Joel 1:19

To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ¹  for fire ²  has burned up ³  the grassy pastures, ⁴  flames have razed ⁵  all the trees in the fields.

Ps 50:15; Ps 91:15; Jer 9:10; Joe 2:3; Am 7:4; Mic 7:7; Hab 3:17,18; Lu 18:1,7; Php 4:6,7

¹ tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

² sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).

³ tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.

⁴ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

⁵ tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.