Joel 1:1-2:17

New International Version

1 The word of the Lord that came^(A) to Joel^(B) son of Pethuel.

An Invasion of Locusts

²Hear 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)
³Tell it to your children,^(G)
    and let your children tell it to their children,
    and their children to the next generation.^(H)
⁴What 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)

⁵Wake 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.
⁶A nation has invaded my land,
    a mighty army without number;^(N)
it has the teeth^(O) of a lion,
    the fangs of a lioness.
⁷It 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.

⁸Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth^(R)
    grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
⁹Grain 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.
¹⁰The 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)

¹¹Despair, you farmers,^(X)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,^(Y)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.^(Z)
¹²The 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

¹³Put 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.
¹⁴Declare 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)

¹⁵Alas for that^(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord^(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.^[c]^(AM)

¹⁶Has not the food been cut off^(AN)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness^(AO)
    from the house of our God?^(AP)
¹⁷The 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.
¹⁸How the cattle moan!
    The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;^(AR)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.^(AS)

¹⁹To 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.
²⁰Even 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

2 Blow the trumpet^(AZ) in Zion;^(BA)
sound the alarm on my holy hill.^(BB)

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.

³Before 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.
⁴They have the appearance of horses;^(BN)
    they gallop along like cavalry.
⁵With 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.

⁶At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;^(BQ)
    every face turns pale.^(BR)
⁷They charge like warriors;^(BS)
    they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,^(BT)
    not swerving^(BU) from their course.
⁸They do not jostle each other;
    each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
    without breaking ranks.
⁹They rush upon the city;
    they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;^(BV)
    like thieves they enter through the windows.^(BW)

¹⁰Before them the earth shakes,^(BX)
    the heavens tremble,^(BY)
the sun and moon are darkened,^(BZ)
    and the stars no longer shine.^(CA)
¹¹The 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.”

¹³Rend 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)
¹⁴Who 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.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet^(CS) in Zion,^(CT)
    declare a holy fast,^(CU)
    call a sacred assembly.^(CV)
¹⁶Gather 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.
¹⁷Let 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)’”

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.

Hebrews 3

New International Version

Jesus Greater Than Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,^(A) who share in the heavenly calling,^(B) fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge^(C) as our apostle and high priest.^(D) ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.^(E) ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses,^(F) just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.^(G) ⁵“Moses was faithful as a servant^(H) in all God’s house,”^[a]^(I) bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as the Son^(J) over God’s house. And we are his house,^(K) if indeed we hold firmly^(L) to our confidence and the hope^(M) in which we glory.

Warning Against Unbelief

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:^(N)

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸    do not harden your hearts^(O)
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
⁹where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.^(P)
¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,^(Q)
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ^(R)”^[b]^(S)

¹²See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.^(T) ¹³But encourage one another daily,^(U) as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.^(V) ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold^(W) our original conviction firmly to the very end.^(X) ¹⁵As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”^[c]^(Y)

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?^(Z) ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?^(AA) ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest^(AB) if not to those who disobeyed?^(AC) ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.^(AD)

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Footnotes

Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8

Psalm 119:137-144

New International Version

צ Tsadhe

¹³⁷You are righteous,^(A) Lord,
    and your laws are right.^(B)
¹³⁸The statutes you have laid down are righteous;^(C)
    they are fully trustworthy.^(D)
¹³⁹My zeal wears me out,^(E)
    for my enemies ignore your words.
¹⁴⁰Your promises^(F) have been thoroughly tested,^(G)
    and your servant loves them.^(H)
¹⁴¹Though I am lowly and despised,^(I)
    I do not forget your precepts.^(J)
¹⁴²Your righteousness is everlasting
    and your law is true.^(K)
¹⁴³Trouble and distress have come upon me,
    but your commands give me delight.^(L)
¹⁴⁴Your statutes are always righteous;
    give me understanding^(M) that I may live.