1Chapter
1The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
2Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
4What 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.
5Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.
6For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions' teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.
8Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord.
10The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes.
11Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
12The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.
3Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
4What 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.
5Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.
6For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions' teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.
8Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord.
10The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes.
11Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
12The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.
A Call to Repentance
13Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;
wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
Because grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
15Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up.
18How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19To you, O Lord, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
14Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
15Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up.
18How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19To you, O Lord, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
2Chapter
The Day of the Lord
1Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
3Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run.
5As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle.
6Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale.
7Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths.
8They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.
9They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
10The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
11The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
3Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run.
5As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle.
6Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale.
7Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths.
8They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.
9They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
10The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
11The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
Return to the Lord
12“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
15Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;
16gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
17Between the vestibule and the altar 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. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
13and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
15Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;
16gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
17Between the vestibule and the altar 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. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
The Lord Had Pity
18Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
19The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, 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 into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; 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 the Lord has done great things!
22Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
23“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
24“The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
26“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 shall never again be put to shame.
27You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
19The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, 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 into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; 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 the Lord has done great things!
22Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
23“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
24“The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
26“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 shall never again be put to shame.
27You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
28“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
29Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
3Chapter
The Lord Judges the Nations
1“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4“What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.” 9Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
16The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
4“What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.” 9Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
16The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.
18“And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.
19“Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
21I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
18“And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.
19“Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
21I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
Study