Joel 2

The Day of the Lord

1 ^aBlow a trumpet in ^bZion;
sound an alarm on ^cmy holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for ^dthe day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2 ^ea day of darkness and gloom,
^fa day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
^ga great and powerful people;
^htheir like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
3 ⁱFire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^jthe garden of Eden before them,
but ^kbehind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
4 ^lTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
5 ^mAs with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ⁿa flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
^olike a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish;
^pall faces grow pale.
7Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
8They do not jostle one another;
^qeach marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
9 ^rThey leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
^sthey climb up into the houses,
^tthey enter through the windows ^ulike a thief.
10 ^vThe earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
^wThe sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 ^xThe Lord utters his voice
before ^yhis army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
^zhe who executes his word is powerful.
^aaFor the day of the Lord is ^abgreat and very awesome;
^acwho can endure it?

Return to the Lord

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
^ad“return to me with all your heart,
^aewith fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13and ^afrend your hearts and not ^agyour garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
^ahfor he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
^aiand he relents over disaster.
14 ^ajWho knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and ^akleave a blessing behind him,
^ala grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 ^amBlow the trumpet in Zion;
^anconsecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16gather the people.
^aoConsecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
^apgather the children,
even nursing infants.
^aqLet the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17 ^arBetween the ^asvestibule and the ^ataltar
^aulet the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations. ▼

▼Or  reproach, that the nations should rule over them

^awWhy should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

18 ^axThen the Lord became jealous for his land
^ayand had pity on his people.
19The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, ^azI am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
^baand you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
20 “I will remove the northerner far from you,
and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard ▼

▼Hebrew face

into ^bcthe eastern sea,
and his rear guard ▼

▼Hebrew  his end

into ^bethe western sea;
^bfthe stench and foul smell of him will rise,
for he has done great things.
21 “Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for ^bgthe Lord has done great things!
22Fear not, ^bhyou beasts of the field,
for ^bithe pastures of the wilderness are green;
^bjthe tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and ^bkvine give their full yield.
23 ^bl“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and ^bmrejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^bnthe early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
^bothe early and ^bpthe latter rain, as before.
24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25I will restore ▼

▼Or pay back

to you the years
that ^brthe swarming locust has eaten,
^bsthe hopper, ^btthe destroyer, and ^buthe cutter,
^bvmy great army, which I sent among you.
26 ^bw“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^bxshall never again be put to shame.
27 ^byYou shall know that I am ^bzin the midst of Israel,
and that ^caI am the Lord your God ^cband there is none else.
And my people ^ccshall never again be put to shame.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

28 ▼

▼Ch 3:1 in Hebrew

^ce“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that ^cfI will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
^cgyour sons and ^chyour daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 ^ciEven on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30“And I will show ^cjwonders in the heavens and ^ckon the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 ^clThe sun shall be turned to darkness, ^cmand the moon to blood, ^cnbefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32And it shall come to pass that ^coeveryone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ^cpFor in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among ^cqthe survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.