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Joel 1-3
New International Version
Joel 1-3
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel(B) son of Pethuel.
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this,(C) you elders;(D)
listen, all who live in the land.(E)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(F)
3 Tell it to your children,(G)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(H)
4 What the locust(I) swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left(J)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(K)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(L)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(M) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(N)
it has the teeth(O) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(P) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(Q)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(R)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(S)
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(T)
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(U)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(V) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(W)
11 Despair, you farmers,(X)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(Y)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(Z)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(AA)
the pomegranate,(AB) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(AC)
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth,(AD) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(AE) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(AF)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(AG)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(AH)
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out(AI) to the Lord.(AJ)
15 Alas for that(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AM)
16 Has not the food been cut off(AN)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AO)
from the house of our God?(AP)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](AQ)
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(AR)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AS)
19 To you, Lord, I call,(AT)
for fire(AU) has devoured the pastures(AV) in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(AW)
the streams of water have dried up(AX)
and fire has devoured the pastures(AY) in the wilderness.
An Army of Locusts
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord(BC) is coming.
It is close at hand(BD)—
2 a day of darkness(BE) and gloom,(BF)
a day of clouds(BG) and blackness.(BH)
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army(BI) comes,
such as never was in ancient times(BJ)
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire(BK) devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,(BL)
behind them, a desert waste(BM)—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;(BN)
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots(BO)
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire(BP) consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;(BQ)
every face turns pale.(BR)
7 They charge like warriors;(BS)
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,(BT)
not swerving(BU) from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;(BV)
like thieves they enter through the windows.(BW)
10 Before them the earth shakes,(BX)
the heavens tremble,(BY)
the sun and moon are darkened,(BZ)
and the stars no longer shine.(CA)
11 The Lord(CB) thunders(CC)
at the head of his army;(CD)
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;(CE)
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?(CF)
Rend Your Heart
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return(CG) to me with all your heart,(CH)
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart(CI)
and not your garments.(CJ)
Return(CK) to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,(CL)
slow to anger and abounding in love,(CM)
and he relents from sending calamity.(CN)
14 Who knows? He may turn(CO) and relent(CP)
and leave behind a blessing(CQ)—
grain offerings and drink offerings(CR)
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet(CS) in Zion,(CT)
declare a holy fast,(CU)
call a sacred assembly.(CV)
16 Gather the people,
consecrate(CW) the assembly;
bring together the elders,(CX)
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom(CY) leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister(CZ) before the Lord,
weep(DA) between the portico and the altar.(DB)
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,(DC)
a byword(DD) among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?(DE)’”
The Lord’s Answer
19 The Lord replied[e] to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wine(DH) and olive oil,(DI)
enough to satisfy you fully;(DJ)
never again will I make you
an object of scorn(DK) to the nations.
20 “I will drive the northern horde(DL) far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench(DM) will go up;
its smell will rise.”
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid,(DN) land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.(DO)
Surely the Lord has done great things!(DP)
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.(DQ)
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree(DR) and the vine(DS) yield their riches.(DT)
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice(DU) in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.(DV)
He sends you abundant showers,(DW)
both autumn(DX) and spring rains,(DY) as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow(DZ) with new wine(EA) and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts(EB) have eaten(EC)—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm[f]—
my great army(ED) that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,(EE)
and you will praise(EF) the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders(EG) for you;
never again will my people be shamed.(EH)
27 Then you will know(EI) that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord(EJ) your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.(EK)
The Day of the Lord
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit(EL) on all people.(EM)
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,(EN)
your old men will dream dreams,(EO)
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants,(EP) both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.(EQ)
30 I will show wonders in the heavens(ER)
and on the earth,(ES)
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness(ET)
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.(EU)
32 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord(EV) will be saved;(EW)
for on Mount Zion(EX) and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,(EY)
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors(EZ)
whom the Lord calls.[g](FA)
The Nations Judged
3 [h]“In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes(FB) of Judah(FC) and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather(FD) all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[i](FE)
There I will put them on trial(FF)
for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered(FG) my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
3 They cast lots(FH) for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine(FI) to drink.
4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon(FJ) and all you regions of Philistia?(FK) Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.(FL) 5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.[j](FM) 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,(FN) that you might send them far from their homeland.
7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them,(FO) and I will return(FP) on your own heads what you have done. 8 I will sell your sons(FQ) and daughters to the people of Judah,(FR) and they will sell them to the Sabeans,(FS) a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.(FT)
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!(FU)
Rouse the warriors!(FV)
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks(FW) into spears.(FX)
Let the weakling(FY) say,
“I am strong!”(FZ)
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemble(GA) there.
Bring down your warriors,(GB) Lord!
12 “Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,(GC)
for there I will sit
to judge(GD) all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle,(GE)
for the harvest(GF) is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,(GG)
for the winepress(GH) is full
and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”
14 Multitudes,(GI) multitudes
in the valley(GJ) of decision!
For the day of the Lord(GK) is near
in the valley of decision.(GL)
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.(GM)
16 The Lord will roar(GN) from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;(GO)
the earth and the heavens will tremble.(GP)
But the Lord will be a refuge(GQ) for his people,
a stronghold(GR) for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s People
17 “Then you will know(GS) that I, the Lord your God,(GT)
dwell in Zion,(GU) my holy hill.(GV)
Jerusalem will be holy;(GW)
never again will foreigners invade her.(GX)
18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,(GY)
and the hills will flow with milk;(GZ)
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.(HA)
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house(HB)
and will water the valley of acacias.[k](HC)
19 But Egypt(HD) will be desolate,
Edom(HE) a desert waste,
because of violence(HF) done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Judah will be inhabited forever(HG)
and Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?(HH)
No, I will not.(HI)”
The Lord dwells in Zion!(HJ)
Footnotes
- Joel 1:4 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
- Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot
- Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
- Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Joel 2:19 Or Lord will be jealous … / and take pity … / 19 The Lord will reply
- Joel 2:25 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
- Joel 2:32 In Hebrew texts 2:28-32 is numbered 3:1-5.
- Joel 3:1 In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21.
- Joel 3:2 Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12.
- Joel 3:5 Or palaces
- Joel 3:18 Or Valley of Shittim
Joel 1-3
New King James Version
Joel 1-3
New King James Version
The Locust Plague in Judah
1 The word of the Lord that came to (A)Joel the son of Pethuel.
The Land Laid Waste(B)
2 Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
(C)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3 (D)Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.
4 (E)What the chewing [a]locust left, the (F)swarming locust has eaten;
What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;
And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you (G)drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the new wine,
(H)For it has been cut off from your mouth.
6 For (I)a nation has come up against My land,
Strong, and without number;
(J)His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he has the fangs of a [b]fierce lion.
7 He has (K)laid waste My vine,
And [c]ruined My fig tree;
He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;
Its branches are made white.
8 (L)Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth
For (M)the husband of her youth.
9 (N)The grain offering and the drink offering
Have been cut off from the house of the Lord;
The priests (O)mourn, who minister to the Lord.
10 The field is wasted,
(P)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
(Q)The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.
11 (R)Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 (S)The vine has dried up,
And the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also,
And the apple tree—
All the trees of the field are withered;
Surely (T)joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Mourning for the Land
13 (U)Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;
Wail, you who minister before the altar;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
You who minister to my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (V)Consecrate a fast,
Call (W)a sacred assembly;
Gather the elders
And (X)all the inhabitants of the land
Into the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
15 (Y)Alas for the day!
For (Z)the day of the Lord is at hand;
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Is not the food (AA)cut off before our eyes,
(AB)Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.
18 How (AC)the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep [d]suffer punishment.
19 O Lord, (AD)to You I cry out;
For (AE)fire has devoured the [e]open pastures,
And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field also (AF)cry out to You,
For (AG)the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the [f]open pastures.
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow (AH)the [g]trumpet in Zion,
And (AI)sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For (AJ)the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 (AK)A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
(AL)A people come, great and strong,
(AM)The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like (AN)the Garden of Eden before them,
(AO)And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
4 (AP)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like [h]swift steeds, so they run.
5 (AQ)With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people writhe in pain;
(AR)All faces [i]are drained of color.
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break (AS)ranks.
8 They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own [j]column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not [k]cut down.
9 They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They (AT)enter at the windows (AU)like a thief.
10 (AV)The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
(AW)The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
11 (AX)The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
(AY)For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the (AZ)day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
(BA)Who can endure it?
A Call to Repentance
12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
(BB)“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So (BC)rend your heart, and not (BD)your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is (BE)gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14 (BF)Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave (BG)a blessing behind Him—
(BH)A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?
15 (BI)Blow the [l]trumpet in Zion,
(BJ)Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
16 Gather the people,
(BK)Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
(BL)Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
Weep (BM)between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, (BN)“Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should [m]rule over them.
(BO)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
The Land Refreshed(BP)
18 Then the Lord will (BQ)be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you (BR)grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them;
I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
20 “But (BS)I will remove far from you (BT)the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back (BU)toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done [n]monstrous things.”
21 Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done [o]marvelous things!
22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For (BV)the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And (BW)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the [p]former rain faithfully,
And He (BX)will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
25 “So I will restore to you the years (BY)that the swarming [q]locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26 You shall (BZ)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 be put to (CA)shame.
27 Then you shall know that I am (CB)in the midst of Israel:
(CC)I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.
God’s Spirit Poured Out
28 “And(CD) it shall come to pass afterward
That (CE)I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
(CF)Your sons and your (CG)daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My (CH)menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
30 “And (CI)I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 (CJ)The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
(CK)Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
32 And it shall come to pass
That (CL)whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be [r]saved.
For (CM)in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be [s]deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among (CN)the remnant whom the Lord calls.
God Judges the Nations
3 “For behold, (CO)in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 (CP)I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I (CQ)will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
3 They have (CR)cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4 “Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
(CS)O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you [t]retaliate against Me?
But if you [u]retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your [v]retaliation upon your own head;
5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold,
And have carried into your temples My [w]prized possessions.
6 Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem
You have sold to the Greeks,
That you may remove them far from their borders.
7 “Behold, (CT)I will raise them
Out of the place to which you have sold them,
And will return your [x]retaliation upon your own head.
8 I will sell your sons and your daughters
Into the hand of the people of Judah,
And they will sell them to the (CU)Sabeans,[y]
To a people (CV)far off;
For the Lord has spoken.”
9 (CW)Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
10 (CX)Beat your plowshares into swords
And your [z]pruning hooks into spears;
(CY)Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”
11 Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause (CZ)Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.
12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to (DA)judge all the surrounding nations.
13 (DB)Put in the sickle, for (DC)the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the (DD)winepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickedness is great.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For (DE)the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 The Lord also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
(DF)But the Lord will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.
17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion My (DG)holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
God Blesses His People
18 And it will come to pass in that day
That the mountains shall drip with new wine,
The hills shall flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;
A (DH)fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of [aa]Acacias.
19 “Egypt shall be a desolation,
And Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violence against the people of Judah,
For they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall abide forever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will (DI)acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;
For the Lord dwells in Zion.”
Footnotes
- Joel 1:4 Exact identity of these locusts unknown
- Joel 1:6 Or lioness
- Joel 1:7 Or splintered
- Joel 1:18 LXX, Vg. are made desolate
- Joel 1:19 Lit. pastures of the wilderness
- Joel 1:20 Lit. pastures of the wilderness
- Joel 2:1 ram’s horn
- Joel 2:4 Or horsemen
- Joel 2:6 LXX, Tg., Vg. gather blackness
- Joel 2:8 Lit. highway
- Joel 2:8 Halted by losses
- Joel 2:15 ram’s horn
- Joel 2:17 Or speak a proverb against them
- Joel 2:20 Lit. great
- Joel 2:21 Lit. great
- Joel 2:23 Or teacher of righteousness
- Joel 2:25 Exact identity of these locusts unknown
- Joel 2:32 Or delivered
- Joel 2:32 Or salvation
- Joel 3:4 Or render Me repayment
- Joel 3:4 Or repay Me
- Joel 3:4 Or repayment
- Joel 3:5 Lit. precious good things
- Joel 3:7 Or repayment
- Joel 3:8 Lit. Shebaites, Is. 60:6; Ezek. 27:22
- Joel 3:10 pruning knives
- Joel 3:18 Heb. Shittim
Joel 1-3
New American Standard Bible
Joel 1-3
New American Standard Bible
The Devastation by Locusts
1 The (A)word of the Lord that came to (B)Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 (C)Hear this, you (D)elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
(E)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or in your fathers’ days?
3 (F)Tell your sons about it,
And have your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.
4 What the (G)gnawing locust has left, the [a]swarming locust has eaten;
And what the (H)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the (I)stripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, (J)you heavy drinkers, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
Because of the sweet wine,
For it has been (K)eliminated from your mouth.
6 For a (L)nation has [b]invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
(M)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the jaws of a lioness.
7 It has (N)made my vine a waste
And my fig tree a stump.
It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
Their branches have become white.
8 (O)Wail like a virgin (P)clothed with sackcloth
For the groom of her youth.
9 The (Q)grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
From the house of the Lord.
The (R)priests mourn,
The ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is (S)ruined,
(T)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine has dried up,
Fresh oil has [c]failed.
11 (U)Be ashamed, you farm workers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the (V)harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The (W)vine has dried up
And the fig tree has withered;
The (X)pomegranate, the (Y)palm also, and the (Z)apple tree,
All the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, (AA)joy has dried up
From the sons of mankind.
13 (AB)Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
(AC)Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, (AD)spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.
Starvation and Drought
14 (AE)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a (AF)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And (AG)cry out to the Lord.
15 (AH)Woe for the day!
For the (AI)day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as (AJ)destruction from the [d]Almighty.
16 Has (AK)food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and (AL)rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The [e](AM)seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
18 How (AN)the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have [f]suffered.
19 (AO)To You, Lord, I cry out;
For (AP)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field [g](AQ)pant for You;
For the (AR)stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
The Terrible Visitation
2 (AS)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the (AT)day of the Lord is coming;
Indeed, it is near,
2 A day of (AU)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a (AV)great and mighty people;
There has (AW)never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A (AX)fire consumes before them,
And behind them a flame devours.
The land is (AY)like the Garden of Eden before them,
But a (AZ)desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their (BA)appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
5 [h]With a (BB)noise as of chariots
They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
Like the [i]crackling of a (BC)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
6 Before them the people are in (BD)anguish;
All (BE)faces [j]turn pale.
7 They run like warriors,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And each of them (BF)marches [k]in line,
Nor do they lose their way.
8 They do not crowd each other,
Every warrior of them marches in his path;
When they [l]burst through the [m]defenses,
They do not break ranks.
9 They storm the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the (BG)houses,
They (BH)enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth (BI)quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The (BJ)sun and the moon become dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The Lord (BK)utters His voice before (BL)His army;
His camp is indeed very great,
For (BM)mighty is one who carries out His word.
The (BN)day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And (BO)who can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“(BP)Return to Me with all your heart,
And with (BQ)fasting, weeping, and mourning;
13 And (BR)tear your heart and not merely (BS)your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is (BT)gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And (BU)relenting of catastrophe.
14 Who knows, (BV)He might turn and relent,
And leave a (BW)blessing behind Him,
Resulting in (BX)a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
15 (BY)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
(BZ)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, (CA)sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the (CB)groom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep (CC)between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “[n](CD)Spare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a (CE)disgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘(CF)Where is their God?’”
Deliverance Promised
18 Then the Lord [o]will be (CG)zealous for His land,
And [p]will have (CH)compassion for His people.
19 The Lord [q]will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to (CI)send you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with [r]them;
And I will (CJ)never again make you a disgrace among the nations.
20 But I will remove the (CK)northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land,
Its advance guard into the (CL)eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the (CM)western sea.
And its (CN)stench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up,
Because it has done great things.”
21 (CO)Do not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice,
For the Lord has done (CP)great things.
22 Do not fear, animals of the field,
For the (CQ)pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has produced its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded [s]in full.
23 So shout for joy, you (CR)sons of Zion,
And (CS)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has (CT)given you [t]the early rain for your vindication.
And He has brought down for you the rain,
The [u]early and [v](CU)latter rain [w]as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will (CV)overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will compensate you for the years
That the [x]swarming (CW)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 (CX)eat and be satisfied,
And you will (CY)praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has (CZ)dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will (DA)never be put to shame.
27 So you will (DB)know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is (DC)no other;
And My people will never be (DD)put to shame.
The Promise of the Spirit
28 “[y](DE)It will come about after this
That I will (DF)pour out My Spirit on all [z](DG)mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 And even on the (DH)male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
The Day of the Lord
30 I will [aa](DI)display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The (DJ)sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the (DK)great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will come about that (DL)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will [ab]be saved;
For (DM)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who (DN)escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the (DO)survivors whom the Lord calls.
The Nations Will Be Judged
3 “[ac]For behold, (DP)in those days and at that time,
When I (DQ)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will (DR)gather all the nations
And bring them down to the (DS)Valley of [ad]Jehoshaphat.
Then I will (DT)enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have (DU)scattered among the nations;
And they have (DV)divided up My land.
3 They have also (DW)cast lots for My people,
[ae](DX)Traded a boy for a prostitute,
And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.
4 Moreover, what are you to Me, (DY)Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of (DZ)Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will (EA)return your retribution on your head! 5 Since you have (EB)taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious [af]treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the (EC)sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the [ag]Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to (ED)stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. 8 I will also (EE)sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the (EF)Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.
9 (EG)Proclaim this among the nations:
(EH)Prepare for holy war; (EI)stir up the warriors!
Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 (EJ)Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruning hooks into spears;
(EK)Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 [ah](EL)Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, Lord, Your (EM)warriors.
12 Let the nations be awakened
And come up to the (EN)Valley of [ai]Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to (EO)judge
All the surrounding nations.
13 (EP)Put in the sickle, for the (EQ)harvest is ripe.
Come, (ER)tread the grapes, for the (ES)wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their (ET)wickedness is great.
14 (EU)Multitudes, multitudes in the (EV)valley of [aj]decision!
For the (EW)day of the Lord is near in the valley of [ak]decision.
15 The (EX)sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord (EY)roars from Zion
And (EZ)utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the (FA)heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a (FB)refuge for His people,
And a (FC)stronghold for the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will (FD)know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling on Zion, My (FE)holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be (FF)holy,
And (FG)strangers will no longer pass through it.
Judah Will Be Blessed
18 And on that day
The (FH)mountains will drip with [al]sweet wine,
And the hills will (FI)flow with milk,
And all the (FJ)brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a (FK)spring will go out from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of [am]Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the (FL)violence [an]done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be (FM)inhabited forever,
And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will (FN)avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the Lord dwells in Zion.
Footnotes
- Joel 1:4 Or migratory
- Joel 1:6 Lit gone up against
- Joel 1:10 Lit dried out
- Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai
- Joel 1:17 Or dried figs
- Joel 1:18 Lit suffered punishment
- Joel 1:20 Or long for
- Joel 2:5 Lit Like the noise of chariots
- Joel 2:5 Lit sound
- Joel 2:6 Or become flushed
- Joel 2:7 Lit in his ways
- Joel 2:8 Lit fall
- Joel 2:8 Lit weapon, prob. javelin
- Joel 2:17 Or Look compassionately on
- Joel 2:18 Or was zealous
- Joel 2:18 Or had compassion
- Joel 2:19 Or answered and said
- Joel 2:19 Lit it
- Joel 2:22 Lit their wealth
- Joel 2:23 I.e., autumn; or possibly the teacher for righteousness
- Joel 2:23 I.e., autumn
- Joel 2:23 I.e., spring
- Joel 2:23 As in ancient versions; MT in the first
- Joel 2:25 Or migratory
- Joel 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Heb
- Joel 2:28 Lit flesh
- Joel 2:30 Lit give
- Joel 2:32 Or flee to safety
- Joel 3:1 Ch 4:1 in Heb
- Joel 3:2 I.e., YHWH judges
- Joel 3:3 Lit Given
- Joel 3:5 Lit goodly things
- Joel 3:6 Lit sons of Javan
- Joel 3:11 Or Come help
- Joel 3:12 I.e., YHWH judges
- Joel 3:14 I.e., God’s verdict
- Joel 3:14 I.e., God’s verdict
- Joel 3:18 Lit freshly pressed-out grape juice
- Joel 3:18 Or acacias
- Joel 3:19 Lit of the sons
Joel 1-3
New Living Translation
Joel 1-3
New Living Translation
1 The Lord gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel.
Mourning over the Locust Plague
2 Hear this, you leaders of the people.
Listen, all who live in the land.
In all your history,
has anything like this happened before?
3 Tell your children about it in the years to come,
and let your children tell their children.
Pass the story down from generation to generation.
4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops,
the swarming locusts took what was left!
After them came the hopping locusts,
and then the stripping locusts,[a] too!
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you wine-drinkers!
All the grapes are ruined,
and all your sweet wine is gone.
6 A vast army of locusts[b] has invaded my land,
a terrible army too numerous to count.
Its teeth are like lions’ teeth,
its fangs like those of a lioness.
7 It has destroyed my grapevines
and ruined my fig trees,
stripping their bark and destroying it,
leaving the branches white and bare.
8 Weep like a bride dressed in black,
mourning the death of her husband.
9 For there is no grain or wine
to offer at the Temple of the Lord.
So the priests are in mourning.
The ministers of the Lord are weeping.
10 The fields are ruined,
the land is stripped bare.
The grain is destroyed,
the grapes have shriveled,
and the olive oil is gone.
11 Despair, all you farmers!
Wail, all you vine growers!
Weep, because the wheat and barley—
all the crops of the field—are ruined.
12 The grapevines have dried up,
and the fig trees have withered.
The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees—
all the fruit trees—have dried up.
And the people’s joy has dried up with them.
13 Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests!
Wail, you who serve before the altar!
Come, spend the night in burlap,
you ministers of my God.
For there is no grain or wine
to offer at the Temple of your God.
14 Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together for a solemn meeting.
Bring the leaders
and all the people of the land
into the Temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to him there.
15 The day of the Lord is near,
the day when destruction comes from the Almighty.
How terrible that day will be!
16 Our food disappears before our very eyes.
No joyful celebrations are held in the house of our God.
17 The seeds die in the parched ground,
and the grain crops fail.
The barns stand empty,
and granaries are abandoned.
18 How the animals moan with hunger!
The herds of cattle wander about confused,
because they have no pasture.
The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.
19 Lord, help us!
The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures,
and flames have burned up all the trees.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to you
because the streams have dried up,
and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures.
Locusts Invade like an Army
2 Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem[c]!
Raise the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let everyone tremble in fear
because the day of the Lord is upon us.
2 It is a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains,
a great and mighty army appears.
Nothing like it has been seen before
or will ever be seen again.
3 Fire burns in front of them,
and flames follow after them.
Ahead of them the land lies
as beautiful as the Garden of Eden.
Behind them is nothing but desolation;
not one thing escapes.
4 They look like horses;
they charge forward like warhorses.[d]
5 Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops.
Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots,
like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble,
or like a mighty army moving into battle.
6 Fear grips all the people;
every face grows pale with terror.
7 The attackers march like warriors
and scale city walls like soldiers.
Straight forward they march,
never breaking rank.
8 They never jostle each other;
each moves in exactly the right position.
They break through defenses
without missing a step.
9 They swarm over the city
and run along its walls.
They enter all the houses,
climbing like thieves through the windows.
10 The earth quakes as they advance,
and the heavens tremble.
The sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord is at the head of the column.
He leads them with a shout.
This is his mighty army,
and they follow his orders.
The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing.
Who can possibly survive?
A Call to Repentance
12 That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
14 Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
to the Lord your God as before.
15 Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together
for a solemn meeting.
16 Gather all the people—
the elders, the children, and even the babies.
Call the bridegroom from his quarters
and the bride from her private room.
17 Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”
The Lord’s Promise of Restoration
18 Then the Lord will pity his people
and jealously guard the honor of his land.
19 The Lord will reply,
“Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy your needs.
You will no longer be an object of mockery
among the surrounding nations.
20 I will drive away these armies from the north.
I will send them into the parched wastelands.
Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea,
and those at the rear into the Mediterranean.[e]
The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”
Surely the Lord has done great things!
21 Don’t be afraid, O land.
Be glad now and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things.
22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field,
for the wilderness pastures will soon be green.
The trees will again be filled with fruit;
fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.
23 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem!
Rejoice in the Lord your God!
For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
Once more the autumn rains will come,
as well as the rains of spring.
24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain,
and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.
25 The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.[f]
It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
26 Once again you will have all the food you want,
and you will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.
Never again will my people be disgraced.
27 Then you will know that I am among my people Israel,
that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other.
Never again will my people be disgraced.
The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit
28 [g]“Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and terrible[h] day of the Lord arrives.
32 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved,
for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,
just as the Lord has said.
These will be among the survivors
whom the Lord has called.
Judgment against Enemy Nations
3 [i]“At the time of those events,” says the Lord,
“when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather the armies of the world
into the valley of Jehoshaphat.[j]
There I will judge them
for harming my people, my special possession,
for scattering my people among the nations,
and for dividing up my land.
3 They threw dice[k] to decide which of my people
would be their slaves.
They traded boys to obtain prostitutes
and sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.
4 “What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done. 5 You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and have carried them off to your pagan temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,[l] so they could take them far from their homeland.
7 “But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia,[m] a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
9 Say to the nations far and wide:
“Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.
10 Hammer your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
11 Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.
Gather together in the valley.”
And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!
12 “Let the nations be called to arms.
Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I, the Lord, will sit
to pronounce judgment on them all.
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.[n]
Come, tread the grapes,
for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
with the wickedness of these people.”
14 Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision.
There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.
16 The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a strong fortress for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s People
17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
live in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy forever,
and foreign armies will never conquer her again.
18 In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
Water will fill the streambeds of Judah,
and a fountain will burst forth from the Lord’s Temple,
watering the arid valley of acacias.[o]
19 But Egypt will become a wasteland
and Edom will become a wilderness,
because they attacked the people of Judah
and killed innocent people in their land.
20 “But Judah will be filled with people forever,
and Jerusalem will endure through all generations.
21 I will pardon my people’s crimes,
which I have not yet pardoned;
and I, the Lord, will make my home
in Jerusalem[p] with my people.”
Footnotes
- 1:4 The precise identification of the four kinds of locusts mentioned here is uncertain.
- 1:6 Hebrew A nation.
- 2:1 Hebrew Zion; also in 2:15, 23.
- 2:4 Or like charioteers.
- 2:20 Hebrew into the eastern sea, . . . into the western sea.
- 2:25 The precise identification of the four kinds of locusts mentioned here is uncertain.
- 2:28 Verses 2:28-32 are numbered 3:1-5 in Hebrew text.
- 2:31 Greek version reads glorious.
- 3:1 Verses 3:1-21 are numbered 4:1-21 in Hebrew text.
- 3:2 Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges.”
- 3:3 Hebrew They cast lots.
- 3:6 Hebrew to the peoples of Javan.
- 3:8 Hebrew to the Sabeans.
- 3:13 Greek version reads for the harvest time has come. Compare Mark 4:29.
- 3:18 Hebrew valley of Shittim.
- 3:21 Hebrew Zion.
Joel 1-3
The Message
Joel 1-3
The Message
Get in Touch with Reality—and Weep!
1 1-3 God’s Message to Joel son of Pethuel:
Attention, elder statesmen! Listen closely,
everyone, whoever and wherever you are!
Have you ever heard of anything like this?
Has anything like this ever happened before—ever?
Make sure you tell your children,
and your children tell their children,
And their children their children.
Don’t let this message die out.
4 What the chewing locust left,
the gobbling locust ate;
What the gobbling locust left,
the munching locust ate;
What the munching locust left,
the chomping locust ate.
5-7 Sober up, you drunks!
Get in touch with reality—and weep!
Your supply of booze is cut off.
You’re on the wagon, like it or not.
My country’s being invaded
by an army invincible, past numbering,
Teeth like those of a lion,
fangs like those of a tiger.
It has ruined my vineyards,
stripped my orchards,
And clear-cut the country.
The landscape’s a moonscape.
8-10 Weep like a young virgin dressed in black,
mourning the loss of her fiancé.
Without grain and grapes,
worship has been brought to a standstill
in the Sanctuary of God.
The priests are at a loss.
God’s ministers don’t know what to do.
The fields are sterile.
The very ground grieves.
The wheat fields are lifeless,
vineyards dried up, olive oil gone.
11-12 Dirt farmers, despair!
Grape growers, wring your hands!
Lament the loss of wheat and barley.
All crops have failed.
Vineyards dried up,
fig trees withered,
Pomegranates, date palms, and apple trees—
deadwood everywhere!
And joy is dried up and withered
in the hearts of the people.
Nothing’s Going On in the Place of Worship
13-14 And also you priests,
put on your robes and join the outcry.
You who lead people in worship,
lead them in lament.
Spend the night dressed in gunnysacks,
you servants of my God.
Nothing’s going on in the place of worship,
no offerings, no prayers—nothing.
Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting,
get the leaders together,
Round up everyone in the country.
Get them into God’s Sanctuary for serious prayer to God.
15-18 What a day! Doomsday!
God’s Judgment Day has come.
The Strong God has arrived.
This is serious business!
Food is just a memory at our tables,
as are joy and singing from God’s Sanctuary.
The seeds in the field are dead,
barns deserted,
Grain silos abandoned.
Who needs them? The crops have failed!
The farm animals groan—oh, how they groan!
The cattle mill around.
There’s nothing for them to eat.
Not even the sheep find anything.
19-20 God! I pray, I cry out to you!
The fields are burning up,
The country is a dust bowl,
forest and prairie fires rage unchecked.
Wild animals, dying of thirst,
look to you for a drink.
Springs and streams are dried up.
The whole country is burning up.
The Locust Army
2 1-3 Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
Trumpet the alarm on my holy mountain!
Shake the country up!
God’s Judgment’s on its way—the Day’s almost here!
A black day! A Doomsday!
Clouds with no silver lining!
Like dawn light moving over the mountains,
a huge army is coming.
There’s never been anything like it
and never will be again.
Wildfire burns everything before this army
and fire licks up everything in its wake.
Before it arrives, the country is like the Garden of Eden.
When it leaves, it is Death Valley.
Nothing escapes unscathed.
4-6 The locust army seems all horses—
galloping horses, an army of horses.
It sounds like thunder
leaping on mountain ridges,
Or like the roar of wildfire
through grass and brush,
Or like an invincible army shouting for blood,
ready to fight, straining at the bit.
At the sight of this army,
the people panic, faces white with terror.
7-11 The invaders charge.
They climb barricades. Nothing stops them.
Each soldier does what he’s told,
so disciplined, so determined.
They don’t get in each other’s way.
Each one knows his job and does it.
Undaunted and fearless,
unswerving, unstoppable.
They storm the city,
swarm its defenses,
Loot the houses,
breaking down doors, smashing windows.
They arrive like an earthquake,
sweep through like a tornado.
Sun and moon turn out their lights,
stars black out.
God himself bellows in thunder
as he commands his forces.
Look at the size of that army!
And the strength of those who obey him!
God’s Judgment Day—great and terrible.
Who can possibly survive this?
Change Your Life
12 But there’s also this, it’s not too late—
God’s personal Message!—
“Come back to me and really mean it!
Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”
13-14 Change your life, not just your clothes.
Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,
maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s said and done,
there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!
* * *
15-17 Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
Declare a day of repentance, a holy fast day.
Call a public meeting.
Get everyone there. Consecrate the congregation.
Make sure the elders come,
but bring in the children, too, even the nursing babies,
Even men and women on their honeymoon—
interrupt them and get them there.
Between Sanctuary entrance and altar,
let the priests, God’s servants, weep tears of repentance.
Let them intercede: “Have mercy, God, on your people!
Don’t abandon your heritage to contempt.
Don’t let the pagans take over and rule them
and sneer, ‘And so where is this God of theirs?’”
* * *
18-20 At that, God went into action to get his land back.
He took pity on his people.
God answered and spoke to his people,
“Look, listen—I’m sending a gift:
Grain and wine and olive oil.
The fast is over—eat your fill!
I won’t expose you any longer
to contempt among the pagans.
I’ll head off the final enemy coming out of the north
and dump them in a wasteland.
Half of them will end up in the Dead Sea,
the other half in the Mediterranean.
There they’ll rot, a stench to high heaven.
The bigger the enemy, the stronger the stench!”
The Trees Are Bearing Fruit Again
21-24 Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate!
God has done great things.
Fear not, wild animals!
The fields and meadows are greening up.
The trees are bearing fruit again:
a bumper crop of fig trees and vines!
Children of Zion, celebrate!
Be glad in your God.
He’s giving you a teacher
to train you how to live right—
Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words
to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do.
And plenty of food for your body—silos full of grain,
casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.
* * *
25-27 “I’ll make up for the years of the locust,
the great locust devastation—
Locusts savage, locusts deadly,
fierce locusts, locusts of doom,
That great locust invasion
I sent your way.
You’ll eat your fill of good food.
You’ll be full of praises to your God,
The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder.
Never again will my people be despised.
You’ll know without question
that I’m in the thick of life with Israel,
That I’m your God, yes, your God,
the one and only real God.
Never again will my people be despised.
The Sun Turning Black and the Moon Blood-Red
28-32 “And that’s just the beginning: After that—
“I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters.
Your old men will dream,
your young men will see visions.
I’ll even pour out my Spirit on the servants,
men and women both.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below:
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Judgment Day of God,
the Day tremendous and awesome.
Whoever calls, ‘Help, God!’
gets help.
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be a great rescue—just as God said.
Included in the survivors
are those that God calls.”
God Is a Safe Hiding Place
3 1-3 “In those days, yes, at that very time
when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem,
I’ll assemble all the godless nations.
I’ll lead them down into Judgment Valley
And put them all on trial, and judge them one and all
because of their treatment of my own people Israel.
They scattered my people all over the pagan world
and grabbed my land for themselves.
They threw dice for my people
and used them for barter.
They would trade a boy for a whore,
sell a girl for a bottle of wine when they wanted a drink.
* * *
4-8 “As for you, Tyre and Sidon and Philistia,
why should I bother with you?
Are you trying to get back at me
for something I did to you?
If you are, forget it.
I’ll see to it that it boomerangs on you.
You robbed me, cleaned me out of silver and gold,
carted off everything valuable to furnish your own temples.
You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem
into slavery to the Greeks in faraway places.
But I’m going to reverse your crime.
I’m going to free those slaves.
I’ll have done to you what you did to them:
I’ll sell your children as slaves to your neighbors,
And they’ll sell them to the far-off Sabeans.”
God’s Verdict.
* * *
9-11 Announce this to the godless nations:
Prepare for battle!
Soldiers at attention!
Present arms! Advance!
Turn your shovels into swords,
turn your hoes into spears.
Let the weak one throw out his chest
and say, “I’m tough, I’m a fighter.”
Hurry up, pagans! Wherever you are, get a move on!
Get your act together.
Prepare to be
shattered by God!
12 Let the pagan nations set out
for Judgment Valley.
There I’ll take my place at the bench
and judge all the surrounding nations.
13 “Swing the sickle—
the harvest is ready.
Stomp on the grapes—
the winepress is full.
The wine vats are full,
overflowing with vintage evil.
14 “Mass confusion, mob uproar—
in Decision Valley!
God’s Judgment Day has arrived
in Decision Valley.
15-17 “The sky turns black,
sun and moon go dark, stars burn out.
God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem.
Earth and sky quake in terror.
But God is a safe hiding place,
a granite safe house for the children of Israel.
Then you’ll know for sure
that I’m your God,
Living in Zion,
my sacred mountain.
Jerusalem will be a sacred city,
posted: ‘no trespassing.’
Milk Rivering out of the Hills
18-21 “What a day!
Wine streaming off the mountains,
Milk rivering out of the hills,
water flowing everywhere in Judah,
A fountain pouring out of God’s Sanctuary,
watering all the parks and gardens!
But Egypt will be reduced to weeds in a vacant lot,
Edom turned into barren badlands,
All because of brutalities to the Judean people,
the atrocities and murders of helpless innocents.
Meanwhile, Judah will be filled with people,
Jerusalem inhabited forever.
The sins I haven’t already forgiven, I’ll forgive.”
God has moved into Zion for good.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson