Joel 2

1 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—

Let the horn be sounded in Zion, and a war-cry in my holy mountain; let all the people of the land be troubled: for the day of the Lord is coming;

2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.

For a day of dark and deep shade is near, a day of cloud and black night: like a black cloud a great and strong people is covering the mountains; there has never been any like them and will not be after them again, from generation to generation.

3 Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland— surely nothing will escape them.

Before them fire sends destruction, and after them flame is burning: the land is like the garden of Eden before them, and after them an unpeopled waste; truly, nothing has been kept safe from them.

4 Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like swift steeds.

Their form is like the form of horses, and they are running like war-horses.

5 With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.

Like the sound of war-carriages they go jumping on the tops of the mountains; like the noise of a flame of fire burning up the grain-stems, like a strong people lined up for the fight.

6 Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.

At their coming the people are bent with pain: all faces become red together.

7 They charge like mighty men; they scale the walls like men of war. Each one marches in formation, not swerving from the course.

They are running like strong men, they go over the wall like men of war; every man goes straight on his way, their lines are not broken.

8 They do not jostle one another; each proceeds in his path. They burst through the defenses, never breaking ranks.

No one is pushing against another; everyone goes straight on his way: bursting through the sword points, their order is not broken.

9 They storm the city; they run along the wall; they climb into houses, entering through windows like thieves.

They make a rush on the town, running on the wall; they go up into the houses and in through the windows like a thief.

10 Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.

The earth is troubled before them and the heavens are shaking: the sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining:

11 The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?

And the Lord is thundering before his forces; for very great is his army; for he is strong who gives effect to his word: for the day of the Lord is great and greatly to be feared, and who has strength against it?

12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

But even now, says the Lord, come back to me with all your heart, keeping from food, with weeping and with sorrow:

13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.

Let your hearts be broken, and not your clothing, and come back to the Lord your God: for he is full of grace and pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, ready to be turned from his purpose of punishment.

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

May it not be that he will again let his purpose be changed and let a blessing come after him, even a meal offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

15 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.

Let a horn be sounded in Zion, let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting:

16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Get the people together, make the mass of the people holy, send for the old men, get together the children and babies at the breast: let the newly married man come out of his room and the bride from her tent.

17 Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Let the priests, the servants of the Lord, be weeping between the covered way and the altar, and let them say, Have mercy on your people, O Lord, do not give up your heritage to shame, so that the nations become their rulers: why let them say among the peoples, Where is their God?

18 Then the LORD became jealous for His land, and He spared His people.

Then the Lord had a care for the honour of his land and had pity on his people.

19 And the LORD answered His people: “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and by them you will be satisfied. I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.

And the Lord made answer and said to his people, See, I will send you grain and wine and oil in full measure: and I will no longer let you be shamed among the nations:

20 The northern army I will drive away from you, banishing it to a barren and desolate land, its front ranks into the Eastern Sea, and its rear guard into the Western Sea. And its stench will rise; its foul odor will ascend. For He has done great things.

I will send the one from the north far away from you, driving him into a dry and waste land, with his front to the sea of the east and his back to the sea of the west, and the smell of him will go up, even his evil smell will go up.

21 Do not be afraid, O land; rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has done great things.

Have no fear, O land; be glad with great joy; for the Lord has done great things.

22 Do not be afraid, O beasts of the field, for the open pastures have turned green, the trees bear their fruit, and the fig tree and vine yield their best.

Have no fear, you beasts of the field, for the grass-lands of the waste are becoming green, for the trees are producing fruit, the fig-tree and the vine give out their strength.

23 Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

Be glad, then, you children of Zion, and have joy in the Lord your God: for he gives you food in full measure, making the rain come down for you, the early and the late rain as at the first.

24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

And the floors will be full of grain, and the crushing-places overflowing with wine and oil.

25 I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts— the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust — My great army that I sent against you.

I will give back to you the years which were food for the locust, the plant-worm, the field-fly, and the worm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are satisfied. You will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you. My people will never again be put to shame.

You will have food in full measure, and give praise to the name of the Lord your God, who has done wonders for you:

27 Then you will know that I am present in Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.

And you will be certain that I am in Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other: and my people will never be shamed.

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.

And after that, it will come about, says the Lord, that I will send my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, your old men will have dreams, your young men will see visions:

29 Even on My menservants and maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

And on the servants and the servant-girls in those days I will send my spirit.

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

And I will let wonders be seen in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.

The sun will be made dark and the moon turned to blood, before the great day of the Lord comes, a day to be feared.

32 And 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 promised, among the remnant called by the LORD.

And it will be that whoever makes his prayer to the name of the Lord will be kept safe: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem some will be kept safe, as the Lord has said, and will be among the small band marked out by the Lord.