The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

An Invasion of Locusts

(A)Hear this, (B)you elders;
    give ear, (C)all inhabitants of the land!
(D)Has such a thing happened in your days,
    or in the days of your fathers?
(E)Tell your children of it,
    and let your children tell their children,
    and their children to another generation.

What (F)the cutting locust left,
    (G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    (H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    (I)the destroying locust has eaten.

Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
    and (J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of (K)the sweet wine,
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
For (L)a nation has come up against my land,
    (M)powerful and beyond number;
(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my (O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

Lament like a virgin[a] (P)wearing sackcloth
    for the bridegroom of her youth.
(Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
    from the house of the Lord.
(R)The priests mourn,
    (S)the ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
    (T)the ground mourns,
because (U)the grain is destroyed,
    (V)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

11 (W)Be ashamed,[b] O tillers of the soil;
    wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
    (X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
    (Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
    all the trees of the field are dried up,
and (Z)gladness dries up
    from the children of man.

A Call to Repentance

13 (AA)Put on sackcloth and lament, (AB)O priests;
    (AC)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (AD)pass the night in sackcloth,
    (AE)O ministers of my God!
(AF)Because grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.

14 (AG)Consecrate a fast;
    (AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (AI)the elders
    and (AJ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

15 Alas for the day!
(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty[c] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
(AL)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

17 (AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;[d]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because (AN)the grain has dried up.
18 How (AO)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.[e]

19 To you, (AP)O Lord, I call.
(AQ)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
(AR)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field (AS)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
(AT)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

The Day of the Lord

(AU)Blow a trumpet in (AV)Zion;
    sound an alarm on (AW)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for (AX)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
(AY)a day of darkness and gloom,
    (AZ)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    (BA)a great and powerful people;
(BB)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

(BC)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like (BD)the garden of Eden before them,
    but (BE)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

(BF)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
(BG)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of (BH)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
(BI)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

Before them peoples are in anguish;
    (BJ)all faces grow pale.
Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
They do not jostle one another;
    (BK)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
(BL)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
(BM)they climb up into the houses,
    (BN)they enter through the windows (BO)like a thief.

10 (BP)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
(BQ)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 (BR)The Lord utters his voice
    before (BS)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    (BT)he who executes his word is powerful.
(BU)For the day of the Lord is (BV)great and very awesome;
    (BW)who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    (BX)“return to me with all your heart,
(BY)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     and (BZ)rend your hearts and not (CA)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    (CB)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    (CC)and he relents over disaster.
14 (CD)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and (CE)leave a blessing behind him,
(CF)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

15 (CG)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    (CH)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16     gather the people.
(CI)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
(CJ)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
(CK)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

17 (CL)Between the (CM)vestibule and the (CN)altar
    (CO)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.[f]
(CP)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

18 (CQ)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    (CR)and had pity on his people.
19 The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, (CS)I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    (CT)and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
    a reproach among the nations.

20 “I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard[g] into (CU)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard[h] into (CV)the western sea;
(CW)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

21 “Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for (CX)the Lord has done great things!
22 Fear not, (CY)you beasts of the field,
    for (CZ)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
(DA)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and (DB)vine give their full yield.

23 (DC)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and (DD)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given (DE)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    (DF)the early and (DG)the latter rain, as before.

24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will restore[i] to you the years
    that (DH)the swarming locust has eaten,
(DI)the hopper, (DJ)the destroyer, and (DK)the cutter,
    (DL)my great army, which I sent among you.

26 (DM)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people (DN)shall never again be put to shame.
27 (DO)You shall know that I am (DP)in the midst of Israel,
    and that (DQ)I am the Lord your God (DR)and there is none else.
And my people (DS)shall never again be put to shame.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

28 [j] (DT)“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that (DU)I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
(DV)your sons and (DW)your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
29 (DX)Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

30 “And I will show (DY)wonders in the heavens and (DZ)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 (EA)The sun shall be turned to darkness, (EB)and the moon to blood, (EC)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that (ED)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (EE)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among (EF)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:8 Or young woman
  2. Joel 1:11 The Hebrew words for dry up and be ashamed in verses 10–12, 17 sound alike
  3. Joel 1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty
  4. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
  5. Joel 1:18 Or are made desolate
  6. Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them
  7. Joel 2:20 Hebrew face
  8. Joel 2:20 Hebrew his end
  9. Joel 2:25 Or pay back
  10. Joel 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Hebrew

The Earthly Holy Place

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and (A)an earthly place of holiness. For (B)a tent[a] was prepared, the first section, in which were (C)the lampstand and (D)the table and (E)the bread of the Presence.[b] It is called the Holy Place. Behind (F)the second curtain was a second section[c] called the Most Holy Place, having the golden (G)altar of incense and (H)the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was (I)a golden urn holding the manna, and (J)Aaron's staff that budded, and (K)the tablets of the covenant. Above it were (L)the cherubim of glory overshadowing (M)the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

These preparations having thus been made, (N)the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only (O)the high priest goes, and he but (P)once a year, and not without taking blood, (Q)which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that (R)the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age).[d] According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered (S)that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with (T)food and drink and (U)various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest (V)of the good things that have come,[e] then through (W)the greater and more perfect tent ((X)not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he (Y)entered (Z)once for all into the holy places, not by means of (AA)the blood of goats and calves but (AB)by means of his own blood, (AC)thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if (AD)the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with (AE)the ashes of a heifer, sanctify[f] for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will (AF)the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit (AG)offered himself without blemish to God, (AH)purify our[g] conscience (AI)from dead works (AJ)to serve the living God.

15 Therefore he is (AK)the mediator of a new covenant, so that (AL)those who are called may (AM)receive the promised eternal inheritance, (AN)since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.[h] 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For (AO)a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated (AP)without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took (AQ)the blood of calves and goats, (AR)with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, (AS)“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both (AT)the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and (AU)without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for (AV)the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places (AW)made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God (AX)on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as (AY)the high priest enters (AZ)the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, (BA)he has appeared (BB)once for all (BC)at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as (BD)it is appointed for man to die once, and (BE)after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once (BF)to bear the sins of (BG)many, will appear (BH)a second time, (BI)not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly (BJ)waiting for him.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 9:2 Or tabernacle; also verses 11, 21
  2. Hebrews 9:2 Greek the presentation of the loaves
  3. Hebrews 9:3 Greek tent; also verses 6, 8
  4. Hebrews 9:9 Or which is symbolic for the age then present
  5. Hebrews 9:11 Some manuscripts good things to come
  6. Hebrews 9:13 Or For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies
  7. Hebrews 9:14 Some manuscripts your
  8. Hebrews 9:15 The Greek word means both covenant and will; also verses 16, 17

Bible Gateway Recommends

ESV Outreach New Testament, Large Print, Softcover
ESV Outreach New Testament, Large Print, Softcover
Retail: $3.99
Our Price: $2.49
Save: $1.50 (38%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
ESV Economy Bible, Large Print Softcover, Case of 24
ESV Economy Bible, Large Print Softcover, Case of 24
Retail: $191.76
Our Price: $102.37
Save: $89.39 (47%)
ESV MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition--soft leather-look, brown
ESV MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition--soft leather-look, brown
Retail: $79.99
Our Price: $38.86
Save: $41.13 (51%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV Economy Bible, Giant Print Softcover
ESV Economy Bible, Giant Print Softcover
Retail: $11.99
Our Price: $6.19
Save: $5.80 (48%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV Spiral-Bound Journaling Bible, Hardcover, Five-Volume Set
ESV Spiral-Bound Journaling Bible, Hardcover, Five-Volume Set
Retail: $149.99
Our Price: $79.99
Save: $70.00 (47%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV Spiral-Bound Journaling New Testament, hardcover
ESV Spiral-Bound Journaling New Testament, hardcover
Retail: $34.99
Our Price: $21.14
Save: $13.85 (40%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars