Joel 2

The Terrible Visitation

1 ^aBlow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the ^bday of the Lord is coming;
Indeed, it is near,
2 A day of ^cdarkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a ^dgreat and mighty people;
There has ^enever been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A ^ffire consumes before them,
And behind them a flame devours.
The land is ^glike the Garden of Eden before them,
But a ^hdesolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their ⁱappearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
5 ▼

▼Lit Like the noise of chariots

With a ^knoise as of chariots
They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
Like the ▼

▼Lit sound

crackling of a ^mflame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
6 Before them the people are in ⁿanguish;
All ^ofaces ▼

▼Or become flushed

turn pale.
7 They run like warriors,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And each of them ^qmarches ▼

▼Lit in his ways

in line,
Nor do they lose their way.
8 They do not crowd each other,
Every warrior of them marches in his path;
When they ▼

▼Lit fall

burst through the ▼

▼Lit weapon, prob. javelin

defenses,
They do not break ranks.
9 They storm the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the ^uhouses,
They ^venter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth ^wquakes,
The heavens tremble,
The ^xsun and the moon become dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The Lord ^yutters His voice before ^zHis army;
His camp is indeed very great,
For ^aamighty is one who carries out His word.
The ^abday of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And ^acwho can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“ ^adReturn to Me with all your heart,
And with ^aefasting, weeping, and mourning;
13 And ^aftear your heart and not merely ^agyour garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^ahgracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And ^airelenting of catastrophe.
14 Who knows, ^ajHe might turn and relent,
And leave a ^akblessing behind Him,
Resulting in ^ala grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
15 ^amBlow a trumpet in Zion,
^anConsecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, ^aosanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the ^apgroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep ^aqbetween the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “ ▼

▼Or Look compassionately on

, ^asSpare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a ^atdisgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘ ^auWhere is their God?’”

Deliverance Promised

18 Then the Lord ▼

▼Or was zealous

will be ^awzealous for His land,
And ▼

▼Or had compassion

will have ^aycompassion for His people.
19 The Lord ▼

▼Or answered and said

will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to ^basend you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with ▼

▼Lit it

them;
And I will ^bcnever again make you a disgrace among the nations.
20 “But I will remove the ^bdnorthern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land,
Its advance guard into the ^beeastern sea,
And its rear guard into the ^bfwestern sea.
And its ^bgstench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up,
Because it has done great things.”

21 ^bhDo not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice,
For the Lord has done ^bigreat things.
22 Do not fear, animals of the field,
For the ^bjpastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has produced its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded ▼

▼Lit their wealth

in full.
23 So shout for joy, you ^blsons of Zion,
And ^bmrejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has ^bngiven you ▼

▼I.e., autumn; or possibly the teacher for righteousness

the early rain for your vindication.
And He has brought down for you the rain,
The ▼

▼I.e., autumn

early and ▼

▼I.e., spring

, ^brlatter rain ▼

▼As in ancient versions; MT in the first

as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will ^btoverflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will compensate you for the years
That the ▼

▼Or migratory

swarming ^bvlocust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust--
My great army which I sent among you.
26 “You will have plenty to ^bweat and be satisfied,
And you will ^bxpraise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has ^bydealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will ^bznever be put to shame.
27 “So you will ^caknow that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is ^cbno other;
And My people will never be ^ccput to shame.

The Promise of the Spirit

28 “ ▼

▼Ch 3:1 in Heb

, ^ceIt will come about after this
That I will ^cfpour out My Spirit on all ▼

▼Lit flesh

, ^chmankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 “And even on the ^cimale and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the Lord

30 “I will ▼

▼Lit give

, ^ckdisplay wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 “The ^clsun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the ^cmgreat and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 “And it will come about that ^cneveryone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will ▼

▼Or flee to safety

be saved;
For ^cpon Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who ^cqescape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the ^crsurvivors whom the Lord calls.