Parallel Verses
Amplified
Before them a fire devours,
And behind them a flame burns;
Before them the land is like the Garden of Eden,
But behind them a desolate wilderness;
And nothing at all escapes them.
New American Standard Bible
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is
But a
And nothing at all escapes them.
King James Version
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.
Holman Bible
and behind them a flame devours.
The land in front of them
is like the Garden of Eden,
but behind them,
it is like a desert wasteland;
there is no escape from them.
International Standard Version
"A fire blazes in their presence, and behind them a conflagration rages. Before they come, the land is like the garden in Eden; after they leave, there is only a barren wasteland. Indeed, nothing escapes them.
A Conservative Version
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. Yea, and none has escaped them.
American Standard Version
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.
Bible in Basic English
Before them fire sends destruction, and after them flame is burning: the land is like the garden of Eden before them, and after them an unpeopled waste; truly, nothing has been kept safe from them.
Darby Translation
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.
Julia Smith Translation
Before him a fire devoured, and after him a flame shall burn; the land as the garden of Eden before him, and after him a desert of desolation; and also there was no escaping to him.
King James 2000
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; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Lexham Expanded Bible
{Before them} a fire devours, and behind them a flame burns. Like the garden of Eden is the land {before them}, and after them [it is like] a desolate desert, and nothing can escape them.
Modern King James verseion
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 nothing shall escape them.
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
Before him shall be a consuming fire, and behind him a burning flame. The land shall be as a garden of pleasure before him, but behind him shall it be a very waste wilderness, and there is no man, that shall escape him.
NET Bible
Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness -- for nothing escapes them!
New Heart English Bible
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.
The Emphasized Bible
Before him, hath a fire, devoured, and, after him, shall a flame, consume, - As the garden of Eden, is the land before him, but, after him, a desert most desolate, Moreover also, escape, giveth he none.
Webster
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; and nothing shall escape them.
World English Bible
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.
Youngs Literal Translation
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,
Interlinear
Paniym
פּנים
Paniym
before, face, presence, because, sight, countenance, from, person, upon, of, ...me, against, ...him, open, for, toward,
Usage: 2119
References
Word Count of 20 Translations in Joel 2:3
Verse Info
Context Readings
The Day Of Yahweh Is Near
2
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and of thick [dark] mist,
Like the dawn spread over the mountains;
There is a [pagan, hostile] people numerous and mighty,
The like of which has never been before
Nor will be again afterward
Even for years of many generations.
Before them a fire devours,
And behind them a flame burns;
Before them the land is like the Garden of Eden,
But behind them a desolate wilderness;
And nothing at all escapes them.
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
And they run like war horses.
Cross References
Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God
Isaiah 51:3
For the Lord will comfort Zion [in her captivity];
He will comfort all her ruins.
And 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 the voice of a melody.
Zechariah 7:14
“but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no one passed through or returned, for they [by their sins] had made the pleasant land desolate and deserted.”
Exodus 10:5
They shall cover the [visible] surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the ground, and they will eat the rest of what has remained—that is, the vegetation left after the hail—and they will eat every one of your trees that grows in the field;
Exodus 10:15
For they covered the [visible] surface of the land, so that the ground was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained not a green thing on the trees or the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
Joel 1:19-20
O Lord, I cry out to You,
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
Genesis 13:10
So Lot looked and saw that the valley of the Jordan was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar [at the south end of the Dead Sea].
Psalm 50:3
May our God come and not keep silent;
Fire devours before Him,
And around Him a mighty tempest rages.
Psalm 105:34-35
He spoke, and the [migratory] locusts came,
And the young locusts, even without number,
Jeremiah 5:17
“They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread;
They will consume your sons and your daughters;
They will consume your flocks and your herds;
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.
Ezekiel 31:8-9
‘The cedars in the garden of God could not hide or rival it;
The cypress trees did not have boughs like it,
And the
No tree in the garden of God was like it in its beauty.
Joel 1:4-7
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 [in judgment of Judah].
Amos 7:4
Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land.