Joel 2:3 · KJV
“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land {is} as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.”
— Joel 2:3
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, {even} to the years of many generations. {of many...: Heb. of generation and generation}
The appearance of them {is} as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joel 2 — Context
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for {it is} nigh at hand; {trumpet: or, cornet}
2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, {even} to the years of many generations. {of many...: Heb. of generation and generation}
3A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land {is} as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4The appearance of them {is} as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
Cross References
Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Joel 1:19-20
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. {pastures: or, habitations}
Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Zechariah 7:14
But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. {pleasant...: Heb. land of desire}
Amos 7:4
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
Psalms 50:3
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
Psalms 105:34-35
He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,
Exodus 10:5
And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: {face: Heb. eye}