Joel 2

New American Standard Bible

The Terrible Visitation

2 ^(A)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the ^(B)day of the Lord is coming;
Indeed, it is near,
²A day of ^(C)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a ^(D)great and mighty people;
There has ^(E)never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
³A ^(F)fire consumes before them,
And behind them a flame devours.
The land is ^(G)like the Garden of Eden before them,
But a ^(H)desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
⁴Their ^(I)appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
⁵^[a]With a ^(J)noise as of chariots
They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
Like the ^[b]crackling of a ^(K)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
⁶Before them the people are in ^(L)anguish;
All ^(M)faces ^[c]turn pale.
⁷They run like warriors,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And each of them ^(N)marches ^[d]in line,
Nor do they lose their way.
⁸They do not crowd each other,
Every warrior of them marches in his path;
When they ^[e]burst through the ^[f]defenses,
They do not break ranks.
⁹They storm the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the ^(O)houses,
They ^(P)enter through the windows like a thief.
¹⁰Before them the earth ^(Q)quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The ^(R)sun and the moon become dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
¹¹The Lord ^(S)utters His voice before ^(T)His army;
His camp is indeed very great,
For ^(U)mighty is one who carries out His word.
The ^(V)day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And ^(W)who can endure it?
¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“^(X)Return to Me with all your heart,
And with ^(Y)fasting, weeping, and mourning;
¹³And ^(Z)tear your heart and not merely ^(AA)your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^(AB)gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And ^(AC)relenting of catastrophe.
¹⁴Who knows, ^(AD)He might turn and relent,
And leave a ^(AE)blessing behind Him,
Resulting in ^(AF)a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
¹⁵^(AG)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
^(AH)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
¹⁶Gather the people, ^(AI)sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the ^(AJ)groom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
¹⁷Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep ^(AK)between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “^[g]^(AL)Spare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a ^(AM)disgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘^(AN)Where is their God?’”

Deliverance Promised

¹⁸Then the Lord ^[h]will be ^(AO)zealous for His land,
And ^[i]will have ^(AP)compassion for His people.
¹⁹The Lord ^[j]will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to ^(AQ)send you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with ^[k]them;
And I will ^(AR)never again make you a disgrace among the nations.
²⁰But I will remove the ^(AS)northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land,
Its advance guard into the ^(AT)eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the ^(AU)western sea.
And its ^(AV)stench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up,
Because it has done great things.”

²¹^(AW)Do not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice,
For the Lord has done ^(AX)great things.
²²Do not fear, animals of the field,
For the ^(AY)pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has produced its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded ^[l]in full.
²³So shout for joy, you ^(AZ)sons of Zion,
And ^(BA)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has ^(BB)given you ^[m]the early rain for your vindication.
And He has brought down for you the rain,
The ^[n]early and ^[o]^(BC)latter rain ^[p]as before.
²⁴The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will ^(BD)overflow with the new wine and oil.
²⁵“Then I will compensate you for the years
That the ^[q]swarming ^(BE)locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—
My great army which I sent among you.
²⁶You will have plenty to ^(BF)eat and be satisfied,
And you will ^(BG)praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has ^(BH)dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will ^(BI)never be put to shame.
²⁷So you will ^(BJ)know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is ^(BK)no other;
And My people will never be ^(BL)put to shame.

The Promise of the Spirit

²⁸“^[r]^(BM)It will come about after this
That I will ^(BN)pour out My Spirit on all ^[s]^(BO)mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
²⁹And even on the ^(BP)male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the Lord

³⁰I will ^[t]^(BQ)display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
³¹The ^(BR)sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the ^(BS)great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
³²And it will come about that ^(BT)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will ^[u]be saved;
For ^(BU)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who ^(BV)escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the ^(BW)survivors whom the Lord calls.