Joel 1:1–6
The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
give ear, ball inhabitants of the land!
cHas such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 dTell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What ethe cutting locust left,
fthe swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
gthe hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
hthe destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and iwail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of jthe sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For ka nation has come up against my land,
kpowerful and beyond number;
lits teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — The New International Version (NIV)
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.
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.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
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.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep;
And howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
Because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land,
Strong, and without number,
Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joel 1:1–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)
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!
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you wine-drinkers!
All the grapes are ruined,
and all your sweet wine is gone.
6 A vast army of locusts has invaded my land,
a terrible army too numerous to count.
Its teeth are like lions’ teeth,
its fangs like those of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
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.
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 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 fierce lion.
Joel 1:1–6 — New Century Version (NCV)
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.
5 Drunks, wake up and cry!
All you people who drink wine, cry!
Cry because your wine
has been taken away from your mouths.
6 A powerful nation has come into my land
with too many soldiers to count.
It has teeth like a lion,
jaws like a female lion.
Joel 1:1–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)
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.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
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. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine: for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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.
5 Wake up and cry, you drunks!
Cry loudly, you wine drinkers!
New wine has been taken away from you.
6 A strong nation attacked my land.
It has too many soldiers to count.
They have teeth like lions.
They have fangs like grown lions.
Joel 1:1–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
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.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;
wail, all you wine drinkers,
because of the sweet wine,
for it has been taken from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded My land,
powerful and without number;
its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
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.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;
and wail, all you wine-drinkers,
over the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
powerful and innumerable;
its teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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.
5 Wake up, drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all drinkers of wine, over the new wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 Because a nation has invaded my land,
strong and beyond counting.
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and its fangs are those of a lioness.
Joel 1:1–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
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.
5 Get up and sob, you people who drink too much!
Cry, all you who drink wine!
Cry because the fresh wine
has been taken away from you.
6 The locusts are like an army
that has marched into our land.
There are so many of them
they can’t even be counted.
Their teeth are as sharp as a lion’s teeth.
They are like the fangs of a female lion.
Joel 1:1–6 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)
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.
5 Awake, drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
On account of the sweet wine
That is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.