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

2 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?

3 Tell it to your children,

and let your children tell it to their children,

and their children to the next 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 locusts have eaten.

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel the 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? 3 Tell ye your children of it, And let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. 4 That which the palmerworm 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 caterpiller eaten.

1 The Lord gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, you leaders of the people.

Listen, all who live in the land.

In all your history,

has anything like this happened before?

3 Tell your children about it in the years to come,

and let your children tell their children.

Pass the story down from generation to generation.

4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops,

the swarming locusts took what was left!

After them came the hopping locusts,

and then the stripping locusts, too!

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

2 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 your children about it,

Let your children tell their children,

And their children another generation.

4 What the chewing 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.

1 The Lord spoke his word to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Elders, listen to this message.

Listen to me, all you who live in the land.

Nothing like this has ever happened during your lifetime

or during your ancestors’ lifetimes.

3 Tell your children about these things,

let your children tell their children,

and let your grandchildren tell their children.

4 What the cutting locusts have left,

the swarming locusts have eaten;

what the swarming locusts have left,

the hopping locusts have eaten,

and what the hopping locusts have left,

the destroying locusts have eaten.

1 The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the 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 in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.

1 The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the 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? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation: 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.

1 This is what the Lord said to Joel, son of Pethuel. 

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 about it. 

Have your children tell their children. 

Have your grandchildren tell their children. 

4 What young locusts leave, mature locusts will eat. 

What mature locusts leave, adult locusts will eat. 

What adult locusts leave, grasshoppers will eat. 

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, you elders;

listen, all you inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your days

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children the next generation.

4 What the devouring locust has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locust has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, O elders,

give ear, all inhabitants of the land!

Has such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children another generation.

4 What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

1 The word of Yahweh that came to Joel son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, O elders,

and give ear, all the inhabitants of the land.

Has this happened in your days?

Or the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell it to your children,

and your children to their children,

and their children to the following generation.

4 What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten.

And what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

1 A message came to Joel from the Lord. He was the son of Pethuel. Here is what Joel said.

2 Elders, listen to me.

Pay attention, all you who live in the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life?

Did it ever happen to your people

who lived long ago?

3 Tell your children about it.

Let them tell their children.

And let their children tell it

to those who live after them.

4 The giant locusts have eaten

what the common locusts have left.

The young locusts have eaten

what the giant locusts have left.

And other locusts have eaten

what the young locusts have left.

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, O elders,

And listen, all inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this happened in your days

Or in your fathers’ days?

3 Tell your sons about it,

And let your sons tell their sons,

And their sons the next generation.

4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;

And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;

And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.