THE BOOK OF JOEL

 

Joel Chapter 2

1 ¶ Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD comes, for it is near at hand;

2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, it spreads over the hills like the dawn: a great and mighty people have come; there has never been anything like them, nor will it ever happen again, even to the years of many generations.

3 Flames consume before them; and fire burns behind them: before them the land is like the garden of Eden, and behind them it is like a desolate wilderness; yes, nothing will escape them.

4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and they run like horsemen.

5 They rumble like chariots as they bound to the tops of mountains, their noise is like flames that devour straw, they are like a strong army set in battle array.

6 Nations are in anguish before them: all faces turn pale.

7 They will run like mighty men; they will climb walls like men of war; they each march straight ahead, and they will not break their ranks:

8 Nor will they push one another; they each proceed in their own path: and when they engage in combat, they are not wounded.

9 They will run to and fro in the city; they will run on the wall, they will climb up onto the houses; they will enter the windows like a thief.

10 The earth will quake before them; the heavens will tremble: the sun and the moon will be dark, and the stars will stop shining:

11 And the voice of the LORD will thunder ahead of his army: for his host is very great: for those who execute his word are powerful: for the day of the LORD is great and very dreadful; who can endure it?

12 ¶ Therefore right now, says the LORD, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow over sin:

13 Tear your hearts, and not your clothes, and turn to the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and full of kindness, and will revoke his sentence of doom.

14 Who knows? he may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him; so offer food and drink to the LORD your God.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, order a holy fast, call a solemn assembly:

16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those who suck the breasts: let the bridegroom come out of his room, and the bride come out of her 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 disgrace, that the heathen should rule over them: why should the nations ask, Where is their God?

18 ¶ Then the LORD will be zealous for his land, and will take pity on his people.

19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say to his people, Behold, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, until you are satisfied: and I will no longer let you be a disgrace among the nations:

20 For I will remove the northern army far from you, and will drive him into a barren and forsaken land, with his face toward the eastern sea, and his rear toward the western sea, and his stench will rise, and his foul odor will ascend, though he has done great things.

21 Do not be afraid, 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 will turn green, and the trees will bear their fruit, the fig tree and the vine will yield their strength.

23 Therefore be glad, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he will give you the early rain in abundance, and he will cause the rains to come down for you, both the early rain and the later rain, as before.

24 And the floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust has consumed, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the cutworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And you will eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you: and my people will never be ashamed.

27 And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other: and my people will never be ashamed.

28 ¶ And it will come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions:

29 And in those days I will also pour out my spirit upon the servants and upon the handmaids.

30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and columns of smoke.

31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes.

32 And it will come to pass, that whoever calls upon the name of the LORD will be saved: for on mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, and those who remain whom the LORD will call.