| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel. | 1This is the LORD's message that was given to Joel the son of Pethuel: |
| 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? | 2Listen to this, you elders; pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life or in the lifetime of your ancestors? |
| 3Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. | 3Tell your children about it, have your children tell their children, and their children the following generation. |
| 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. | 4What the gazam -locust left the 'arbeh -locust consumed, what the 'arbeh -locust left the yeleq -locust consumed, and what the yeleq -locust left the hasil -locust consumed! |
| 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. | 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine drinkers, because the sweet wine has been taken away from you. |
| 6A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. | 6For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. |
| 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. | 7They have destroyed our vines; they have turned our fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark and thrown them aside; the twigs are stripped bare. |
| 8Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth. | 8Wail like a young virgin clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of her husband-to-be. |
| 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. | 9No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of the LORD anymore. So the priests, those who serve the LORD, are in mourning. |
| 10The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails. | 10The crops of the fields have been destroyed. The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished. The fresh wine has dried up; the olive oil languishes. |
| 11Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. | 11Be distressed, farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished. |
| 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. | 12The vine has dried up; the fig tree languishes--the pomegranate, date, and apple as well. In fact, all the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, the joy of the people has dried up! |
| 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. | 13Get dressed and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister at the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God, because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of your God anymore. |
| 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. | 14Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. |
| 15Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. | 15How awful that day will be! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer. |
| 16Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes-- joy and gladness from the house of our God? | 16Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! |
| 17The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up. | 17The grains of seed have shriveled beneath their shovels. Storehouses have been decimated and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up. |
| 18How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering. | 18Listen to the cattle groan! The herds of livestock wander around in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering. |
| 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. | 19To you, O LORD, I call out for help, for fire has burned up the grassy pastures, flames have razed all the trees in the fields. |
| 20Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness. | 20Even the wild animals cry out to you; for the river beds have dried up; fire has destroyed the grassy pastures. |
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