Joel 2:3

New International Reader's Version

Like fire they eat up everything in their path. Behind them it looks as if flames have burned the land. In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden. Behind them it is a dry and empty desert. Nothing escapes them.

Cross References

Genesis 13:10

Lot looked around. He saw that the whole Jordan River valley toward the town of Zoar had plenty of water. It was like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 2:8

The Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden. He put in the garden the man he had formed.

Psalm 50:3

Our God comes, and he won’t be silent. A burning fire goes ahead of him. A terrible storm is all around him.

Psalm 97:3

The Lord sends fire ahead of him. It burns up his enemies all around him.

Exodus 10:15

The locusts covered the ground until it was black. They ate up everything left after the hail. They ate up everything growing in the fields. They ate up the fruit on the trees. There was nothing green left on any tree or plant in the whole land of Egypt.

Exodus 10:5

They will cover the ground so that it can’t be seen. They will eat what little you have left after the hail. That includes every tree growing in your fields.

Isaiah 14:17

Did he turn the world into a desert? Did he destroy its cities? Did he refuse to let his prisoners go home?’

Isaiah 15:6

The waters at Nimrim are dried up. And so is the grass. The plants have died. Nothing green is left.

Isaiah 33:4

Nations, what you have taken in battle is destroyed. It’s as if young locusts had eaten it up. Like large numbers of locusts, people rush to get it.

Isaiah 51:3

You can be sure that I will comfort Zion’s people. I will look with loving concern on all their destroyed buildings. I will make their deserts like Eden. I will make their dry and empty land like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be there. People will sing and give thanks to me.

Isaiah 9:18

What is evil burns like a fire. It burns up bushes and thorns. It sets the forest on fire. It sends up a huge column of smoke.

Isaiah 9:19

The Lord rules over all. When he gets angry, he will burn up the land. The people will burn in the fire. They will not spare one another.

Jeremiah 5:17

They will eat up your crops and your food. They will strike down your sons and daughters. They will kill your sheep and cattle. They will destroy your vines and fig trees. You trust in your cities that have high walls around them. But the people in them will be killed by swords.

Ezekiel 36:35

They will say, ‘This land was completely destroyed. But now it’s like the Garden of Eden. The cities were full of broken-down buildings. They were destroyed and empty. But now they have high walls around them. And people live in them.’

Amos 7:4

The Lord and King gave me a second vision. He was using fire to punish his people. It dried up the deep waters. It burned the land up.

Habakkuk 1:6

I am going to send the armies of Babylon to attack you. They are very mean. They move quickly. They sweep across the whole earth. They take over homes that do not belong to them.

Zechariah 7:14

I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations. They were strangers there. The land they left behind became dry and empty. No one could even travel through it. This is how they turned the pleasant land into a dry and empty desert.”