The Darby Translation DBY
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
1 This is what the LORD said to Joel, son of Pethuel.
2 Hear 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?
2 Listen to this, you leaders! Open your ears, all inhabitants of this land! Nothing like this has ever happened in your lifetime or in your ancestors' lifetime.
3 Tell your children of it, and [let] your children [tell] their children, and their children another generation:
3 Tell your children about it. Have your children tell their children. Have your grandchildren tell their children.
4 that which the palmer-worm 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 caterpillar eaten.
4 What young locusts leave, mature locusts will eat. What mature locusts leave, adult locusts will eat. What adult locusts leave, grasshoppers will eat.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.
5 Wake up and cry, you drunks! Cry loudly, you wine drinkers! New wine has been taken away from you.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a lioness.
6 A strong nation attacked my land. It has too many soldiers to count. They have teeth like lions. They have fangs like grown lions.
7 He hath made my vine a desolation, and barked my fig-tree; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away: its branches are made white.
7 They destroyed my grapevines. They ruined my fig trees. They stripped off what they could eat, threw the rest away, and left the branches bare.
8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
8 Cry loudly like a young woman who is dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the man she was going to marry.
9 The oblation and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah's ministers, mourn.
9 Grain offerings and wine offerings are no longer brought to the LORD's temple. The priests, the LORD's servants, mourn.
10 The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
10 Israel's fields are ruined, and the ground is dried up. The grain has been destroyed. The new wine has dried up. The olive oil has run out.
11 Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.
11 Be sad, you farmers! Cry loudly, you grape growers! Mourn for the wheat and the barley. The harvest is destroyed in the field.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm also and the apple-tree; all the trees of the field are withered, yea, joy is withered away from the children of men.
12 The grapevines are dried up. The fig trees are withered. The pomegranate, palm, and apricot trees, as well as all the trees in the orchards, have died. Yes, the joy of these people has died too.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.
13 Put on your sackcloth and mourn, you priests. Cry loudly, you servants of the altar. Spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God. Grain offerings and wine offerings are withheld from your God's temple.
14 Hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, [and] all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.
14 Schedule a time to fast! Call for an assembly! Gather the leaders and everyone who lives in the land. Bring them to the temple of the LORD your God, and cry to the LORD for help.
15 Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
15 This will be a terrible day! The day of the LORD is near, and it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
16 Food disappears right before our eyes. Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God's temple.
17 The seeds are rotten under their clods, the granaries are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
17 Seeds shrivel up in their shells. Storehouses are destroyed. Barns are ruined. The grain has dried up.
18 How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered, for they have no pasture; the flocks of sheep also are in suffering.
18 The animals groan. Herds of cattle wander around confused. There's no pasture for them. Even flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To thee, Jehovah, do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned up all the trees of the field.
19 O LORD, I cry to you for help! Fire has burned up the open pastures. Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards.
20 The beasts of the field also cry unto thee; for the water-courses are dried, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
20 Even wild animals long for you. Streams run dry. Fire has burned up the open pastures.
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GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.