Joel 2–3

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.

JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS

3Yes, in those days and at that time,

when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,^aj

²I will gather all the nations^ak

and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.^Aal

I will enter into judgment with them there^am

because of my people, my inheritance Israel.

The nations have scattered the Israelites

in foreign countries^a

and divided up my land.^b

³They cast lots for my people;^c

they bartered a boy for a prostitute

and sold a girl for wine to drink.^d

⁴And also: Tyre,^e Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia^f—what are you to me? Are you paying me back or trying to get even with me? I will quickly bring retribution on your heads.^{g 5}For you took my silver and gold and carried my finest treasures^h to your temples. ⁶You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeksⁱ to remove them far from their own territory. ⁷Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them;^j I will bring retribution on your heads. ⁸I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah,^k and they will sell them to the Sabeans,^Bl to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken.

⁹Proclaim this among the nations:^m

Prepare for holy war;ⁿ

rouse the warriors;^o

let all the men of war advance and attack!

¹⁰Beat your plows into swords

and your pruning knives into spears.^p

Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.”

¹¹Come quickly,^C all you surrounding nations;

gather yourselves.^q

Bring down your warriors there, Lord.^r

¹²Let the nations be roused

and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit down

to judge all the surrounding nations.^s

¹³Swing the sickle

because the harvest is ripe.^t

Come and trample the grapes

because the winepress is full;^u

the wine vats overflow

because the wickedness of the nations is extreme.^v

¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes^w

in the valley of decision!

For the day of the Lord is near^x

in the valley of decision.

¹⁵The sun and moon will grow dark,

and the stars will cease their shining.^y

¹⁶The Lord will roar from Zion^z

and make his voice heard from Jerusalem;^aa

heaven and earth will shake.^ab

But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,^ac

a stronghold for the Israelites.^ad

ISRAEL BLESSED

¹⁷Then you will know

that I am the Lord your God,^ae

who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.^af

Jerusalem will be holy,^ag

and foreigners will never overrun it again.^ah

¹⁸In that day

the mountains will drip with sweet wine,^ai

and the hills will flow with milk.^aj

All the streams of Judah will flow with water,^ak

and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house,^al

watering the Valley of Acacias.^Aam

¹⁹Egypt will become desolate,

and Edom a desert wasteland,

because of the violence done to the people of Judah^an

in whose land they shed innocent blood.

²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever,^ao

and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹I will pardon their bloodguilt,^Bap

which I have not pardoned,

for the Lord dwells in Zion.