Joel 2:1–21

The Terrible Visitation

^1aBlow a trumpet in Zion,

And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the ^bday of the Lord is coming;

Surely it is near,

²A day of ^adarkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a ^bgreat and mighty people;

There has ^cnever been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

³A ^afire consumes before them

And behind them a flame burns.

The land is ^blike the garden of Eden before them

But a ^cdesolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

⁴Their ^aappearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

⁵¹With a ^anoise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the ²crackling of a ^bflame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

⁶Before them the people are in ^aanguish;

All ^bfaces ¹turn pale.

⁷They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each ^amarch ¹in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

⁸They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they ¹burst through the ²defenses,

They do not break ranks.

⁹They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the ^ahouses,

They ^benter through the windows like a thief.

¹⁰Before them the earth ^aquakes,

The heavens tremble,

The ^bsun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

¹¹The Lord ^autters His voice before ^bHis army;

Surely His camp is very great,

For ^cstrong is he who carries out His word.

The ^dday of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,

And ^ewho can endure it?

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“^aReturn to Me with all your heart,

And with ^bfasting, weeping and mourning;

¹³And ^arend your heart and not ^byour garments.”

Now return to the Lord your God,

For He is ^cgracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And ^drelenting of evil.

¹⁴Who knows ^awhether He will not turn and relent

And leave a ^bblessing behind Him,

Even ^ca grain offering and a drink offering

For the Lord your God?

^15aBlow a trumpet in Zion,

^bConsecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

¹⁶Gather the people, ^asanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders,

Gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the ^bbridegroom come out of his room

And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,

Weep ^abetween the porch and the altar,

And let them say, “^bSpare Your people, O Lord,

And do not make Your inheritance a ^creproach,

A byword among the nations.

Why should they among the peoples say,

‘^dWhere is their God?’ ”

Deliverance Promised

¹⁸Then the Lord ¹will be ^azealous for His land

And ²will have ^bpity on His people.

¹⁹The Lord ¹will answer and say to His people,

“Behold, I am going to ^asend you grain, new wine and oil,

And you will be satisfied in full with ²them;

And I will ^bnever again make you a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“But I will remove the ^anorthern army far from you,

And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,

And its vanguard into the ^beastern sea,

And its rear guard into the ^cwestern sea.

And its ^dstench will arise and its foul smell will come up,

For it has done great things.”

^21aDo not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,

For the Lord has done ^bgreat things.