Joel 1–2

1ST CHAPTER

The Prophet Joel

¹This is what the Lord said to Joel, son of Pethuel. 

Judah Is Plagued with Locusts and Famine

²Listen to this, you leaders! 

Open your ears, all inhabitants of this land! 

Nothing like this has ever happened in your lifetime 

or in your ancestors’ lifetime. 

³Tell your children about it. 

Have your children tell their children. 

Have your grandchildren tell their children. 

⁴What young locusts leave, mature locusts will eat. 

What mature locusts leave, adult locusts will eat. 

What adult locusts leave, grasshoppers will eat. 

⁵Wake up and cry, you drunks! 

Cry loudly, you wine drinkers! 

New wine has been taken away from you. 

⁶A strong nation attacked my land. 

It has too many soldiers to count. 

They have teeth like lions. 

They have fangs like grown lions. 

⁷They destroyed my grapevines. 

They ruined my fig trees. 

They stripped off what they could eat, 

threw the rest away, 

and left the branches bare. 

⁸Cry loudly like a young woman who is dressed in sackcloth, 

mourning for the man she was going to marry. 

⁹Grain offerings and wine offerings 

are no longer brought to the Lord’s temple. 

The priests, the Lord’s servants, mourn. 

¹⁰Israel’s fields are ruined, and the ground is dried up. 

The grain has been destroyed. 

The new wine has dried up. 

The olive oil has run out. 

¹¹Be sad, you farmers! 

Cry loudly, you grape growers! 

Mourn for the wheat and the barley. 

The harvest is destroyed in the field. 

¹²The grapevines are dried up. 

The fig trees are withered. 

The pomegranate, palm, and apricot trees, 

as well as all the trees in the orchards, have died. 

Yes, the joy of these people has died too. 

¹³Put on your sackcloth and mourn, you priests. 

Cry loudly, you servants of the altar. 

Spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God. 

Grain offerings and wine offerings 

are withheld from your God’s temple. 

¹⁴Schedule a time to fast! 

Call for an assembly! 

Gather the leaders and everyone who lives in the land. 

Bring them to the temple of the Lord your God, 

and cry to the Lord for help. 

¹⁵This will be a terrible day! 

The day of the Lord is near, 

and it will come like destruction from the Almighty. 

¹⁶Food disappears right before our eyes. 

Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God’s temple. 

¹⁷Seeds shrivel up in their shells. 

Storehouses are destroyed. 

Barns are ruined. 

The grain has dried up. 

¹⁸The animals groan. 

Herds of cattle wander around confused. 

There’s no pasture for them. 

Even flocks of sheep are suffering. 

¹⁹O Lord, I cry to you for help! 

Fire has burned up the open pastures. 

Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards. 

²⁰Even wild animals long for you. 

Streams run dry. 

Fire has burned up the open pastures. 

2ND CHAPTER

The Day of the Lord

¹Blow the ram’s horn in Zion. 

Sound the alarm on my holy mountain. 

Everyone who lives in the land should tremble, 

because the day of the Lord is coming. 

Certainly, it is near. 

²It is a day of darkness and gloom, 

a day of clouds and overcast skies. 

A large and mighty army 

will spread over the mountains like the dawn.^a

Nothing like this has ever happened. 

Nothing like this will ever happen again. 

³In front of this army a fire burns. 

Behind it flames are blazing. 

In front of it the land is like the garden of Eden. 

Behind it the land is like a barren desert. 

Nothing escapes it! 

⁴The soldiers look like horses. 

They run like war horses. 

⁵As they leap on mountaintops, 

they sound like rattling chariots, 

like crackling fire burning up straw, 

and like a mighty army prepared for battle. 

⁶People are terrified in their presence. 

Every face turns pale. 

⁷They run like warriors. 

They climb walls like soldiers. 

They march straight ahead. 

They do not leave their places. 

⁸They do not crowd one another. 

They keep in their own lines. 

Even when they break through the defenses, 

they do not break their ranks. 

⁹They rush into the city. 

They run along the wall. 

They climb into houses. 

They enter through windows like thieves. 

¹⁰The earth quakes in their presence, 

and the sky shakes. 

The sun and the moon turn dark, 

and the stars no longer shine. 

¹¹The Lord shouts out orders to his army. 

His forces are very large. 

The troops that carry out his commands are mighty. 

The day of the Lord is extremely terrifying. 

Who can endure it? 

The Lord Invites the People to Return to Him

¹²“But even now,” declares the Lord, 

“return to me with all your heart— 

with fasting, crying, and mourning.” 

¹³Tear your hearts, not your clothes. 

Return to the Lord your God. 

He is merciful and compassionate, 

patient, and always ready to forgive 

and to change his plans about disaster. 

¹⁴Who knows? 

He may reconsider and change his plan 

and leave a blessing for you. 

Then you could give grain offerings and wine offerings 

to the Lord your God. 

¹⁵Blow the ram’s horn in Zion. 

Schedule a time to fast. 

Call for an assembly. 

¹⁶Gather the people. 

Prepare them for a holy meeting. 

Assemble the leaders. 

Gather the children, even the nursing infants. 

Grooms leave their rooms. 

Brides leave their chambers. 

¹⁷The priests who serve the Lord cry 

between the altar and the entrance to the temple. 

They say, 

“Spare your people, O Lord. 

Don’t let the people who belong to you become a disgrace. 

Don’t let the nations ridicule them. 

Why should people ask, ‘Where is their God?’ ” 

The Lord Will Give Earthly Blessings to His People

¹⁸Then the Lord became concerned about his land, 

and he had pity on his people. 

¹⁹The Lord said to his people, 

“I am going to send grain, new wine, and olive oil to you. 

You will be satisfied with them. 

I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations. 

²⁰“I will keep the northern ⸤army⸥ far from you, 

and I will force it into a dry and barren land. 

The soldiers in front will be forced into the eastern sea. 

The soldiers in back will be forced into the western sea. 

A foul odor will rise from the dead bodies. 

They will stink.” 

He has done great things! 

²¹Land, do not be afraid. 

Be glad and rejoice. 

The Lord has done great things! 

²²Wild animals, do not be afraid. 

The pastures in the wilderness have turned green. 

The trees have produced their fruit. 

There are plenty of figs and grapes. 

²³People of Zion, be glad and find joy in the Lord your God. 

The Lord has given you the Teacher of Righteousness.^b

He has sent the autumn rain and the spring rain as before. 

²⁴The threshing floors^cwill be filled with grain. 

The vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil. 

²⁵“Then I will repay you for the years 

that the mature locusts, the adult locusts, 

the grasshoppers, and the young locusts ate your crops. 

(They are the large army that I sent against you.) 

²⁶You will have plenty to eat, and you will be full. 

You will praise the name of the Lord your God, 

who has performed miracles for you. 

My people will never be ashamed again. 

²⁷You will know that I am in Israel. 

I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. 

My people will never be ashamed again.^d

The Lord Will Pour His Spirit on All People

²⁸“After this, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. 

Your sons and daughters will prophesy. 

Your old men will dream dreams. 

Your young men will see visions. 

²⁹In those days I will pour my Spirit on servants, 

on both men and women. 

³⁰I will work miracles in the sky and on the earth: 

blood, fire, and clouds of smoke. 

³¹The sun will become dark, 

and the moon will become as red as blood 

before the terrifying day of the Lord comes.” 

³²Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 

Those who escape will be on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. 

Among the survivors will be those whom the Lord calls, 

as the Lord has promised.