Joel 2:17

KJV1611 – Modern English

Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare your people, O LORD, and give not your heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

Additional Resources

Other Translations

  • Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

    Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, LORD. Do not make your heritage an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, “Where is their God?”'

  • King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

    Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

  • American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

    Let the priests,{H3548} the ministers{H8334} of Jehovah,{H3068} weep{H1058} between the porch{H197} and the altar,{H4196} and let them say,{H559} Spare{H2347} thy people,{H5971} O Jehovah,{H3068} and give{H5414} not thy heritage{H5159} to reproach,{H2781} that the nations{H1471} should rule over{H4910} them: wherefore should they say{H559} among the peoples,{H5971} Where is their God?{H430}

  • King James Version with Strong's Numbers

    Let the priests{H3548}, the ministers{H8334}{(H8764)} of the LORD{H3068}, weep{H1058}{(H8799)} between the porch{H197} and the altar{H4196}, and let them say{H559}{(H8799)}, Spare{H2347}{(H8798)} thy people{H5971}, O LORD{H3068}, and give{H5414}{(H8799)} not thine heritage{H5159} to reproach{H2781}, that the heathen{H1471} should rule over{H4910}{(H8800)} them: wherefore should they say{H559}{(H8799)} among the people{H5971}, Where is their God{H430}?

  • Coverdale Bible (1535)

    Let the prestes serue the LORDE betwixte the porch & ye aulter, wepinge & sayenge: be fauourable (o LORDE) be fauourable vnto thy people: let not thine heretage be brought to soch confucion, lest the Heithen be lordes therof. Wherfore shulde they saye amonge the Heithen: where is now their God?

  • Geneva Bible (1560)

    Let the Priestes, the ministers of the Lord weepe betweene the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and giue not thine heritage into reproche that the heathen should rule ouer them. Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

  • Bishops' Bible (1568)

    Let the priestes the Lordes ministers weepe betwixt the porche & the aulter, and let them say, Spare thy people O Lord, and geue not ouer thine heritage to reproche, that the heathen shoulde rule ouer them: Wherfore shoulde they say amongst the heathen, Where is their God?

  • Authorized King James Version (1611)

    Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God?

  • Webster's Bible (1833)

    Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare your people, Yahweh, And don't give your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

  • Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

    Between the porch and the altar weep let the priests, ministrants of Jehovah, And let them say: `Have pity, O Jehovah, on Thy people, And give not Thy inheritance to reproach, To the ruling over them of nations, Why do they say among peoples, Where `is' their God?'

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

  • Bible in Basic English (1941)

    Let the priests, the servants of the Lord, be weeping between the covered way and the altar, and let them say, Have mercy on your people, O Lord, do not give up your heritage to shame, so that the nations become their rulers: why let them say among the peoples, Where is their God?

  • World English Bible (2000)

    Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, "Spare your people, Yahweh, and don't give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

  • NET Bible® (New English Translation)

    Let the priests, those who serve the LORD, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. Let them say,“Have pity, O LORD, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples,“Where is their God?”

Referenced Verses

  • Ezek 8:16 : 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
  • Ps 79:10 : 10 Why should the heathen say, Where is their God? Let Him be known among the heathen in our sight by avenging the blood of Your servants which is shed.
  • Ps 115:2 : 2 Why should the nations say, Where is now their God?
  • Isa 37:20 : 20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD, You alone.
  • Ps 42:10 : 10 As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is your God?
  • Ps 74:10 : 10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
  • 1 Kgs 6:3 : 3 And the porch in front of the temple of the house was twenty cubits long, according to the width of the house, and ten cubits wide in front of the house.
  • 2 Chr 8:12 : 12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
  • Joel 1:9 : 9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.
  • Amos 7:2 : 2 And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
  • Amos 7:5 : 5 Then I said, O Lord GOD, cease, I beg you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
  • Mic 7:10 : 10 Then she who is my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said to me, Where is the LORD your God? My eyes shall behold her; now she shall be trampled down as the mire of the streets.
  • Matt 23:35 : 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
  • Matt 27:43 : 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
  • Mal 1:9 : 9 And now, I pray you, plead with God that he will be gracious to us: this has been by your means: will he regard you? says the LORD of hosts.
  • Joel 1:13 : 13 Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests: howl, you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God: for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.
  • Ps 89:41 : 41 All who pass by the way plunder him; he is a reproach to his neighbors.
  • Ps 89:51 : 51 With which your enemies have reproached, O LORD, with which they have reproached the footsteps of your anointed.
  • Ezek 20:9 : 9 But I acted for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
  • Ezek 36:4-7 : 4 Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and mockery to the rest of the nations that are all around; 5 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with spiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. 6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations: 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; I have lifted up my hand, Surely the nations that are about you, they shall bear their own shame.
  • Dan 9:18-19 : 18 O my God, incline Your ear, and hear; open Your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name: for we do not present our supplications before You for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act; do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God: for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.
  • Hos 14:2 : 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say to him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so we will offer the sacrifice of our lips.
  • Neh 9:36 : 36 Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our forefathers to eat its fruit and its bounty, here we are, servants in it.
  • Ps 42:3 : 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, Where is your God?
  • 1 Kgs 9:7 : 7 Then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for My name, I will cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
  • 2 Chr 7:20 : 20 Then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for My name, I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations.
  • Exod 32:11-13 : 11 Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this evil against Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
  • Exod 34:9 : 9 And he said, "If now I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your inheritance."
  • Num 14:14-16 : 14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that you LORD are among this people, that you LORD are seen face to face, and that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them, by day in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you shall kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, 16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.
  • Deut 9:16-29 : 16 And I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made for yourselves a molten calf: you had quickly turned aside out of the way which the LORD had commanded you. 17 And I took the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread nor drink water, because of all your sins which you sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which the LORD was angry against you to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also. 20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at that time. 21 And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I threw the dust into the brook that came down from the mountain. 22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, you provoked the LORD to wrath. 23 Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you did not believe him, nor listen to his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. 25 So I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed therefore to the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, which you have redeemed through your greatness, which you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin: 28 Lest the land from which you brought us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness. 29 Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your mighty power and by your stretched out arm.
  • Deut 28:37 : 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations where the LORD shall lead you.
  • Deut 32:27 : 27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should misbehave themselves, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD has not done all this.
  • Ps 74:18-23 : 18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed Your name. 19 O deliver not the soul of Your turtledove to the multitude of the wicked; forget not the congregation of Your poor forever. 20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise Your name. 22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause: remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily. 23 Forget not the voice of Your enemies: the tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.
  • Ps 79:4 : 4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
  • Ps 44:10-14 : 10 You make us turn back from the enemy: and those who hate us take spoil for themselves. 11 You have given us like sheep appointed for food, and have scattered us among the heathen. 12 You sell Your people for nothing and do not increase Your wealth by their price. 13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those that are around us. 14 You make us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
  • Isa 63:17-19 : 17 O LORD, why have you made us to stray from your ways, and hardened our heart from your fear? Return for your servants' sake, the tribes of your inheritance. 18 The people of your holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. 19 We are yours: you never ruled over them; they were not called by your name.
  • Isa 64:9-9 : 9 Do not be very angry, O LORD, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech you, we are all your people. 10 Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. 12 Will you refrain yourself for these things, O LORD? Will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Joel 2:18
    79%

    18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

  • Joel 1:13-14
    2 verses
    78%

    13 Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests: howl, you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God: for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.

    14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,

  • Lam 2:20
    77%

    20 Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom You have done this. Shall the women eat their offspring, the children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

  • Lam 2:6-7
    2 verses
    76%

    6 And He has violently taken away His tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: He has destroyed His places of the assembly: the Lord has caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and has despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest.

    7 The Lord has cast off His altar, He has abhorred His sanctuary, He has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.

  • Ps 115:2
    76%

    2 Why should the nations say, Where is now their God?

  • Jer 9:18
    75%

    18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

  • Mal 2:13
    75%

    13 And this you have done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and crying out, so much that he regards not the offering any more, nor receives it with good will at your hand.

  • Lam 4:16
    75%

    16 The anger of the LORD has scattered them; he will no longer regard them; they showed no respect to the priests, nor favored the elders.

  • Ps 79:10
    74%

    10 Why should the heathen say, Where is their God? Let Him be known among the heathen in our sight by avenging the blood of Your servants which is shed.

  • Jer 3:21
    74%

    21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

  • Jer 14:17
    74%

    17 Therefore, you shall speak this word to them: 'Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.'

  • Jer 13:17
    74%

    17 But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is taken captive.

  • Joel 1:9
    74%

    9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.

  • Jer 2:8
    74%

    8 The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? and those who handle the law did not know me: the shepherds also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

  • Jer 4:8-9
    2 verses
    74%

    8 For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

    9 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

  • Jer 2:11-12
    2 verses
    73%

    11 Has a nation changed their gods, which are not gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

    12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be very desolate, says the LORD.

  • Jer 8:19
    73%

    19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of those who dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and strange idols?

  • Neh 9:32
    73%

    32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy, do not let all the hardship seem little before You that has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our forefathers, and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

  • Lam 2:18
    73%

    18 Their heart cried to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give yourself no rest; let not the apple of your eye cease.

  • Ps 80:4
    73%

    4 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?

  • Isa 64:11-12
    2 verses
    73%

    11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

    12 Will you refrain yourself for these things, O LORD? Will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?

  • Jer 2:31
    73%

    31 O generation, behold the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? a land of darkness? why do my people say, We are lords; we will come no more to you?

  • 2 Chr 13:9
    73%

    9 Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? So that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a priest of those who are no gods.

  • Mic 2:4
    73%

    4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly spoiled: he has changed the portion of my people; how has he removed it from me! Turning away, he has divided our fields.

  • Deut 32:37
    73%

    37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

  • Dan 9:16
    73%

    16 O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I plead with You, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain: because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all around us.

  • Lam 1:10
    73%

    10 The adversary has spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she has seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom you commanded that they should not enter into your congregation.

  • Jer 16:10
    73%

    10 And it shall come to pass, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

  • Joel 2:12
    72%

    12 Therefore also now, says the LORD, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.

  • Lam 2:1-2
    2 verses
    72%

    1 How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger, and cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger!

    2 The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob, and has not pitied: He has thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground: He has defiled the kingdom and its princes.

  • Mal 2:17
    72%

    17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, How have we wearied him? When you say, Everyone that does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of justice?

  • Lam 1:18
    72%

    18 The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

  • Ps 79:1
    72%

    1 O God, the heathen have entered into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

  • Mic 2:9
    72%

    9 The women of my people you have cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children you have taken away my glory forever.

  • 2 Chr 29:8
    72%

    8 Therefore, the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as you see with your eyes.

  • Isa 5:25
    72%

    25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them: and the hills trembled, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

  • Isa 1:10
    72%

    10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

  • Jer 51:51
    72%

    51 We are ashamed, because we have heard reproach; shame has covered our faces; for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.

  • Jer 12:11
    72%

    11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourns to Me; the whole land is made desolate, because no one lays it to heart.

  • Mic 3:11
    72%

    11 The leaders judge for reward, and the priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us.

  • Hos 4:4
    72%

    4 Yet let no one strive, nor reprove another, for your people are like those who contend with the priest.

  • Amos 2:7
    72%

    7 They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father go in to the same maid, to profane My holy name:

  • Zeph 2:1
    72%

    1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O nation not desired;

  • Zech 7:3
    72%

    3 And to speak to the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these many years?