Joel 2 (New American Standard Bible)

Joel 2

The Terrible Visitation

    ^1(A)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
         And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
         Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
         For the ^(B)day of the LORD is coming;
         Surely it is near,
    ²A day of ^(C)darkness and gloom,
         A day of clouds and thick darkness
         As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
         So there is a ^(D)great and mighty people;
         There has ^(E)never been anything like it,
         Nor will there be again after it
         To the years of many generations.
    ³A ^(F)fire consumes before them
         And behind them a flame burns
         The land is ^(G)like the garden of Eden before them
         But a ^(H)desolate wilderness behind them,
         And nothing at all escapes them.
    ⁴Their ^(I)appearance is like the appearance of horses;
         And like war horses, so they run.
    ⁵With a ^(J)noise as of chariots
         They leap on the tops of the mountains,
         Like the crackling of a ^(K)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
         Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
    ⁶Before them the people are in ^(L)anguish;
         All ^(M)faces turn pale.
    ⁷They run like mighty men,
         They climb the wall like soldiers;
         And they each ^(N)march in line,
         Nor do they deviate from their paths.
    ⁸They do not crowd each other,
         They march everyone in his path;
         When they burst through the defenses,
         They do not break ranks.
    ⁹They rush on the city,
         They run on the wall;
         They climb into the ^(O)houses,
         They ^(P)enter through the windows like a thief.
    ¹⁰Before them the earth ^(Q)quakes,
         The heavens tremble,
         The ^(R)sun and the moon grow dark
         And the stars lose their brightness.
    ¹¹The LORD ^(S)utters His voice before ^(T)His army;
         Surely His camp is very great,
         For ^(U)strong is he who carries out His word
         The ^(V)day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome,
         And ^(W)who can endure it?
    ¹²"Yet even now," declares the LORD,
         "^(X)Return to Me with all your heart,
         And with ^(Y)fasting, weeping and mourning;
    ¹³And ^(Z)rend your heart and not ^(AA)your garments "
         Now return to the LORD your God,
         For He is ^(AB)gracious and compassionate,
         Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness
         And ^(AC)relenting of evil.
    ¹⁴Who knows ^(AD)whether He will not turn and relent
         And leave a ^(AE)blessing behind Him,
         Even ^(AF)a grain offering and a drink offering
         For the LORD your God?
    ^15(AG)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
         ^(AH)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
    ¹⁶Gather the people, ^(AI)sanctify the congregation,
         Assemble the elders,
         Gather the children and the nursing infants
         Let the ^(AJ)bridegroom come out of his room
         And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
    ¹⁷Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers,
         Weep ^(AK)between the porch and the altar,
         And let them say, "^(AL)Spare Your people, O LORD,
         And do not make Your inheritance a ^(AM)reproach,
         A byword among the nations
         Why should they among the peoples say,
         '^(AN)Where is their God?'"

Deliverance Promised

    ¹⁸Then the LORD will be ^(AO)zealous for His land
         And will have ^(AP)pity on His people.
    ¹⁹The LORD will answer and say to His people,
         "Behold, I am going to ^(AQ)send you grain, new wine and oil,
         And you will be satisfied in full with them;
         And I will ^(AR)never again make you a reproach among the nations.
    ²⁰"But I will remove the ^(AS)northern army far from you,
         And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
         And its vanguard into the ^(AT)eastern sea,
         And its rear guard into the ^(AU)western sea
         And its ^(AV)stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
         For it has done great things."
    ^21(AW)Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
         For the LORD has done ^(AX)great things.
    ²²Do not fear, beasts of the field,
         For the ^(AY)pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
         For the tree has borne its fruit,
         The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
    ²³So rejoice, O ^(AZ)sons of Zion,
         And ^(BA)be glad in the LORD your God;
         For He has ^(BB)given you ^[a]the early rain for your vindication
         And He has poured down for you the rain,
         The ^[b]early and ^[c](BC)latter rain as before.
    ²⁴The threshing floors will be full of grain,
         And the vats will ^(BD)overflow with the new wine and oil.
    ²⁵"Then I will make up to you for the years
         That the swarming ^(BE)locust has eaten,
         The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
         My great army which I sent among you.
    ²⁶"You will have plenty to ^(BF)eat and be satisfied
         And ^(BG)praise the name of the LORD your God,
         Who has ^(BH)dealt wondrously with you;
         Then My people will ^(BI)never be put to shame.
    ²⁷"Thus you will ^(BJ)know that I am in the midst of Israel,
         And that I am the LORD your God,
         And there is ^(BK)no other;
         And My people will never be ^(BL)put to shame.

The Promise of the Spirit

    ²⁸"^(BM)It will come about after this
         That I will ^(BN)pour out My Spirit on all ^(BO)mankind;
         And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
         Your old men will dream dreams,
         Your young men will see visions.
    ²⁹"Even on the ^(BP)male and female servants
         I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the LORD

    ³⁰"I will ^(BQ)display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
         Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
    ³¹"The ^(BR)sun will be turned into darkness
         And the moon into blood
         Before the ^(BS)great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
    ³²"And it will come about that ^(BT)whoever calls on the name of the LORD
         Will be delivered;
         For ^(BU)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
         There will be those who ^(BV)escape,
         As the LORD has said,
         Even among the ^(BW)survivors whom the LORD calls.