×
Joel 2
-
1Blow the trumpet in Zion,
- and sound an alarm in my holy mountain!
- Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
- for the day of Yahweh comes,
- for it is close at hand:
-
2A day of darkness and gloominess,
- a day of clouds and thick darkness.
- As the dawn spreading on the mountains,
- a great and strong people;
- there has never been the like,
- neither will there be any more after them,
- even to the years of many generations.
-
3A fire devours before them,
- and behind them, a flame burns.
- The land is as the garden of Eden before them,
- and behind them, a desolate wilderness.
- Yes, and no one has escaped them.
-
4Their appearance is as the appearance of horses,
- and as horsemen, so do they run.
-
5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap,
- like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble,
- as a strong people set in battle array.
-
6At their presence the peoples are in anguish.
- All faces have grown pale.
-
7They run like mighty men.
- They climb the wall like warriors.
- They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
-
8Neither does one jostle another;
- they march everyone in his path,
- and they burst through the defenses,
- and don’t break ranks.
-
9They rush on the city.
- They run on the wall.
- They climb up into the houses.
- They enter in at the windows like thieves.
-
10The earth quakes before them.
- The heavens tremble.
- The sun and the moon are darkened,
- and the stars withdraw their shining.
-
11Yahweh thunders his voice before his army;
- for his forces are very great;
- for he is strong who obeys his command;
- for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome,
- and who can endure it?
-
12“Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart,
- and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
-
13Tear your heart, and not your garments,
- and turn to Yahweh, your God;
- for he is gracious and merciful,
- slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness,
- and relents from sending calamity.
-
14Who knows? He may turn and relent,
- and leave a blessing behind him,
- even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
-
15Blow the trumpet in Zion!
- Sanctify a fast.
- Call a solemn assembly.
-
16Gather the people.
- Sanctify the assembly.
- Assemble the elders.
- Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts.
- Let the bridegroom go forth from his room,
- and the bride out of her room.
-
17Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar,
- and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh,
- and don’t give your heritage to reproach,
- that the nations should rule over them.
- Why should they say among the peoples,
- ‘Where is their God?’”
-
18Then Yahweh was jealous for his land,
- And had pity on his people.
-
19Yahweh answered his people,
- “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil,
- and you will be satisfied with them;
- and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
-
20But I will remove the northern army far away from you,
- and will drive it into a barren and desolate land,
- its front into the eastern sea,
- and its back into the western sea;
- and its stench will come up,
- and its bad smell will rise.”
- Surely he has done great things.
-
21Land, don’t be afraid.
- Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.
-
22Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field;
- for the pastures of the wilderness spring up,
- for the tree bears its fruit.
- The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
-
23“Be glad then, you children of Zion,
- and rejoice in Yahweh, your God;
- for he gives you the former rain in just measure,
- and he causes the rain to come down for you,
- the former rain and the latter rain,
- as before.
-
24The threshing floors will be full of wheat,
- and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
-
25I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
- the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar,
- my great army, which I sent among you.
-
26You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied,
- and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God,
- who has dealt wondrously with you;
- and my people will never again be disappointed.
-
27You will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
- and that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else;
- and my people will never again be disappointed.
-
28“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
- and your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
- Your old men will dream dreams.
- Your young men will see visions.
-
29And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days,
- I will pour out my Spirit.
-
30I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
- blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
-
31The sun will be turned into darkness,
- and the moon into blood,
- before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
-
32It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved;
- for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape,
- as Yahweh has said,
- and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
