. | 8Weep like a bride dressed in black, mourning the death of her husband. |
| 9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, The ministers of the LORD. | 9For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of the LORD. So the priests are in mourning. The ministers of the LORD are weeping. |
| 10The field is ruined, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails. | 10The fields are ruined, the land is stripped bare. The grain is destroyed, the grapes have shriveled, and the olive oil is gone. |
| 11Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed. | 11Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat and barley— all the crops of the field—are ruined. |
| 12The vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men. | 12The grapevines have dried up, and the fig trees have withered. The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees— all the fruit trees—have dried up. And the people’s joy has dried up with them. |
| 13Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. | 13Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests! Wail, you who serve before the altar! Come, spend the night in burlap, you ministers of my God. For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of your God. |
| 14Consecrate a fast, Proclaim 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 time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there. |
| 15Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty. | 15The day of the LORD is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be! |
| 16Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God? | 16Our food disappears before our very eyes. No joyful celebrations are held in the house of our God. |
| 17The seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up. | 17The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned. |
| 18How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer. | 18How the animals moan with hunger! The herds of cattle wander about confused, because they have no pasture. The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery. |
| 19To You, O LORD, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. | 19LORD, help us! The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures, and flames have burned up all the trees. |
| 20Even the beasts of the field pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. | 20Even the wild animals cry out to you because the streams have dried up, and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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