Lord, help us! The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures, and flames have burned up all the trees.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
- KJV O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
- BSB To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.
- NKJV O Lord, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
- NASB To You, Lord, I cry out; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joel himself cries out to Yahweh as fire has consumed the pastures and trees. The prophet models turning to God in the midst of disaster.
Overview
Joel turns from describing the calamity to praying directly to God, lamenting that fire, likely drought and scorching heat accompanying the locusts, has devoured the wilderness pastures and trees. In crying to Yahweh, the prophet shows that the right response to judgment is to seek the very God whose hand has fallen. His prayer leads the people by example toward dependence on the Lord's mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Jer 9:10I will weep and wail for the mountains, and lament for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are burned up, so that no one passes through; neither can men hear the voice of the livestock. Both the birds of the sky and the animals have fled. They are gone.
- Ps 50:15Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
- Amos 7:4Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.
- Mic 7:7But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
- Luke 18:7Won’t God avenge his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
- Joel 2:3A 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.
- Hab 3:17–18For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
- Ps 91:15He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
- Luke 18:1He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,
- Phil 4:6–7In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 1:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.