See how simple it is to study with trusted help beside every verse. Try Bible Gateway Plus FREE for 7 days.
Log In/Sign Up

#
Joel 1
New International Version

1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel(B) son of Pethuel.

### An Invasion of Locusts

2 Hear this,(C) you elders;(D)
listen, all who live in the land.(E)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(F)
3 Tell it to your children,(G)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(H)
4 What the locust(I) 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(J)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(K)

5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(L)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(M) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(N)
it has the teeth(O) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(P) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(Q)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.

8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(R)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(S)
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(T)
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(U)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(V) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(W)

11 Despair, you farmers,(X)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(Y)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(Z)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(AA)
the pomegranate,(AB) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(AC)
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.

### A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,(AD) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(AE) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(AF)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(AG)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(AH)
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out(AI) to the Lord.(AJ)

15 Alas for that(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AM)

16 Has not the food been cut off(AN)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AO)
from the house of our God?(AP)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](AQ)
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;(AR)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AS)

19 To you, Lord, I call,(AT)
for fire(AU) has devoured the pastures(AV) in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(AW)
the streams of water have dried up(AX)
and fire has devoured the pastures(AY) in the wilderness.

#### Footnotes

1. Joel 1:4 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
2. Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot
3. Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
4. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

#### Cross references

1. Joel 1:1 : S Jer 1:2
2. Joel 1:1 : Ac 2:16
3. Joel 1:2 : Hos 5:1
4. Joel 1:2 : Joel 2:16
5. Joel 1:2 : S Hos 4:1
6. Joel 1:2 : Joel 2:2
7. Joel 1:3 : S Ex 10:2
8. Joel 1:3 : S Ps 71:18
9. Joel 1:4 : S Ex 10:14
10. Joel 1:4 : S Ex 10:5
11. Joel 1:4 : S Ex 10:15; S Dt 28:39; Am 7:1; Na 3:15
12. Joel 1:5 : Joel 3:3
13. Joel 1:5 : S Isa 24:7
14. Joel 1:6 : Ps 105:34; Joel 2:2, 11, 25
15. Joel 1:6 : Rev 9:8
16. Joel 1:7 : Isa 5:6
17. Joel 1:7 : Am 4:9
18. Joel 1:8 : ver 13; Isa 22:12; Am 8:10
19. Joel 1:9 : S Hos 9:4
20. Joel 1:9 : S Isa 22:12
21. Joel 1:10 : S Isa 5:6; S 24:4; S Jer 3:3
22. Joel 1:10 : S Hos 9:2
23. Joel 1:10 : S Nu 18:12
24. Joel 1:11 : S Job 6:20; Am 5:16
25. Joel 1:11 : S Ex 9:31
26. Joel 1:11 : S Isa 17:11
27. Joel 1:12 : S Isa 15:6
28. Joel 1:12 : S Ex 28:33
29. Joel 1:12 : S Isa 16:8; Hag 2:19
30. Joel 1:13 : S Ge 37:34; S Jer 4:8
31. Joel 1:13 : Joel 2:17
32. Joel 1:13 : ver 9; S Hos 9:4; Joel 2:14
33. Joel 1:14 : S 2Ch 20:3
34. Joel 1:14 : S Hos 4:1
35. Joel 1:14 : Jnh 3:8
36. Joel 1:14 : 2Ch 20:4
37. Joel 1:15 : S Isa 2:12; Jer 30:7; S 46:10; S Eze 30:3; Mal 4:5
38. Joel 1:15 : Joel 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Am 5:18; Zep 1:14; Zec 14:1
39. Joel 1:15 : S Ge 17:1
40. Joel 1:16 : Isa 3:7
41. Joel 1:16 : S Ps 51:8
42. Joel 1:16 : Dt 12:7
43. Joel 1:17 : S Isa 17:10-11
44. Joel 1:18 : S Ge 47:4
45. Joel 1:18 : S Jer 9:10
46. Joel 1:19 : Ps 50:15
47. Joel 1:19 : S Ps 97:3; Am 7:4
48. Joel 1:19 : S Jer 9:10
49. Joel 1:20 : S Ps 42:1; S 104:21
50. Joel 1:20 : 1Ki 17:7
51. Joel 1:20 : Joel 2:22

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

### More on the NIV

- Unleash God's Word!

#### Bible Gateway Recommends

NIV, Artisan Collection Bible, Gilded Edges, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible, Comfort Print: Follow God’s Redemptive Plan as It Unfolds throughout Scripture
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Radiant Virtues Bible: A Beautiful Word Collection, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print: Explore the virtues of faith, hope, and love
Retail: $69.98
Our Price: $48.99
Save: $20.99 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, The Story, Hardcover, Comfort Print: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People
Retail: $19.98
Our Price: $7.50
Save: $12.48 (62%)
Buy Now
NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation
Retail: $49.99
Our Price: $34.99
Save: $15.00 (30%)
Buy Now
View more titles