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Joel 1:2-2:10
Expanded Bible
Joel 1:2-2:10
Expanded Bible
2 Elders, listen to this message.
·Listen to [Hear] me, all you who live in the land.
·Nothing like this has [L Has anything like this…?] ever happened ·during your lifetime [L in your days]
or during your ·ancestors’ [fathers’] ·lifetimes [L days].
3 Tell your children about these things,
let your children tell their children,
and let ·your grandchildren [L their children] tell ·their children [the next generation].
4 What the ·cutting [chewing; or swarming] locusts have left,
the ·swarming [or great] locusts have eaten;
what the ·swarming [or great] locusts have left,
the ·hopping [or crawling; or young] locusts have eaten,
and what the ·hopping [or crawling; or young] locusts have left,
the ·destroying [consuming] locusts have eaten [C these Hebrew terms could mean different species, different stages of development, or different destructive actions; they symbolize God’s judgment against Israel through foreign invaders].
5 Drunks, wake up and ·cry [weep]!
All you ·people who drink wine [wine-drinkers], ·cry [wail]!
Cry because your ·wine [sweet/new wine]
has been ·taken away [snatched; L cut off] from your mouths.
6 A ·powerful [mighty] nation has ·come into [invaded; come up against] my land
·with too many soldiers to count [L without number].
It has teeth like a lion,
·jaws [fangs] like a ·female lion [lioness].
7 It has made my grapevine a waste
and made my fig tree ·a stump [or splintered].
It has ·stripped all [L stripped and thrown away] the bark off my trees
and left the branches white.
8 ·Cry [Lament; Wail] as a young woman ·cries [L clothed in sackcloth]
·when the man she was going to marry has died [L for the husband/or betrothed of her youth].
9 ·There will be no more grain or drink offerings
to offer in [L The grain/gift/tribute (Lev. 2:1) and drink offerings are cut off from] the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord.
Because of this, the priests,
the servants of the Lord, are ·sad [in mourning].
10 The fields are ·ruined [destroyed];
the ground ·is dried up [or mourns].
·The [L …because the] grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
and the olive oil ·runs out [fails].
11 Be ·sad [in despair; or ashamed; embarrassed], farmers.
·Cry loudly [Wail], you who grow grapes.
Cry for the wheat and the barley.
Cry because the harvest of the field is ·lost [ruined; destroyed].
12 The vines have ·become dry [dried up],
and the fig trees ·are dried up [have withered/languish].
The pomegranate trees, the date palm trees, the apple trees—
all the trees in the field ·have died [are dried up].
And the ·happiness [joy; gladness] of the ·people [L sons/children of man/humanity] has died, too.
13 Priests, put on your ·rough cloth [sackcloth] and ·cry to show your sadness [mourn; lament].
·Servants [Ministers] of the altar, ·cry out loud [wail].
Servants of my God,
·keep your rough cloth on all night to show your sadness [spend the night in sackcloth].
Cry because there will be no more grain [L gift; tribute; Lev. 2:1] or drink offerings
to offer in the ·Temple [L house] of your God.
14 ·Call for [Declare; Appoint; Consecrate] a ·day when everyone fasts [fast]!
·Tell everyone to stop work [L Call a sacred assembly]!
·Bring [Assemble] the elders
and everyone who lives in the land
to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 ·What a terrible day it will be [L Ah, for the day]!
The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] is near [2:1, 11, 31; Is. 13:6, 9; Jer. 46:10],
when ·punishment [destruction] will come
like a destroying attack from the Almighty [C “destroying” (shod) and “Almighty” (shaddai) are related words in Hebrew].
16 Our food is ·taken away [L cut off]
·while we watch [L in front of our eyes].
Joy and ·happiness [gladness] are gone
from the ·Temple [L house] of our God.
17 ·Though we planted fig seeds,
they lie dry and dead in the dirt [L The seed shrivels under the clods/or shovels].
The ·barns [storehouses] are ·empty and falling down [desolate].
The ·storerooms for grain [granaries] have been broken down,
because the grain has dried up.
18 The animals are groaning!
The herds of cattle ·wander around confused [mill about; are restless/distraught],
because they have no ·grass to eat [pasture];
even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19 Lord, I am calling to you for help,
because fire has ·burned up [devoured] the ·open [or wilderness] pastures,
and flames have burned all the trees in the field.
20 Wild animals ·also [even] ·need your help [cry out to you; long/pant for you].
The ·streams of water [water brooks; riverbeds] have dried up,
and fire has ·burned up [devoured] the ·open [or wilderness] pastures.
2 Blow the trumpet in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple];
·shout a warning [sound the alarm; or raise the battle cry] on my holy mountain.
Let all the people who live in the land shake with fear,
because the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord; 1:15] is coming;
it is near.
The Coming Day of Judgment
2 It will be a ·dark, gloomy day [day/time of darkness and gloom],
cloudy and black.
Like ·the light at sunrise [spreading dawn; or spreading darkness],
a great and powerful army will spread over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it before,
and there will never be anything like it ·again [L for generations to come].
3 In front of them a fire ·destroys [devours];
in back of them a flame burns.
The land in front of them is like the garden of Eden [Gen. 2:8–14];
the land behind them is like an ·empty desert [desolate wilderness].
Nothing will escape from them.
4 ·They look [Their appearance is] like horses,
and they ·run [charge] like ·war horses [or cavalry].
5 It is like the noise of chariots
·rumbling [or leaping] over the tops of the mountains,
like the noise of a roaring fire
·burning dry stalks [devouring stubble].
They are like a ·powerful army [mighty nation] lined up for battle.
6 ·When they see them [Before them], ·nations [people] shake with fear,
and everyone’s face becomes pale.
7 They charge like soldiers;
they ·climb over [scale] the wall like warriors.
They all march ·straight ahead [in formation]
and do not ·move off their path [swerve from their course; break ranks].
8 They do not ·run into [jostle; push] each other,
because each walks ·in line [straight ahead; in his column].
They ·break through all efforts to stop them [burst through defences; or fall upon the sword; L fall upon weapons]
and ·keep coming [do not halt/break ranks].
9 They ·run [rush; swarm] into the city.
They run at the wall
and climb into the houses,
entering through windows like thieves.
10 Before them the earth shakes
and sky trembles.
The sun and the moon become dark,
and the stars ·stop shining [L withhold their brightness; 3:15].
Joel 1:2-2:10
New International Version
Joel 1:2-2:10
New International Version
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this,(A) you elders;(B)
listen, all who live in the land.(C)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(D)
3 Tell it to your children,(E)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(F)
4 What the locust(G) 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(H)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(I)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(J)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(K) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(L)
it has the teeth(M) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(N) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(O)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(P)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(Q)
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(R)
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(S)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(T) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(U)
11 Despair, you farmers,(V)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(W)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(X)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(Y)
the pomegranate,(Z) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(AA)
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth,(AB) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(AC) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(AD)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(AE)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(AF)
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out(AG) to the Lord.(AH)
15 Alas for that(AI) day!
For the day of the Lord(AJ) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AK)
16 Has not the food been cut off(AL)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AM)
from the house of our God?(AN)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](AO)
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(AP)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AQ)
19 To you, Lord, I call,(AR)
for fire(AS) has devoured the pastures(AT) in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(AU)
the streams of water have dried up(AV)
and fire has devoured the pastures(AW) in the wilderness.
An Army of Locusts
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord(BA) is coming.
It is close at hand(BB)—
2 a day of darkness(BC) and gloom,(BD)
a day of clouds(BE) and blackness.(BF)
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army(BG) comes,
such as never was in ancient times(BH)
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire(BI) devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,(BJ)
behind them, a desert waste(BK)—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;(BL)
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots(BM)
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire(BN) consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;(BO)
every face turns pale.(BP)
7 They charge like warriors;(BQ)
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,(BR)
not swerving(BS) from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;(BT)
like thieves they enter through the windows.(BU)
Expanded Bible (EXB)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.