Joel 2:3

In 11 translations

BSB

Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland— surely nothing will escape them.

KJV

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

WEB

A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.

ASV

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and none hath escaped them.

LSV

Before it fire has consumed, || And after it a flame burns, || As the Garden of Eden [is] the land before it, || And after it a wilderness—a desolation! And also there has not been to it an escape,

YLT

Before it consumed hath fire, And after it burn doth a flame, As the garden of Eden [is] the land before it, And after it a wilderness — a desolation! And also an escape there hath not been to it,

DBY

A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as a garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness: yea, and nothing escapeth them.

DRC

Before the face thereof a devouring fire, and behind it a burning flame: the land is like a garden of pleasure before it, and behind it a desolate wilderness, neither is there any one that can escape it.

GNV

A fire deuoureth before him, and behinde him a flame burneth vp: the land is as the garden of Eden before him, and behinde him a desolate wildernesse, so that nothing shall escape him.

JPS

A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame blazeth; the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing escapeth them.

LXXE

Before them is a consuming fire, and behind them is a flame kindled: the land before them is as a paradise of delight, and behind them a desolate plain: and there shall none of them escape.Gr. it, sc. the people.Lit. to him, sc. the people.

Word by word Hebrew · tap a word

Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.

Original-language editions

WLC

לְפָנָיו֙ אָ֣כְלָה אֵ֔שׁ וְאַחֲרָ֖יו תְּלַהֵ֣ט לֶֽהָבָ֑ה כְּגַן־עֵ֨דֶן הָאָ֜רֶץ לְפָנָ֗יו וְאַֽחֲרָיו֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר שְׁמָמָ֔ה וְגַם־פְּלֵיטָ֖ה לֹא־הָ֥יְתָה לּֽוֹ׃

LXX-Br

Τὰ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πῦρ ἀναλίσκον, καὶ τὰ ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ἀναπτομένη φλόξ· ὡς παράδεισος τρυφῆς ἡ γῆ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ ὄπισθεν αὐτοῦ πεδίον ἀφανισμοῦ, καὶ ἀνασωζόμενος οὐκ ἔσται αὐτῷ.

Who and where

People, places and events the Theographic dataset links to this verse.

In the reference works topics that cite this verse

From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).

Cross-references most cited first

• Isaiah 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and…
• Joel 1:19–20To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field. Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has…
• Genesis 2:8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
• Zechariah 7:14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”
• Amos 7:4This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
• Psalms 50:3Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
• Ezekiel 31:8–9The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty. I made it…
• Exodus 10:5They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields.
• Exodus 10:15They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all…
• Genesis 13:10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
• Psalms 105:34–35He spoke, and the locusts came— young locusts without number. They devoured every plant in their land and consumed the produce of their soil.
• Joel 1:4–7What 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. Wake up, you…
• Jeremiah 5:17They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified…

From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).