Joel 2
New King James Version
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow (A)the [a]trumpet in Zion,
And (B)sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For (C)the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 (D)A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
(E)A people come, great and strong,
(F)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 (G)the Garden of Eden before them,
(H)And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
4 (I)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like [b]swift steeds, so they run.
5 (J)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;
(K)All faces [c]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 (L)ranks.
8 They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own [d]column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not [e]cut down.
9 They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They (M)enter at the windows (N)like a thief.
10 (O)The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
(P)The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
11 (Q)The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
(R)For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the (S)day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
(T)Who can endure it?
A Call to Repentance
12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
(U)“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So (V)rend your heart, and not (W)your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is (X)gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14 (Y)Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave (Z)a blessing behind Him—
(AA)A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?
15 (AB)Blow the [f]trumpet in Zion,
(AC)Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
16 Gather the people,
(AD)Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
(AE)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 (AF)between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, (AG)“Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should [g]rule over them.
(AH)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
The Land Refreshed(AI)
18 Then the Lord will (AJ)be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you (AK)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 (AL)I will remove far from you (AM)the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back (AN)toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done [h]monstrous things.”
21 Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done [i]marvelous things!
22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For (AO)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 (AP)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the [j]former rain faithfully,
And He (AQ)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 (AR)that the swarming [k]locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26 You shall (AS)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 (AT)shame.
27 Then you shall know that I am (AU)in the midst of Israel:
(AV)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(AW) it shall come to pass afterward
That (AX)I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
(AY)Your sons and your (AZ)daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My (BA)menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
30 “And (BB)I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 (BC)The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
(BD)Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
32 And it shall come to pass
That (BE)whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be [l]saved.
For (BF)in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be [m]deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among (BG)the remnant whom the Lord calls.
Footnotes
- 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 2
EasyEnglish Bible
The army of locusts
2 Blow the trumpet in Zion.
Tell the people on the Lord's hill that they must watch for trouble.
All the people who live in this country will be afraid.
They will be afraid because the day of the Lord is coming.
It is very near.
2 That day will be sad and dark.
There will be dark clouds.
A great big army is coming.
It comes across the sky like light in the morning.
A great army like this has never come before.
And it will never come again in future years.
3 Fire goes in front of the army.[a]
It burns everything behind them.
The land in front of them is like the Garden of Eden.[b]
Behind them it is like a desert.
They leave nothing behind them.
4 They look like horses.
And they run fast to the war.
5 Their noise is like the noise of many feet.
They jump over the mountains
as fast as fire burns dry grass.
They are like a great army ready for a fight.
6 Nations that see them are very afraid.
Every face changes colour.
7 They run together like an army into a fight.
They climb walls like soldiers.
They march on in a straight line.
They do not turn away.
8 They do not push each other away.
Each one of them goes straight on.
You can put weapons in their path
but they go straight on.
9 They run towards the city.
They run along the wall.
They climb into houses.
They go through the windows like robbers.
10 The earth in front of them moves.
The sky itself moves.
The sun and moon are dark
and the stars do not give any light.
11 The Lord shouts aloud
as he leads his army.
We cannot count his soldiers.
Those who obey him are very strong.
The day of the Lord is powerful.
It makes us afraid.
Not many of us will be alive after it has gone.[c]
Show the Lord that you are sorry
12 ‘Even now,’ the Lord says,
‘return to me and put me first.
Eat no food. Cry and be very sad.
13 Stop pulling your clothes to pieces. That does not help.
Show me instead that you are really sorry.’
Return to the Lord, your God.
He is kind and full of grace.
He does not quickly become angry, and he is full of love.
He is sad that he had to cause troubles for you.
14 Perhaps he will change his mind and he will be sorry.
He may send you blessings of food and drink.
Then you can offer gifts to the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion.
Tell the people that they must not eat any food.
Tell the people that they must all come to worship him.
16 Tell the people that they must all come.
Make them all ready to serve the Lord.
Bring the old people together.
Bring the children – even the smallest ones.
Every new husband must leave his room.
Every wife must leave her secret room.
17 There are priests who go in front of the Lord.
They must cry as they go from the temple door to the altar.
They must say to the Lord, ‘Do not hurt your people.
Do not let the people in other countries laugh at your own people.
They will point at them. And they will say that they have no value.
They will say that we have no God.’
The Lord's answer
18 Then the Lord will be careful for his land.
He will be kind to his people.
19 He will answer them and he will say,
‘I am giving you new wine and food and oil.
You will have enough to fill you up.
I will never again let people in other countries laugh about you.
20 I will send the army from the north far from you.
I will push it into empty land where nothing grows.
I will make the front of it go into the sea on the east.
And I will make the back of it go into the sea on the west.
I will make its smell rise up high
because it has done great things.’
21 Do not be afraid, my own land!
Be very happy.
Be sure that the Lord has done great things.
22 Do not be afraid, wild animals.
The fields in the wilderness are becoming green.
Fruit is growing on the trees.
The fig tree and the vine are giving much fruit.
23 Shout with joy, people in Zion!
Be very happy because of the things that the Lord your God has done.
He has given you just enough autumn rain.
He has given you the winter rain,
and the summer rain, as before.
24 He will fill your stores with seeds to make bread.
And he will fill your jars with new wine and oil.
25 ‘I will give you back the years that the locusts have eaten.
I will give you all that the great locust and the young locust,
and other locusts and their groups have eaten.
All that my great army has eaten I will give you.[d]
26 You will have plenty to eat. You will be full.
You will praise the name of the Lord your God.
He has done great things for you.
My people will never again be ashamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel.
You will know that I am the Lord your God.
And you will know that there is no other God.
My people will never again be ashamed.’
The day of the Lord
28 After that, I will pour out my Holy Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will be prophets.
Your old men will dream and
your young men will see pictures in their minds. (The Lord will send these to them.)
29 I will pour out my Spirit on all my servants,
on men and on women in those days.[e]
30 I will do strange things in the sky and on the earth.
I will send blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
31 The sun will become dark and the moon will become red.
Then the great and frightening day of the Lord will come.
32 Everyone who asks the Lord for help will be safe.
They will be safe if they believe in his name.
The Lord will save the people on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.[f]
He has promised this to those people whom he has asked to come to him.
Footnotes
- 2:3 This army is an army of locusts.
- 2:3 See Genesis 2:8 for the Garden of Eden.
- 2:11 Joel is telling Israel that the Lord will send a great number of locusts. The locusts will eat the food that is growing in their fields. The insects will march together like an army.
- 2:25 The Lord will give back to his people as much food as the locusts had eaten.
- 2:29 God gives the Spirit of the Lord to his servants. He can make us more like him.
- 2:32 Zion was the place where the Israelites built the temple of the Lord. Sometimes the people who lived in Jerusalem called themselves ‘Zion’.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.