| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel: | 1This message from the LORD came to Pethuel's son Joel. |
| 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? | 2"Hear this, you elders! Listen, all of you residents of the land! Has there ever been anything like this during your lifetime, or even when your ancestors were alive? |
| 3Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation. | 3Pass it on to your children, and from your children to their children, and from their children to the following 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. | 4Whatever the devouring locust left behind the locust swarm has consumed! Whatever the locust swarm has left behind, the young locust has consumed! Whatever the young locust has left behind, the ravaging locust has consumed!" |
| 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine, for it has been taken from your mouth. | 5"Wake up, you drunkards! Cry aloud and howl, you wine drinkers, because your supply of new wine has been snatched from you. |
| 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. | 6Indeed, a nation has invaded my land— it is strong and its population is too large to count — with teeth like a lion and fangs like 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. | 7That nation laid waste my vines, and stripped bare my fig tree, discarding it. It stripped off its bark. |
| 8Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the husband of her youth. | 8"Grieve like a virgin, who, dressed in her mourner's clothes, cries out in memory of the man she was going to marry. |
| 9Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, who are ministers of the LORD, mourn. | 9Both grain offering and wine offering have been removed from the LORD's Temple; the priests and ministering servants of the LORD are mourning." |
| 10The fields are destroyed; the land grieves; indeed, the grain is destroyed; the new wine is dried up; and the olive oil fails. | 10"The fields lie in ruins and the ground is dried up. Indeed, the grain is ruined, the new wine has evaporated, and the olive oil has run out. |
| 11Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. | 11Be dismayed, you farmers! Cry aloud, you vintners, for the wheat and barley, because the harvest in your fields has been lost. |
| 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 grapevine is shriveled and the fig tree is withered, along with the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree and all of the cultivated trees. Truly, joy has evaporated from Adam's children." |
| 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. | 13"Put on your mourning clothes, you priests; and cry aloud, you ministering servants at the altar! Come! Stay the night in mourner's clothes, you ministers of my God, because the grain offering and the wine offering is held back from 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. | 14Set apart time for a fast! Call a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and everyone living in the land to the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD!" |
| 15Woe because of that day! For the Day of the LORD is near and will come as devastation from the Almighty. | 15Oh, no! For the Day of the LORD approaches, and like destruction from the Almighty, it will come! |
| 16Hasn't the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? | 16Isn't our food supply cut off right in front of us, along with joy and gladness from the Temple 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. | 17Seeds shrivel within their furrows, the storehouses lie empty, and granaries stand in ruins because the grain has withered. |
| 18How the animals groan! The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. | 18Oh, how the livestock groan! The herds of cattle wander about because they have no pasture. Even flocks of sheep suffer! |
| 19I call to You, LORD, for fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have devoured all the trees of the countryside. | 19To you, LORD, I cry out, because fire has devoured the open pastures, and has set all the cultivated trees ablaze. |
| 20Even the wild animals cry out to You, for the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness. | 20The livestock also cries out to you, because their water sources have evaporated and because fire has consumed the open pastures. |
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