Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 The word of the Lord, that came to Joel, the son of Phatuel.
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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: did this ever happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
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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 ye of this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
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Tell your children about it. Have your children tell their children. Have your grandchildren tell their children.
4 That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed.
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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 that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight; in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.
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Wake up and cry, you drunks! Cry loudly, you wine drinkers! New wine has been taken away from you.
6 For a nation come up upon my land, strong, and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion’s whelp.
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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 laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
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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 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
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Cry loudly like a young woman who is dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the man she was going to marry.
9 Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of the Lord: the priests, the Lord’s ministers, have mourned:
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Grain offerings and wine offerings are no longer brought to the LORD's temple. The priests, the LORD's servants, mourn.
10 The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourned: for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil hath languished.
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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 The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.
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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 vineyard is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished: the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withdrawn from the children of men.
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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, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God.
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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 Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly, gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord:
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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 Ah, ah, ah, for the day: because the day of the Lord is at hand, and it shall come like destruction from the mighty.
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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 your food cut off before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
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Food disappears right before our eyes. Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God's temple.
17 The beasts have rotted in their dung, the barns are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the corn is confounded.
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Seeds shrivel up in their shells. Storehouses are destroyed. Barns are ruined. The grain has dried up.
18 Why did the beasts groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished.
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The animals groan. Herds of cattle wander around confused. There's no pasture for them. Even flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To thee, O Lord, will I cry: because fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness: and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the country.
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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 Yea, and the beasts of the field have looked up to thee, as a garden bed that thirsteth after rain, for the springs of waters are dried up, and fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness.
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Even wild animals long for you. Streams run dry. Fire has burned up the open pastures.
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