Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
1The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel: | 1The LORD gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel. Mourning over the Locust Plague |
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? | 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 children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children 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 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. | 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! |
5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine, for it has been taken 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, powerful 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 devastated my grapevine and splintered my fig tree. It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away; its branches have turned white. | 7It has destroyed my grapevines and ruined my fig trees, stripping their bark and destroying it, leaving the branches white and bare. |
8Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the husband of her youth. | 8Weep like a bride dressed in black, mourning the death of her husband. |
9Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, who are ministers of the LORD, mourn. | 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 fields are destroyed; the land grieves; indeed, the grain is destroyed; the new wine is dried up; and the 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, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. | 11Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat and barley— all the crops of the field—are ruined. |
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. | 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. |
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. | 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. |
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. | 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. |
15Woe because of that day! For the day of the LORD is near and will come as devastation from the Almighty. | 15The day of the LORD is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be! |
16Hasn't the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness 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 lie shriveled in their casings. The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down, because the grain has withered away. | 17The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned. |
18How the animals groan! The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment. | 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. |
19I call to you, LORD, for fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have devoured all the trees of the orchard. | 19LORD, help us! The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures, and flames have burned up all the trees. |
20Even the wild animals cry out to you, for the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed 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. |
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | 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. |
|