New International Version

New King James Version

The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.

The Locust Plague in Judah

The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

An Invasion of Locusts

Hear 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?

2

The Land Laid Waste

Hear 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?

3

Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.

3

Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.

4

What 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 locustsa have eaten.

4

What the chewing [a]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.

5

Wake 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.

5

Awake, 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.

6

A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.

6

For 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 [b]fierce lion.

7

It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.

7

He has laid waste My vine,
And [c]ruined My fig tree;
He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;
Its branches are made white.

8

Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.

8

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth
For the husband of her youth.

9

Grain offerings and drink offerings
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,
those who minister before the Lord.

9

The grain offering and the drink offering
Have been cut off from the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord.

10

The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
the olive oil fails.

10

The field is wasted,
The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.

11

Despair, you farmers,
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.

11

Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.

12

The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the appleb tree —
all the trees of the field — are dried up.
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.

12

The 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.

13

A Call to Lamentation

Put 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.

13

Mourning for the Land

Gird 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.

14

Declare 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.

14

Consecrate 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.

15

Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.c

15

Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

16

Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes —
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?

16

Is not the food cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17

The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.d
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.

17

The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.

18

How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

18

How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep [d]suffer punishment.

19

To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.

19

O Lord, to You I cry out;
For fire has devoured the [e]open pastures,
And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.

20

Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.

20

The beasts of the field also cry out to You,
For the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the [f]open pastures.

Parallel

New International Version

New King James Version

Joel 1

Joel 1