Joel 2

1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, wail on my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land be stirred up. For the day of the Lord is on its way; for 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 whirlwinds. Like the morning reaching over the mountains, they are a numerous and strong people. Nothing like them has existed since the beginning, nor will exist after them, even in the years of generation upon generation.

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 their face is a devouring fire, and behind them is a burning flame. The land before them is like a lush garden, and behind them is a desolate desert, and there is no one who can 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 the appearance of horses, and they will rush forward like horsemen.

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

5 Like the sound of a four-horse chariot, they will leap over the tops of the mountains. Like the sound of a burning flame devouring stubble, they are as a strong people prepared 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 Before their face, the people will be tortured; each one’s appearance will retreat, as if into a jar.

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

7 They will rush forward, as if they were strong. Like valiant warriors, they will ascend the wall. The men will advance, each one on his own way, and they will not turn aside from their path.

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 And each one will not hem in his brother; every one will walk in his own rough path. Moreover, they will drop through the breach and not be harmed.

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

9 They will advance into the city; they will rush through the wall. They will scale the houses; they will go in through the windows, like a thief.

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 their face, the earth has trembled, the heavens have been moved. The sun and moon have been obscured, and the stars have retracted their splendor.

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 And the Lord has bestowed his voice before the face of his army. For its military camps are very numerous; for they are strong and they carry out his word. For the day of the Lord is great and so very terrible, and who can withstand 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 Now, therefore, the Lord says: “Be converted to me with your whole heart, in fasting and 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 And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and convert to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and merciful, patient and full of compassion, and steadfast despite ill will.

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 if he might convert and forgive, and bequeath a blessing after him, a sacrifice and a libation to 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 trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call an 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 church, unite the elders, gather together the little ones and infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom depart from his bed, and the bride from her bridal 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 Between the vestibule and the altar, the priests, the ministers of the Lord, will weep, and they will say: “Spare, O Lord, spare your people. And do not bequeath your inheritance into disgrace, so that the nations would rule over them. 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 The Lord has been zealous for his land, and he has 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 responded, and he said to his people: “Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will again be filled with them. And I will no longer give you disgrace among the Gentiles.

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 And he who is from the North, I will drive far from you. And I will expel him into an impassable land, and into the desert, with his face opposite the Eastern sea, and his furthest part towards the furthest sea. And his stench will ascend, and his rottenness will ascend, because he has acted arrogantly.

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 Earth, do not be afraid. Exult and rejoice. For the Lord has great esteem for what he has done.

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

22 Animals of the countryside, do not be afraid. For the beauty of the wilderness has sprung forth. For the tree has borne its fruit. The fig tree and the vine have bestowed their virtue.

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 And you, sons of Zion, exult and rejoice in the Lord your God. For he has given you a teacher of justice, and he will make the early and the late rains descend to you, just as it was in the beginning.

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 And the threshing floors will be filled with grain, and the presses will overflow with wine and oil.

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

25 And I will repay you for the years which the locust, and the beetle, and the mildew, and the caterpillar consumed: my great strength which I sent upon 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 And you will eat with enjoyment, and you will be satisfied, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked miracles with you, and my people will not be confounded forever.

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 And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is no other, and my people will not be confounded forever.

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 after this, it will happen that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy; your elders will dream dreams, and your youths 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 Moreover, in those days I will pour out my spirit upon my servants and handmaids.

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

30 And I will grant wonders in the sky and on earth: blood and fire and the vapor 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 into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall arrive.

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 it will happen that everyone who will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. For on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and in the remnant whom the Lord will call, there will be salvation, just as the Lord has said.

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.