Joel 2:12–27

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

ⁱ“return to me with all your heart,

^jwith fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

¹³and ^krend your hearts and not ^lyour garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,

^mfor he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

ⁿand he relents over disaster.

^14oWho knows whether he will not turn and relent,

and ^pleave a blessing behind him,

^qa grain offering and a drink offering

for the Lord your God?

^15rBlow the trumpet in Zion;

^sconsecrate a fast;

call a solemn assembly;

¹⁶gather the people.

^tConsecrate the congregation;

assemble the elders;

^ugather the children,

even nursing infants.

^vLet the bridegroom leave his room,

and the bride her chamber.

^17wBetween the ^xvestibule and the ^yaltar

^zlet 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.¹

^aWhy should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’ ”

The Lord Had Pity

^18bThen the Lord became jealous for his land

^cand had pity on his people.

¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,

“Behold, ^dI am sending to you

grain, wine, and oil,

^dand 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 vanguard² into ^ethe eastern sea,

and his rear guard³ into ^fthe western sea;

^gthe stench and foul smell of him will rise,

for he has done great things.

²¹“Fear not, O land;

be glad and rejoice,

for ^hthe Lord has done great things!

²²Fear not, ⁱyou beasts of the field,

for ^jthe pastures of the wilderness are green;

^kthe tree bears its fruit;

the fig tree and ^kvine give their full yield.

^23l“Be glad, O children of Zion,

and ^lrejoice in the Lord your God,

for he has given ^mthe early rain for your vindication;

he has poured down for you abundant rain,

^mthe early and ⁿthe latter rain, as before.

²⁴“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

²⁵I will restore⁴ to you the years

that ^othe swarming locust has eaten,

^othe hopper, ^othe destroyer, and ^othe cutter,

^pmy great army, which I sent among you.

^26q“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 ^rshall never again be put to shame.

^27sYou shall know that I am ^tin the midst of Israel,

and that ^uI am the Lord your God ^vand there is none else.

And my people ^rshall never again be put to shame.