| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 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, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? | 2Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? |
| 3Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. | 3Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. |
| 4That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. | 4What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. |
| 5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. | 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips. |
| 6For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. | 6A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. |
| 7He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. | 7It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. |
| 8Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. | 8Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth. |
| 9The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn. | 9Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD. |
| 10The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. | 10The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails. |
| 11Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. | 11Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. |
| 12The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. | 12The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree-- all the trees of the field--are dried up. Surely the people's joy is withered away. |
| 13Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. | 13Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. |
| 14Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, | 14Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. |
| 15Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. | 15Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. |
| 16Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? | 16Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes-- joy and gladness from the house of our God? |
| 17The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. | 17The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up. |
| 18How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. | 18How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering. |
| 19O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. | 19To you, LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. |
| 20The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. | 20Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness. |
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