Joel 2

Revised Geneva Translation

2 “Blow the trumpet in Zion! And shout on My Holy Mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the Day of the LORD has come. For it is at hand,

² “a day of darkness, and of blackness, a day of clouds and obscurity. As the morning spread upon the mountains, so is there a great people, and mighty. There was none like it from the beginning, nor shall there be any after it, until the years of many generations.”

³ A fire devours before them. And behind them a flame burns up. The land is as the Garden of Eden before them. And behind them there is a desolate wilderness, so that nothing shall escape them.

⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses. And like the horsemen, so shall they run.

⁵ Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a mighty people prepared to the battle.

⁶ Before His Face shall the people tremble. All faces shall gather heat.

⁷ They shall run like strong men and go up to the wall like men of war. And every man shall go forward in his ways. And they shall not stay in their paths.

⁸ Nor shall one crowd another. Everyone shall walk in his path. And when they fall, they shall not be wounded.

⁹ They shall run to and fro in the city. They shall run upon the wall. They shall climb up upon the houses and enter in at the windows like the thief.

¹⁰ The Earth shall tremble before them. The heavens shall shake. The Sun and the Moon shall be dark. And the stars shall withdraw their shining.

¹¹ And the LORD shall utter His voice before His host. For His host is very great. For he is strong who does His Word. For the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible. And who can abide it?

¹² Therefore also, now the LORD says: “Turn yourself to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”

¹³ And tear your heart and not your clothes. And turn to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and relents from misery.

¹⁴ Who knows if He will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, a Meat Offering and a Drink Offering to the LORD your God?

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast! Call a solemn assembly.

¹⁶ Gather the people. Sanctify the Congregation. Gather the elders. Assemble the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her bride chamber.

¹⁷ Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the Porch and the Altar. And let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD! And do not give Your heritage over to reproach, so that the heathen would rule over them. Why should they say among the people, ‘Where is their God?’”

¹⁸ Then will the LORD be jealous over His land and spare His people.

¹⁹ Yea, the LORD will answer and say to His people: “Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil. And you shall be satisfied with it. And I will no longer make you a reproach among the heathen.

²⁰ “But I will remove the Northern army far away from you. And I will drive him into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea, and his back to the western sea. And his stink shall come up. And his corruption shall ascend because he has exalted himself.”

²¹ Do not fear, O land. Be glad and rejoice! For the LORD will do great things!

²² Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field. For the pastures of the wilderness are green. For the tree bears her fruit. The fig tree and the vine give their strength.

²³ Be glad then, you children of Zion! And rejoice in the LORD your God! For He has given you the rain of righteousness. And He will cause the rain to come down for you, the first rain and the latter rain, in the first month.

²⁴ And the barns shall be full of wheat. And the presses shall abound with wine and oil.

²⁵ “And I will render you the years that the locust has eaten — the creeping locust and the consuming locust and the chewing locust — My great host which I sent among you.

²⁶ “So you shall eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt separately with you. And My people shall never be ashamed.

²⁷ “You shall also know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and no other. And My people shall never be ashamed.

²⁸ “And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions.

²⁹ “And I will also pour My Spirit upon the servants, and upon the maids in those days.

³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the Earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

³¹ “The Sun shall be turned into darkness, and the Moon into blood, before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes.

³² “But whoever shall call on the Name of the LORD shall be saved. For deliverance shall be on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the LORD has said, and in the Remnant whom the LORD shall call.”