Joel 2

1 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;

Blow ye the cornet in Zion, and sound an alarm on my holy mount; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh;

2 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.

It is a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and of tempestuous obscurity, like the morning-dawn spread out upon the mountains: a people numerous and strong, the like of which hath never been and after it there will be none any more, even to the years of all coming generations.

3 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.

Before it devoureth a fire; and behind it singeth a flame: like the garden of 'Eden was the land before it [came], and after it is a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing escapeth from it.

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

Like the appearance of horses is its appearance; and like horsemen, so do they run.

5 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.

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains do they leap; they are like the noise of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, as a strong people arrayed for a battle.

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

At its presence the people are much pained: all the faces are covered with blackness.

7 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.

Like mighty men do they run; like men of war they climb up a wall; and they march every one on his own ways, and they turn not aside on their paths.

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

And they do not press one another; every one on his beaten track do they go forward: and they pass through between war-like weapons, and change not their purpose.

9 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.

Into the city they hasten forward; on the wall they run; into the houses they climb up; through the windows they make their entrance like a thief.

10 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:

Before them trembleth the earth; the heavens quake; the sun and the moon are obscured, and the stars withdraw their brightness.

11 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?

And the Lord uttereth his voice before his army; for very numerous is his camp; for strong is he that executeth his word; for great is the day of the Lord and very terrible; and who is able to endure it?

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

But even now also, saith the Lord, return ye fully to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13 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.

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and return unto the Lord your God; for gracious and merciful is he, long suffering, and of great kindness, and he bethinketh himself of the evil.

14 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?

He that is conscious [of guilt], let him return and repent: when [the plague] may leave behind it a blessing; even a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God.

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

Blow the cornet in Zion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly;

16 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.

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17 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?

Between the porch and the altar let the priests weep, the ministers of the Lord, and let them say, Spare, O Lord, thy people, and give not up thy heritage to reproach, for nations to make a by-word of them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

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

And the Lord was zealous for his land, and he had pity for his people.

19 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:

And the Lord answered and said unto his people, “Behold, I will send you the corn, and the young wine, and the oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will not give you up any more to be a reproach among the nations:

20 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.

And the host of the north will I remove far away from you, and I will drive it off into a land barren and desolate, with its advance toward the eastern sea, and its rereward toward the western sea; and its stench shall ascend, and its ill savor shall come up, because it hath done great things.”

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

Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice; for the Lord hath done great things.

22 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.

Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness have become green; for the tree beareth its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine yield their strength.

23 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.

And ye children of Zion, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he hath given you the first rain in beneficence, and he hath caused to come down for you the rain, the first rain, and the latter rain in the first [month].

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

And the threshing-floors are full of corn, and the vats overflow with young wine and oil.

25 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.

And I will repay to you the years [in] which the locust hath eaten [all], with the cankerworm, and the cricket, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I had sent against you.

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

And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall not be made ashamed unto eternity.

27 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.

And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else; and my people shall not be made ashamed unto eternity.

28 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:

And it shall come to pass after this, that I will pour out my spirit over all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream dreams: your young men shall see visions:

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

And also over the men-servants and over the maid-servants in those days will I pour out my spirit.

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

And I will display wonderful tokens in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 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.

The sun shall be changed into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the day of the Lord, the great and the terrible.

32 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.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall escape; for on mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and among the remnant whom the Lord calleth.