Joel 2–3

^aBlow ye the trumpet ^bin Zion, and ^asound an alarm in ^bmy holy mountain:

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:

^cFor the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

^2cdeA day of darkness and ^deof gloominess,

^dfA day of clouds and ^dfof thick darkness,

As ^gthe morning spread upon the mountains:

^hA great people and a strong;

ⁱThere hath not been ever the like,

Neither shall be any more after it,

Even to the years of many generations.

^3jA fire devoureth before them;

And behind them ^ja flame burneth:

The land is as ^kthe garden of Eden before them,

And ^kkbehind them ^la desolate wilderness;

Yea, and ^llnothing shall escape them.

^4mThe appearance of them is as the appearance of horses;

And as horsemen, so shall they run.

⁵ⁿLike the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they ⁿⁿleap,

Like the noise of a flame of ^ofire that devoureth the stubble,

^hAs a strong people set in battle array.

⁶Before their face the people shall be much pained:

^pAll faces ^qshall gather blackness.

⁷They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war;

And they shall march every one on his ways,

And they shall not break their ranks:

⁸Neither shall one ^rthrust another;

They shall walk every one in his path:

And when they fall upon the sword, they shall not ^sbe wounded.

^9tThey shall ^urun to and fro in the city;

They shall ^urun upon the wall,

They shall climb up upon the houses;

^vThey shall enter in at the windows ^vvlike a thief.

^10wThe earth shall quake before them;

^wThe heavens shall tremble:

^xyThe sun and the moon shall be dark,

^xAnd the stars shall withdraw their shining:

¹¹And ^xxthe Lord shall utter his voice before ^yhis army:

For ^hhis ^zcamp is very great:

^aFor he is strong that executeth his word:

For ^bcthe day of the Lord is great and very ^cterrible;

And ^dwho can abide it?

¹²Therefore also now, saith the Lord,

^eTurn ye even to me with all your heart,

And ^fwith fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

¹³And ^grent your heart, and not ^hyour garments,

And ^eturn unto the Lord your God:

For ^ijhe is gracious and ^ijmerciful,

^ijSlow to anger, and ^ijkof great kindness,

And ⁱrepenteth him of the evil.

^14lWho knoweth if he will return and repent,

And leave ^ma blessing behind him;

Even ⁿa meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?

^15oBlow the trumpet in Zion,

^pSanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

¹⁶Gather the people, ^qsanctify the congregation, assemble the elders,

^rGather the children, and those that suck the breasts:

^sLet the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her ^tcloset.

¹⁷Let ^uthe priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep ^vbetween ^wthe porch and ^xthe altar,

And let them say, ^ySpare thy people, O Lord,

And give not thine heritage to reproach,

That the heathen should rule over them:

^zWherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

¹⁸Then will the Lord ^abe jealous for his land,

And ^bpity his people.

¹⁹Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people,

Behold, I will send you ^cdcorn, and ^cwine, and ^coil,

And ye shall be satisfied therewith:

And I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

²⁰But ^ddI will remove far off from you ^ethe northern army,

And will drive him into a land barren and desolate,

With his face toward ^fthe east sea,

And his hinder part towards ^gthe utmost sea,

And ^hhis stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up,

Because he hath done great things.

²¹Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice:

For the Lord will do great things.

²²ⁱBe not afraid, ye beasts of the field:

For ^kthe pastures of the wilderness do spring,

For ^lthe tree beareth her fruit,

^lThe fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

^23mBe glad then, ye children of Zion, and ^mrejoice in the Lord your God:

For he hath given you ^othe former rain moderately,

And ^phe will cause to come down for you the rain,

^oThe former rain, and ^qthe latter rain in the first month.

²⁴And the floors shall be full of ^cwheat,

And ^rthe fats shall overflow with ^cwine and ^coil.

²⁵And I will restore to you the years that ^sthe locust hath eaten,

^sThe cankerworm, and ^sthe caterpillar, and ^sthe palmerworm,

^tMy great army which I sent among you.

²⁶And ^cuye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,

And praise the name of the Lord your God,

That hath dealt wondrously with you:

And ^vmy people shall never be ashamed.

^27wAnd ye shall know that I am ^xin the midst of Israel,

And that ^yI am the Lord your God, and none else:

And ^vmy people shall never be ashamed.

^28zAnd it shall come to pass afterward,

That ^aI will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;

And ^bcyour sons and ^cdyour daughters shall prophesy,

^cYour old men shall dream ^edreams,

^cYour young men shall see ^fvisions:

^29cAnd also upon ^gthe servants and upon the handmaids

In those days will I pour out my spirit.

³⁰And ^hI will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth,

Blood, and fire, and ⁱpillars of smoke.

^31kThe sun shall be turned into darkness, and ^klthe moon into blood,

^mBefore ⁿthe great and ^mnthe terrible day of the Lord come.

³²And it shall come to pass, that ^owhosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered:

For ^pqin mount Zion and in Jerusalem ^prshall be deliverance,

As the Lord hath said,

And in ^sthe remnant whom the Lord shall call.

III.For behold, ^ain those days, and in that time,

^aWhen I shall ^bbring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

^2cI will also gather all nations,

And will bring them down ^dinto the valley of Jehoshaphat,

And ^ewill plead with them there for my people and for ^fmy heritage Israel,

Whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

³And ^gthey have cast lots for my people;

And have given a boy for a harlot,

And sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

⁴Yea, and what have ye to do with me, ^hiO Tyre, and ⁱZidon,

And all ^jthe coasts of ^ikPalestine?

Will ye render me a recompence?

And if ye recompense me,

^lSwiftly and speedily ^mwill I return your recompence upon your own head;

⁵Because ⁿye have taken my silver and my gold,

And have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

⁶ⁿThe children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem ^ohave ye sold unto ^pthe Grecians,

That ye might remove them far from their border.

⁷Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them,

And ^mwill return your recompence upon your own head:

⁸And ^qI will sell your sons and your daughters

Into the hand of the children of Judah,

And they shall sell them to ^rsthe Sabeans, to a people ^sfar off:

For the Lord hath spoken it.

⁹Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles;

Prepare war, wake up the mighty men,

Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

^10tBeat your plowshares into swords,

And ^tyour pruninghooks into spears:

^uLet the weak say, I am strong.

^11vcAssemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen,

And ^cvgather yourselves together round about:

Thither cause ^wthy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

¹²Let the heathen be wakened, and come up ^dto the valley of Jehoshaphat:

For there will I sit ^xto judge all the heathen round about.

^13yPut ye in ^zthe sickle, ^yfor ^athe harvest is ripe:

Come, get you down; for ^bthe press is full, ^cthe fats overflow;

For their wickedness is great.

^14dMultitudes, multitudes ^ein the valley of ^gdecision:

For ^hthe day of the Lord is near ^ein the valley of decision.

¹⁵ⁱThe sun and the moon shall be darkened,

ⁱAnd the stars shall withdraw their shining.

^16jThe Lord also shall roar out of Zion,

^jAnd ^kutter his voice from Jerusalem;

And ⁱthe heavens and the earth shall shake:

But the Lord will be the hope of his people,

And ^lthe strength of the children of Israel.

^17mSo shall ye know that I am the Lord your God

ⁿDwelling ^oin Zion, ^opmy holy mountain:

Then shall Jerusalem be holy,

And there shall ^qno strangers pass through her any more.

¹⁸And it shall come to pass ^rin that day,

That ^stthe mountains shall drop down ^unew wine,

And ^tthe hills shall flow with milk,

And ^vall the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters,

And ^wa fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord,

And shall water the valley of ^xShittim.

^19yEgypt shall be a desolation,

And ^zEdom shall be ^aa desolate wilderness,

For ^bthe violence against the children of Judah,

Because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

²⁰But Judah shall dwell ^cfor ever,

And Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹For ^dI will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed:

For ^ethe Lord dwelleth in Zion.