Old/New Testament
Mourning and Repentance in Judea
Chapter 1
The Countryside Is Ravaged.[a] 1 This is the word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, you elders!
Listen to me, all you inhabitants of the land!
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,
and let them relate it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Lament, all you winedrinkers!
For the juice of the grape
will be snatched from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
powerful and too vast to count,
possessing teeth like those of a lion,
and the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vines
and destroyed my fig trees,
stripping off their bark
and leaving their branches white.
8 Lament like a virgin garbed in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests, the ministers of the Lord,
are in mourning.
10 The fields are destroyed;
the earth mourns.
The grain has been ruined;
the wine has dried up;
the oil has failed.
11 Despair, you farmers,
and wail, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley;
the harvest of the fields is lost.
12 The vine has withered;
the fig tree droops.
The pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree—
all the trees of the field have dried up.
And the joy of the people
has also withered away.
Announce a Holy Fast; Proclaim a Solemn Assembly[b]
13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests!
Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, pass the entire night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God!
For the house of your God is deprived
of grain offerings and libations.
14 Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a solemn assembly.
Summon the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord, your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Woe to us on that day!
For the day of the Lord[c] is near,
coming as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes?
Have not joy and gladness disappeared
from the house of our God?
17 The seed has shriveled under the clods;
the storehouses are empty,
and the granaries are deserted
because the grain has dried up.
18 How loudly the cattle groan!
The herds of oxen are bewildered
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are wasting away.
19 To you, O Lord, I cry,
for fire has consumed the open pastures
and flames have destroyed every tree in the countryside.
20 Even the beasts of the field
cry out to you.
For the streams of water have dried up,
and fire has devoured the open pastures.
Chapter 2
The Day of the Lord Is Coming[d]
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain.
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
2 A day of darkness and gloom is near,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like the dawn spreading over the mountains,
a vast and powerful army approaches.
Their like has never been seen,
nor will it ever be seen again
in the ages to come.
3 Their vanguard is a devouring fire,
while behind them is a consuming flame.
Ahead of them the land is like the Garden of Eden,
but behind them lies a desert waste,
and from that army there is no escape.
4 They have the appearance of horses;
like cavalry they charge.
5 They leap over the mountaintops
with a deafening din like that of chariots,
like the crackling of a blazing fire
devouring stubble,
like a mighty army
drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them
people shrink back in anguish,
their faces without color.
7 Like warriors they press forward;
like soldiers they scale the walls.
They advance, marching straight ahead,
without swerving from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
each marches straight ahead.
They surge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They burst ahead to assault the city,
leaping onto the walls.
They climb into the houses,
entering like thieves through the windows.
10 As they move forward,
the earth quakes before them
and the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withhold their light.
11 The Lord’s voice thunders
at the head of his army.
Mighty and numerous are his forces,
and they enforce his orders.
Great is the day of the Lord
and exceedingly terrible;
who can endure it?
Rend Your Hearts and Not Your Garments[e]
12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
13 Rend your hearts and not your garments,
and turn back to the Lord, your God.
For he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and always prepared to relent from punishing.
14 Perhaps he will turn back and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
cereal offerings and libations
to be presented to the Lord, your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion!
Proclaim a fast!
Announce a solemn assembly!
16 Gather the people together;
summon the community;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Call forth the bridegroom from his bedroom
and the bride from her wedding chamber.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,
stand weeping, between the temple porch and the altar,
as they say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not allow your heritage[f] to be mocked
and subjected to the contempt of the nations.
Why should the peoples say
‘Where is their God?’ ”
18 Thereupon, the Lord was stirred to feel concern for his land, and he took pity on his people. 19 In response to their request, the Lord said to his people:
I will send you
grain and wine and oil,
and you will have all you need.
Never again will I expose you
to the contempt of the nations.
20 I shall drive the northern army far from you
and banish them to an arid and desolate land,
with their vanguard toward the eastern sea,[h]
and their rearguard toward the western sea.
They will give off a stench,
and a foul stench will rise up.
21 Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things.
22 Be not afraid, you beasts of the field,
for the open pastures are green once again.
The trees will bear fruit;
the fig tree and the vine will yield a full harvest.
23 O children of Zion, be glad,
and rejoice in the Lord, your God.
For he has given you food in good measure
by sending you rain,
the autumn and spring rains as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
and the vats will overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopping, the destroying, and the cutting locust,
my great army which I sent against you.
26 You will eat until you are satisfied,
and you will praise the name of the Lord, your God,
for he has dealt wondrously with you,
and my people will never again be put to shame.
27 And you shall know
that I am in the midst of Israel.
I am the Lord, your God, and there is no other;
my people shall never again be put to shame.
The Advent of New Times
Chapter 3
I Will Pour Out My Spirit on All Mankind[i]
1 After this,
I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind.
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy;
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
2 Even on the male and female slaves
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
3 I will show portents
in the heavens and on the earth,
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
4 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the day of the Lord,
that great and terrible day.
5 Then everyone will be saved
who calls on the name of the Lord.
For on Mount Zion
there will be a remnant,
as the Lord has said,
and in Jerusalem there will be survivors
whom the Lord will call.
Chapter 5
Vision of the Lamb.[a] 1 Then I saw in the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I beheld a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 But there was no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth who was able to open the scroll and examine it.
4 I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and examine it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and thus has won the right to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that had been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into the entire world. 7 He came forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne.
8 When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each of the elders was holding a harp, and they had gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 They sang a new song:[b]
“You are worthy to receive the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
people of every tribe and language, nation and race.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on earth.”
11 In my vision, I heard the voices of a multitude of angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. These angels numbered thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand of them. 12 And they cried out with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was sacrificed
to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and praise.”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To the one seated on the throne
and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
forever and ever.”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders prostrated themselves in worship.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.