Joel 1:17

The grains of seed ¹  have shriveled beneath their shovels. ²  Storehouses have been decimated and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.

The seeds are shrivelled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up.

The seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up.

The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns and granaries stand empty and abandoned.

The seeds in the field are dead, barns deserted, Grain silos abandoned. Who needs them? The crops have failed!

The grains have become small and dry under the spade; the store-houses are made waste, the grain-stores are broken down; for the grain is dry and dead.

The seed shrivels under the clods, the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are ruined because the grain has failed.

The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.

The grains of seed ¹  have shriveled beneath their shovels. ²  Storehouses have been decimated and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.

¹ tn Heb “seed.” The phrase “the grains of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

² tc This line is textually uncertain. The MT reads “the seed shrivels in their shovels/clods.” One Qumran manuscript (4QXXII^c) reads “the heifers decay in [their] s[talls].” LXX reads “the heifers leap in their stalls.”

tn These two lines of v. 17 comprise only four words in the Hebrew; three of the four are found only here in the OT. The translation and meaning are rather uncertain. A number of English versions render the word translated “shovels” as “clods,” referring to lumps of soil (e.g., KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).