Joel 2

The Day of the  Lord

1  a Blow a trumpet in b Zion;
sound an alarm on c my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for d the day of the  Lord is coming; it is near,
 2  e a day of darkness and gloom,
f a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
g a great and powerful people;
h their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
 3  i Fire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like j the garden of Eden before them,
but k behind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
 4  l Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
 5  m As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of n a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
o like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
 6  Before them peoples are in anguish;
p all faces grow pale.
 7 Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
 8 They do not jostle one another;
q each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
 9  r They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
s they climb up into the houses,
t they enter through the windows u like a thief.
 10  v The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
w The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
 11  x The  Lord utters his voice
before y his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
z he who executes his word is powerful.
aa For the day of the  Lord is ab great and very awesome;
ac who can endure it?

Return to the  Lord

12  “Yet even now,” declares the  Lord,
ad “return to me with all your heart,
ae with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
 13 and af rend your hearts and not ag your garments.”
Return to the  Lord your God,
ah for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
ai and he relents over disaster.
 14  aj Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and ak leave a blessing behind him,
al a grain offering and a drink offering
for the  Lord your God?
 15  am Blow the trumpet in Zion;
an consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
 16 gather the people.
ao Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
ap gather the children,
even nursing infants.
aq Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
 17  ar Between the as vestibule and the at altar
au let 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. ▼
▼ Or  reproach, that the nations should rule over them

aw Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

The  Lord Had Pity

18  ax Then the  Lord became jealous for his land
ay and had pity on his people.
 19 The  Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold az I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
ba and 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 vanguard ▼
▼ Hebrew face
 into bc the eastern sea,
and his rear guard ▼
▼ Hebrew  his end
 into be the western sea;
bf the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
for he has done great things.
 21  “Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for bg the  Lord has done great things!
 22 Fear not bh you beasts of the field,
for bi the pastures of the wilderness are green;
bj the tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and bk vine give their full yield.
 23  bl “Be glad, O children of Zion,
and bm rejoice in the  Lord your God,
for he has given bn the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
bo the early and bp the latter rain, as before.
 24  “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
 25 I will restore ▼
▼ Or pay back
 to you the years
that br the swarming locust has eaten,
bs the hopper bt the destroyer, and bu the cutter,
bv my great army, which I sent among you.
 26  bw “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 bx shall never again be put to shame.
 27  by You shall know that I am bz in the midst of Israel,
and that ca I am the  Lord your God cb and there is none else.
And my people cc shall never again be put to shame.

The  Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

28  ▼
▼ Ch 3:1 in Hebrew
 ce “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that cf I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
cg your sons and ch your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
 29  ci Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

30 “And I will show cj wonders in the heavens and ck on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31  cl The sun shall be turned to darkness cm and the moon to blood cn before the great and awesome day of the  Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that co everyone who calls on the name of the  Lord shall be saved. cp For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the  Lord has said, and among cq the survivors shall be those whom the  Lord calls.

Copyright information for ESV