Joel 2:1-3:20

An Army of Locusts 1Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—

2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.

3Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them.

4They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry.

5With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

6At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale.

7They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course.

8They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks.

9They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows.

10Before them the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine.

11The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

Rend Your Heart 12“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

13Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

14Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.

15Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.

16Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.

17Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, LORD . Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

The LORD’s Answer 18Then the LORD was jealous for his land and took pity on his people.

19The LORD replied Or Lord will be jealous… / and take pity… / 19 The Lord will reply to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

20“I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things!

21Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things!

22Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.

23Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

24The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

25“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain. — my great army that I sent among you.

26You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.

27Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

The Day of the LORD 28“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

29Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

30I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

31The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD . 32And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls. In Hebrew texts 2:28-32 is numbered 3:1-5.

The Nations Judged 1In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21. “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

3They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink. 4“Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. 5For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. Or palaces

6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland. 7“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.

8I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The LORD has spoken.

9Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.

10Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”

11Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, LORD !

12“Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

13Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!”

14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.

16The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s People 17“Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.

18“In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD ’s house and will water the valley of acacias. Or Valley of Shittim

19But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

20Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.