Joel 2:3

Amplified Bible

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.

Cross References

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].

Genesis 2:8

And the Lord God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

Psalm 50:3

May our God come and not keep silent; Fire devours before Him, And around Him a mighty tempest rages.

Psalm 97:3

Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries on all sides.

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.

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;

Isaiah 14:17

Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’

Isaiah 15:6

For the waters of Nimrim are desolate. Indeed the grass is withered, the new growth dies; There is no green thing.

Isaiah 33:4

Your spoil [of Israel’s foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers; As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.

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.

Isaiah 9:18

¶For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns, It even sets the forest thickets ablaze; And it swirls upward in a column of smoke.

Isaiah 9:19

By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.

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 36:35

Then they will say, ‘This land that was deserted and desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’

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.

Habakkuk 1:6

“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans [who rule in Babylon], That fierce and impetuous nation Who march throughout the earth To take possession of dwelling places that do not belong to them. [2 Kin 24:2]

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.”