Joel 1:1-2:17
Christian Standard Bible
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel son of Pethuel:
A Plague of Locusts
2 Hear this,(B) you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days(C)
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,(D)
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.
4 What the devouring locust(E) has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust(F) has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust(G) has eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards,(H) and weep;
wail, all you wine drinkers,
because of the sweet wine,
for it has been taken from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,(I)
powerful and without number;
its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.(J)
7 It has devastated my grapevine
and splintered my fig tree.
It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;
its branches have turned white.
8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,(K)
mourning for the husband of her youth.
9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off(L)
from the house of the Lord;
the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.(M)
10 The fields are destroyed;(N)
the land grieves;
indeed, the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up;(O)
and the fresh oil fails.(P)
11 Be ashamed, you farmers,(Q)
wail, you vinedressers,[a]
over the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished.(R)
12 The grapevine is dried up,(S)
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate,(T) the date palm,(U) and the apple(V)—
all the trees of the orchard—have withered.
Indeed, human joy has dried up.(W)
13 Dress in sackcloth and lament,(X) you priests;(Y)
wail,(Z) you ministers of the altar.
Come and spend the night in sackcloth,(AA)
you ministers of my God,
because grain and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Announce a sacred fast;(AB)
proclaim a solemn assembly!
Gather the elders(AC)
and all the residents of the land
at the house of the Lord your God,(AD)
and cry out to the Lord.(AE)
The Day of the Lord
15 Woe because of that day!(AF)
For the day of the Lord is near
and will come as devastation from the Almighty.(AG)
16 Hasn’t the food been cut off
before our eyes,(AH)
joy and gladness(AI)
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.[b](AJ)
The storehouses are in ruin,
and the granaries are broken down,
because the grain has withered away.
18 How the animals groan!(AK)
The herds of cattle wander in confusion
since they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.
19 I call to you, Lord,(AL)
for fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness,(AM)
and flames have devoured
all the trees of the orchard.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to[c] you,(AN)
for the river beds are dried up,(AO)
and fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness.
2 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion;(AP)
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the residents of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming;(AQ)
in fact, it is near—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,(AR)
a day of clouds and total darkness,(AS)
like the dawn spreading over the mountains;
a great and strong people(AT) appears,
such as never existed in ages past(AU)
and never will again
in all the generations to come.(AV)
3 A fire devours in front of them,(AW)
and behind them a flame blazes.
The land in front of them
is like the garden of Eden,(AX)
but behind them,
it is like a desert wasteland;(AY)
there is no escape from them.
4 Their appearance is like that of horses,(AZ)
and they gallop like war horses.
5 They bound on the tops of the mountains.
Their sound is like the sound of chariots,(BA)
like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble,(BB)
like a mighty army deployed for war.
6 Nations writhe in horror before them;(BC)
all faces turn pale.
7 They attack as warriors attack;
they scale walls as men of war do.
Each goes on his own path,(BD)
and they do not change their course.
8 They do not push each other;
each proceeds on his own path.
They dodge the arrows, never stopping.
9 They storm the city;
they run on the wall;
they climb into the houses;(BE)
they enter through the windows like thieves.(BF)
10 The earth quakes before them;(BG)
the sky shakes.
The sun and moon grow dark,(BH)
and the stars cease their shining.(BI)
11 The Lord makes his voice heard(BJ)
in the presence of his army.(BK)
His camp is very large;
those who carry out his command are powerful.(BL)
Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful(BM)—
who can endure it?(BN)
God’s Call for Repentance
12 Even now—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to me with all your heart,(BO)
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.(BP)
13 Tear your hearts,(BQ)
not just your clothes,(BR)
and return to the Lord your God.
For he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,
and he relents from sending disaster.(BS)
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent(BT)
and leave a blessing behind him,(BU)
so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering
to the Lord your God.(BV)
15 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion!(BW)
Announce a sacred fast;(BX)
proclaim a solemn assembly.
16 Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;(BY)
assemble the aged;[d](BZ)
gather the infants,
even babies nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,(CA)
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
17 Let the priests,(CB) the Lord’s ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.(CC)
Let them say,
“Have pity on your people, Lord,(CD)
and do not make your inheritance a disgrace,(CE)
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’” (CF)
2 Peter 2
Christian Standard Bible
The Judgment of False Teachers
2 There were indeed false prophets(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers(B) among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought(C) them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.(D) 3 They will exploit(E) you in their greed(F) with made-up stories. Their condemnation,(G) pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
4 For if God didn’t spare(H) the angels who sinned but cast them into hell[a](I) and delivered them in chains[b] of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;(J) 5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah,(K) a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,[c](L) when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah(M) to ashes and condemned them to extinction,[d] making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;(N) 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot,(O) distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard(P))— 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue(Q) the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,(R) 10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.(S)
Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones; 11 however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.[e] 12 But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions[f] while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery(T) that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!(U) 15 They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path(V) and have followed the path of Balaam,(W) the son of Bosor,[g] who loved the wages of wickedness(X) 16 but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.(Y)
17 These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.(Z) 18 For by uttering boastful, empty words,(AA) they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped[h] from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.(AB) 20 For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord[i] and Savior Jesus Christ,(AC) they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.(AD) 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness(AE) than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command(AF) delivered(AG) to them.(AH) 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit,[j](AI) and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
Footnotes
- 2:4 Gk Tartarus
- 2:4 Other mss read in pits
- 2:5 Lit Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness
- 2:6 Other mss omit to extinction
- 2:11 Other mss read them from the Lord
- 2:13 Other mss read delighting in the love feasts
- 2:15 Other mss read Beor
- 2:18 Or people who are actually escaping
- 2:20 Other mss read our Lord
- 2:22 Pr 26:11
Psalm 136:15-21
Christian Standard Bible
15 but hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.(A)
His faithful love endures forever.
16 He led his people in the wilderness.(B)
His faithful love endures forever.
17 He struck down great kings
His faithful love endures forever.
18 and slaughtered famous kings—
His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His faithful love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan—
His faithful love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His faithful love endures forever.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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