Joel 1–2

1The word of the Lord that came^a to Joel son of Pethuel:

A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS

²Hear this,^b you elders;

listen, all you inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your days^c

or in the days of your ancestors?

³Tell your children about it,^d

and let your children tell their children,

and their children the next generation.

⁴What the devouring locust^e has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locust^f has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locust^g has eaten.

⁵Wake up, you drunkards,^h and weep;

wail, all you wine drinkers,

because of the sweet wine,

for it has been taken from your mouth.

⁶For a nation has invaded my land,ⁱ

powerful and without number;

its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.^j

⁷It has devastated my grapevine

and splintered my fig tree.

It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;

its branches have turned white.

⁸Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,^k

mourning for the husband of her youth.

⁹Grain and drink offerings have been cut off^l

from the house of the Lord;

the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.^m

¹⁰The fields are destroyed;ⁿ

the land grieves;

indeed, the grain is destroyed;

the new wine is dried up;^o

and the fresh oil fails.^p

¹¹Be ashamed, you farmers,^q

wail, you vinedressers,^A

over the wheat and the barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.^r

¹²The grapevine is dried up,^s

and the fig tree is withered;

the pomegranate,^t the date palm,^u and the apple^v—

all the trees of the orchard—have withered.

Indeed, human joy has dried up.^w

¹³Dress in sackcloth and lament,^x you priests;^y

wail,^z you ministers of the altar.

Come and spend the night in sackcloth,^aa

you ministers of my God,

because grain and drink offerings

are withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁴Announce a sacred fast;^ab

proclaim a solemn assembly!

Gather the elders^ac

and all the residents of the land

at the house of the Lord your God,^ad

and cry out to the Lord.^ae

THE DAY OF THE LORD

¹⁵Woe because of that day!^af

For the day of the Lord is near

and will come as devastation from the Almighty.^ag

¹⁶Hasn’t the food been cut off

before our eyes,^ah

joy and gladness^ai

from the house of our God?

¹⁷The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.^Aaj

The storehouses are in ruin,

and the granaries are broken down,

because the grain has withered away.

¹⁸How the animals groan!^ak

The herds of cattle wander in confusion

since they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.

¹⁹I call to you, Lord,^al

for fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness,^a

and flames have devoured

all the trees of the orchard.

²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to^B you,^b

for the river beds are dried up,^c

and fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness.

2Blow the trumpet in Zion;^d

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the residents of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming;^e

in fact, it is near—

²a day of darkness and gloom,^f

a day of clouds and total darkness,^g

like the dawn spreading over the mountains;

a great and strong people^h appears,

such as never existed in ages pastⁱ

and never will again

in all the generations to come.^j

³A fire devours in front of them,^k

and behind them a flame blazes.

The land in front of them

is like the garden of Eden,^l

but behind them,

it is like a desert wasteland;^m

there is no escape from them.

⁴Their appearance is like that of horses,ⁿ

and they gallop like war horses.

⁵They bound on the tops of the mountains.

Their sound is like the sound of chariots,^o

like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble,^p

like a mighty army deployed for war.

⁶Nations writhe in horror before them;^q

all faces turn pale.

⁷They attack as warriors attack;

they scale walls as men of war do.

Each goes on his own path,^r

and they do not change their course.

⁸They do not push each other;

each proceeds on his own path.

They dodge the arrows, never stopping.

⁹They storm the city;

they run on the wall;

they climb into the houses;^s

they enter through the windows like thieves.^t

¹⁰The earth quakes before them;^u

the sky shakes.

The sun and moon grow dark,^v

and the stars cease their shining.^w

¹¹The Lord makes his voice heard^x

in the presence of his army.^y

His camp is very large;

those who carry out his command are powerful.^z

Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful^aa—

who can endure it?^ab

GOD’S CALL FOR REPENTANCE

¹²Even now—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

turn to me with all your heart,^ac

with fasting, weeping, and mourning.^ad

¹³Tear your hearts,^ae

not just your clothes,^af

and return to the Lord your God.

For he is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,

and he relents from sending disaster.^ag

¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent^ah

and leave a blessing behind him,^ai

so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering

to the Lord your God.^aj

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion!^ak

Announce a sacred fast;^al

proclaim a solemn assembly.

¹⁶Gather the people;

sanctify the congregation;^am

assemble the aged;^Aan

gather the infants,

even babies nursing at the breast.

Let the groom leave his bedroom,^ao

and the bride her honeymoon chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests,^ap the Lord’s ministers,

weep between the portico and the altar.^aq

Let them say,

“Have pity on your people, Lord,^ar

and do not make your inheritance a disgrace,^a

an object of scorn among the nations.

Why should it be said among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’ ”^b

GOD’S RESPONSE TO HIS PEOPLE

¹⁸Then the Lord became jealous for his land^c and spared his people.^{d 19}The Lord answered his people:

Look, I am about to send you

grain, new wine, and fresh oil.^e

You will be satiated with them,

and I will no longer make you

a disgrace among the nations.^f

²⁰I will drive the northerner far from you^g

and banish him to a dry and desolate land,

his front ranks into the Dead Sea,^h

and his rear guard into the Mediterranean Sea.ⁱ

His stench will rise;

yes, his rotten smell will rise,^j

for he has done astonishing things.

²¹Don’t be afraid, land;^k

rejoice and be glad,

for the Lord has done astonishing things.^l

²²Don’t be afraid, wild animals,

for the wilderness pastures have turned green,^m

the trees bear their fruit,

and the fig tree and grapevine yield their riches.

²³Children of Zion,ⁿ rejoice and be glad

in the Lord your God,^o

because he gives you the autumn rain^A,

for your vindication.^Bp

He sends showers for you,

both autumn and spring rain^q as before.

²⁴The threshing floors will be full of grain,^r

and the vats will overflow

with new wine and fresh oil.

²⁵I will repay you for the years

that the swarming locust ate,^s

the young locust, the destroying locust,

and the devouring locust—

my great army that I sent against you.

²⁶You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied.^t

You will praise the name of the Lord your God,^u

who has dealt wondrously with you.^v

My people will never again be put to shame.^w

²⁷You will know that I am present in Israel^x

and that I am the Lord your God,

and there is no other.^y

My people will never again be put to shame.^z

GOD’S PROMISE OF HIS SPIRIT

²⁸After this^aa

I will pour out my Spirit^ab on all humanity;^ac

then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

your old men will have dreams,

and your young men will see visions.

²⁹I will even pour out my Spirit

on the male and female slaves in those days.^ad

³⁰I will display wonders

in the heavens and on the earth:^ae

blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

³¹The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood^af

before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.^ag

³²Then everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved,^ah

for there will be an escape

for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

as the Lord promised,^ai

among the survivors the Lord calls.