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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.
7 The locusts have completely destroyed our vines.
They have wiped out our fig trees.
They’ve stripped off the bark and thrown it away.
They’ve left the branches bare.
8 My people, sob like a virgin
who is dressed in black clothes.
She is sad because she has lost
the young man she was going to marry.
9 No one brings grain offerings and drink offerings
to the Lord’s house anymore.
So the priests who serve the Lord
are filled with sorrow.
The ground is dried up.
The grain is destroyed.
The fresh wine is gone.
And there isn’t any more olive oil.
Cry, you who grow vines.
Sob because the wheat and barley are gone.
The crops in the fields are destroyed.
12 The vines and fig trees are dried up.
The pomegranate, palm and apple trees
don’t have any fruit on them.
In fact, all of the trees in the fields are dried up.
And my people’s joy has faded away.
13 Priests, put on black clothes and sob.
Cry, you who serve at the altar.
Come, you who serve my God in the temple.
Spend the night dressed in black clothes.
Sob because no one brings grain offerings and drink offerings
to the house of your God anymore.
Tell the people not to eat anything.
Gather them together for a special service.
Send for all of the elders
who live in the land.
Have them come to the house of the Lord your God.
And pray to him.
15 The day of the Lord is near.
How sad it will be on that day!
The Mighty One is coming to destroy you.
16 Our food has been taken away
right in front of our eyes.
There isn’t any joy or gladness
in the house of our God.
17 The seeds have dried up in the ground.
The grain is also gone.
The storerooms have been destroyed.
The barns are broken down.
18 Listen to the cattle groan!
The herds wander around.
They don’t have any grass to eat.
The flocks of sheep are also suffering.
Fire has burned up the grasslands.
Flames have destroyed all of the trees in the fields.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to you for help.
The streams of water have dried up.
Fire has burned up the grasslands.
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About New International Reader’s Version (1998)The New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) was developed to help early readers understand the Bible. Begun in 1992, the NIrV is a simplification of the New International Version (NIV). The NIrV uses shorter words and sentences so that those with a typical fourth grade reading level can comprehend what they are reading. The chapters have been separated into shorter sections and most have titles that clearly indicate what the section is all about. The NIrV will be a valuable translation to those for whom English is a second language. The NIrV still relies on the best and oldest copies of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for its translation, guaranteeing that those who read it are getting the actual Word of God. |
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Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. The NIrV text may be quoted for non-commercial usage in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows: Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION™. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. When quotations from the NIrV text are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (NIrV) must appear at the end of each quotation. Any commentary or other Biblical reference work produced for commercial sale that uses the New International Reader’s Version must obtain written permission for use of the NIrV text. Permission requests for commercial use within the U.S. and Canada that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530. Permission requests for commercial use within the U.K., EEC, and EFTA countries that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Hodder Headline Plc., 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, England. Permission requests for non-commercial usage that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, International Bible Society, 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921. |
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