| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. | 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: |
| 2Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? | 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? |
| 3Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. | 3Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. |
| 4What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. | 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. |
| 5Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth. | 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. |
| 6For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. | 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. |
| 7He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white. | 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. |
| 8Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth. | 8Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth. |
| 9The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD; The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD. | 9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD. |
| 10The field is wasted, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The oil fails. | 10The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. |
| 11Be ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished. | 11Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. |
| 12The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men. | 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. |
| 13Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth, You who minister to my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. | 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. |
| 14Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. | 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. |
| 15Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. | 15Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. |
| 16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God? | 16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? |
| 17The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered. | 17The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. |
| 18How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. | 18How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer. |
| 19O LORD, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field. | 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. |
| 20The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures. | 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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