Joel 1

New International Version

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

An Invasion of Locusts

²Hear 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)
³Tell it to your children,^(G)
    and let your children tell it to their children,
    and their children to the next generation.^(H)
⁴What 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)

⁵Wake 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.
⁶A nation has invaded my land,
    a mighty army without number;^(N)
it has the teeth^(O) of a lion,
    the fangs of a lioness.
⁷It 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.

⁸Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth^(R)
    grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
⁹Grain 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.
¹⁰The 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)

¹¹Despair, you farmers,^(X)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,^(Y)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.^(Z)
¹²The 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

¹³Put 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.
¹⁴Declare 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)

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

¹⁶Has not the food been cut off^(AN)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness^(AO)
    from the house of our God?^(AP)
¹⁷The 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.
¹⁸How the cattle moan!
    The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;^(AR)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.^(AS)

¹⁹To 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.
²⁰Even 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

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

2 Peter 3

New International Version

The Day of the Lord

3 Dear friends,^(A) this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders^(B) to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ²I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets^(C) and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.^(D)

³Above all, you must understand that in the last days^(E) scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.^(F) ⁴They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?^(G) Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”^(H) ⁵But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word^(I) the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.^(J) ⁶By these waters also the world of that time^(K) was deluged and destroyed.^(L) ⁷By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,^(M) being kept for the day of judgment^(N) and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.^(O) ⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,^(P) as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient^(Q) with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.^(R)

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.^(S) The heavens will disappear with a roar;^(T) the elements will be destroyed by fire,^(U) and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a]^(V)

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹²as you look forward^(W) to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b]^(X) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.^(Y) ¹³But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,^(Z) where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless^(AA) and at peace with him. ¹⁵Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience^(AB) means salvation,^(AC) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.^(AD) ¹⁶He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable^(AE) people distort,^(AF) as they do the other Scriptures,^(AG) to their own destruction.

¹⁷Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard^(AH) so that you may not be carried away by the error^(AI) of the lawless^(AJ) and fall from your secure position.^(AK) ¹⁸But grow in the grace^(AL) and knowledge^(AM) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.^(AN) To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.^(AO)