“I also withheld(A) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.(B)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.

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Therefore the showers have been withheld,(A)
    and no spring rains(B) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen(C) look of a prostitute;
    you refuse to blush with shame.(D)

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26 The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen,(A) where the Israelites were.(B)

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I will make it a wasteland,(A)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns(B) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain(C) on it.”

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13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,(A) or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name,(B) will humble(C) themselves and pray and seek my face(D) and turn(E) from their wicked ways, then I will hear(F) from heaven, and I will forgive(G) their sin and will heal(H) their land.

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17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are.(A) He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.(B)

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23 Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice(A) in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.(B)
He sends you abundant showers,(C)
    both autumn(D) and spring rains,(E) as before.

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23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.(A)

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But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt,(A) so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’”

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They have power to shut up the heavens(A) so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying;(B) and they have power to turn the waters into blood(C) and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

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35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.(A)

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17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship(A) the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.(B)

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10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld(A) their dew(B) and the earth its crops.(C) 11 I called for a drought(D) on the fields and the mountains,(E) on the grain, the new wine,(F) the olive oil(G) and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.(H)

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10 The fields are ruined,
    the ground is dried up;(A)
the grain is destroyed,
    the new wine(B) is dried up,
    the olive oil fails.(C)

11 Despair, you farmers,(D)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(E)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(F)
12 The vine is dried up
    and the fig tree is withered;(G)
the pomegranate,(H) the palm and the apple[a] tree—
    all the trees of the field—are dried up.(I)
Surely the people’s joy
    is withered away.

A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,(J) you priests, and mourn;
    wail, you who minister(K) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
    you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(L)
    are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(M)
    call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
    and all who live in the land(N)
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out(O) to the Lord.(P)

15 Alas for that(Q) day!
    For the day of the Lord(R) is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[b](S)

16 Has not the food been cut off(T)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(U)
    from the house of our God?(V)
17 The seeds are shriveled
    beneath the clods.[c](W)
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;(X)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(Y)

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot
  2. Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
  3. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

22 Do any of the worthless idols(A) of the nations bring rain?(B)
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this.(C)

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The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;(A)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.

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24 They do not say to themselves,
    ‘Let us fear(A) the Lord our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains(B) in season,
    who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’(C)
25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away;
    your sins have deprived you of good.(D)

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35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain(A) because your people have sinned(B) against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach(C) them the right way(D) to live, and send rain(E) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

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37 look, I will place a wool fleece(A) on the threshing floor.(B) If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know(C) that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request.(D) Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.(E)

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23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.(A) 24 The Lord will turn the rain(B) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

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17 Then the Lord’s anger(A) will burn against you, and he will shut up(B) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,(C) and you will soon perish(D) from the good land the Lord is giving you.

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27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me(A) but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger(B) I will be hostile(C) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.(D)

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23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction(A) but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile(B) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over.

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18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,(A) I will punish(B) you for your sins seven times over.(C) 19 I will break down your stubborn pride(D) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.(E) 20 Your strength will be spent in vain,(F) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.(G)

21 “‘If you remain hostile(H) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,(I) as your sins deserve.

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22 “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen,(A) where my people live;(B) no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know(C) that I, the Lord, am in this land.

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