Joel 1-2

New International Version

1 The word of the Lord that came^(A) to Joel^(B) son of Pethuel.

An Invasion of Locusts

²Hear this,^(C) you elders;^(D)
    listen, all who live in the land.^(E)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
    or in the days of your ancestors?^(F)
³Tell it to your children,^(G)
    and let your children tell it to their children,
    and their children to the next generation.^(H)
⁴What the locust^(I) swarm has left
    the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
    the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left^(J)
    other locusts^[a] have eaten.^(K)

⁵Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
    Wail, all you drinkers of wine;^(L)
wail because of the new wine,
    for it has been snatched^(M) from your lips.
⁶A nation has invaded my land,
    a mighty army without number;^(N)
it has the teeth^(O) of a lion,
    the fangs of a lioness.
⁷It has laid waste^(P) my vines
    and ruined my fig trees.^(Q)
It has stripped off their bark
    and thrown it away,
    leaving their branches white.

⁸Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth^(R)
    grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
⁹Grain offerings and drink offerings^(S)
    are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,^(T)
    those who minister before the Lord.
¹⁰The fields are ruined,
    the ground is dried up;^(U)
the grain is destroyed,
    the new wine^(V) is dried up,
    the olive oil fails.^(W)

¹¹Despair, you farmers,^(X)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,^(Y)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.^(Z)
¹²The vine is dried up
    and the fig tree is withered;^(AA)
the pomegranate,^(AB) the palm and the apple^[b] tree—
    all the trees of the field—are dried up.^(AC)
Surely the people’s joy
    is withered away.

A Call to Lamentation

¹³Put on sackcloth,^(AD) you priests, and mourn;
    wail, you who minister^(AE) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
    you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings^(AF)
    are withheld from the house of your God.
¹⁴Declare a holy fast;^(AG)
    call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
    and all who live in the land^(AH)
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out^(AI) to the Lord.^(AJ)

¹⁵Alas for that^(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord^(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.^[c]^(AM)

¹⁶Has not the food been cut off^(AN)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness^(AO)
    from the house of our God?^(AP)
¹⁷The seeds are shriveled
    beneath the clods.^[d]^(AQ)
The storehouses are in ruins,
    the granaries have been broken down,
    for the grain has dried up.
¹⁸How the cattle moan!
    The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;^(AR)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.^(AS)

¹⁹To you, Lord, I call,^(AT)
    for fire^(AU) has devoured the pastures^(AV) in the wilderness
    and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
²⁰Even the wild animals pant for you;^(AW)
    the streams of water have dried up^(AX)
    and fire has devoured the pastures^(AY) in the wilderness.

An Army of Locusts

2 Blow the trumpet^(AZ) in Zion;^(BA)
sound the alarm on my holy hill.^(BB)

Let all who live in the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord^(BC) is coming.
It is close at hand^(BD)—
²    a day of darkness^(BE) and gloom,^(BF)
    a day of clouds^(BG) and blackness.^(BH)
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
    a large and mighty army^(BI) comes,
such as never was in ancient times^(BJ)
    nor ever will be in ages to come.

³Before them fire^(BK) devours,
    behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,^(BL)
    behind them, a desert waste^(BM)—
    nothing escapes them.
⁴They have the appearance of horses;^(BN)
    they gallop along like cavalry.
⁵With a noise like that of chariots^(BO)
    they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire^(BP) consuming stubble,
    like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

⁶At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;^(BQ)
    every face turns pale.^(BR)
⁷They charge like warriors;^(BS)
    they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,^(BT)
    not swerving^(BU) from their course.
⁸They do not jostle each other;
    each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
    without breaking ranks.
⁹They rush upon the city;
    they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;^(BV)
    like thieves they enter through the windows.^(BW)

¹⁰Before them the earth shakes,^(BX)
    the heavens tremble,^(BY)
the sun and moon are darkened,^(BZ)
    and the stars no longer shine.^(CA)
¹¹The Lord^(CB) thunders^(CC)
    at the head of his army;^(CD)
his forces are beyond number,
    and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;^(CE)
    it is dreadful.
    Who can endure it?^(CF)

Rend Your Heart

¹²“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return^(CG) to me with all your heart,^(CH)
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³Rend your heart^(CI)
    and not your garments.^(CJ)
Return^(CK) to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and compassionate,^(CL)
slow to anger and abounding in love,^(CM)
    and he relents from sending calamity.^(CN)
¹⁴Who knows? He may turn^(CO) and relent^(CP)
    and leave behind a blessing^(CQ)—
grain offerings and drink offerings^(CR)
    for the Lord your God.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet^(CS) in Zion,^(CT)
    declare a holy fast,^(CU)
    call a sacred assembly.^(CV)
¹⁶Gather the people,
    consecrate^(CW) the assembly;
bring together the elders,^(CX)
    gather the children,
    those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom^(CY) leave his room
    and the bride her chamber.
¹⁷Let the priests, who minister^(CZ) before the Lord,
    weep^(DA) between the portico and the altar.^(DB)
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
    Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,^(DC)
    a byword^(DD) among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?^(DE)’”

The Lord’s Answer

¹⁸Then the Lord was jealous^(DF) for his land
and took pity^(DG) on his people.

¹⁹The Lord replied^[e] to them:

“I am sending you grain, new wine^(DH) and olive oil,^(DI)
enough to satisfy you fully;^(DJ)
never again will I make you
an object of scorn^(DK) to the nations.

²⁰“I will drive the northern horde^(DL) far from you,
    pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
    and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench^(DM) will go up;
    its smell will rise.”

Surely he has done great things!
²¹    Do not be afraid,^(DN) land of Judah;
    be glad and rejoice.^(DO)
Surely the Lord has done great things!^(DP)
²²    Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
    for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.^(DQ)
The trees are bearing their fruit;
    the fig tree^(DR) and the vine^(DS) yield their riches.^(DT)
²³Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice^(DU) in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.^(DV)
He sends you abundant showers,^(DW)
    both autumn^(DX) and spring rains,^(DY) as before.
²⁴The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow^(DZ) with new wine^(EA) and oil.

²⁵“I will repay you for the years the locusts^(EB) have eaten^(EC)—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm^[f]—
my great army^(ED) that I sent among you.
²⁶You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,^(EE)
    and you will praise^(EF) the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders^(EG) for you;
never again will my people be shamed.^(EH)
²⁷Then you will know^(EI) that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord^(EJ) your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.^(EK)

The Day of the Lord

²⁸“And afterward,
    I will pour out my Spirit^(EL) on all people.^(EM)
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,^(EN)
    your old men will dream dreams,^(EO)
    your young men will see visions.
²⁹Even on my servants,^(EP) both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.^(EQ)
³⁰I will show wonders in the heavens^(ER)
    and on the earth,^(ES)
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
³¹The sun will be turned to darkness^(ET)
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.^(EU)
³²And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord^(EV) will be saved;^(EW)
for on Mount Zion^(EX) and in Jerusalem
    there will be deliverance,^(EY)
    as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors^(EZ)
    whom the Lord calls.^[g]^(FA)

Footnotes

Joel 1:4 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot
Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Joel 2:19 Or Lord will be jealous … / and take pity … / ¹⁹The Lord will reply
Joel 2:25 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
Joel 2:32 In Hebrew texts 2:28-32 is numbered 3:1-5.

Psalm 126

New International Version

Psalm 126

A song of ascents.

¹When the Lord restored^(A) the fortunes of^[a] Zion,
    we were like those who dreamed.^[b]
²Our mouths were filled with laughter,^(B)
    our tongues with songs of joy.^(C)
Then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things^(D) for them.”
³The Lord has done great things^(E) for us,
    and we are filled with joy.^(F)

⁴Restore our fortunes,^[c]^(G) Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.^(H)
⁵Those who sow with tears^(I)
    will reap^(J) with songs of joy.^(K)
⁶Those who go out weeping,^(L)
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.