Joel 1-3
Lexham English Bible
1 The word of Yahweh that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
A Lament Over the Land
2 Hear this, O elders,
and give ear, all the inhabitants of the land.
Has this happened in your days?
Or the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell it to your children,
and your children to their children,
and their children to the following generation.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Wake up, drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all drinkers of wine, over the new wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 Because a nation has invaded[a] my land,
strong and beyond counting.[b]
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and its fangs are those of a lioness.
7 It has made my vine a desolation,
and my fig tree a completely splintered stump.
It has stripped them bare and thrown them down;
their branches have turned white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.
9 The offering and libation are withheld
from the house[c] of Yahweh.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of Yahweh.
10 The field is destroyed;
the earth mourns
because the grain is destroyed,
the new wine dries up,
the olive oil languishes.
11 Be ashamed, farmers;
Wail, vinedressers,
over the wheat and over the barley,
because the harvest of the field is ruined.
12 The vine withers
and the fig tree droops.
The pomegranate tree, and also the palm tree, the apple tree
—all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Indeed, joy is dried up
among the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves and lament, O priests!
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God,
because offering and libation
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Solemnize a fast!
Call an assembly!
Gather the elders,
all of the inhabitants of the land
in the house of Yahweh your God,
and cry out to Yahweh.
15 Ah! For the day!
For the day of Yahweh is near.
It will come like destruction from Shaddai.[d]
16 Is not food cut off
before our eyes,
from the house of our God,
joy and gladness?
17 The seeds shrivel under their clods;
the storehouses are desolate.
The grain storage places are destroyed
because grain has dried out.
18 How the beasts[e] groan;
the herds of cattle wander around
because there is no pasture for them;
the flocks of sheep are in distress.
19 To you, O Yahweh, I cry out,
because fire has devoured
the pastures of the desert,
and flames[f] burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Also, the beasts of the field
long for you,
because the courses of water
are dried up,
and fire has devoured
the pastures of the desert.
The Day of Yahweh is Near
2 Blow the trumpet[g] in Zion,
and sound the alarm on my holy mountain![h]
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of Yahweh is coming
—it is indeed near.
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
a day of cloud and thick darkness,
like the dawn spreads on the mountains,
a great and strong army!
There has been nothing like it from old,
and after it nothing will be again for generations to come.[i]
3 Before them[j] a fire devours,
and behind them a flame burns.
Like the garden of Eden is the land before them,[k]
and after them it is like a desolate desert,
and nothing can escape them.
4 Like the appearance of horses is their appearance,
and like horsemen they run;
5 like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about;
like the sound of a flame of fire
devouring stubble;
like a strong army arranged
in rows for battle.
6 From before them[l] nations writhe,
all faces turn pale.[m]
7 They run like mighty warriors,[n]
they scale the wall like men of war;
each goes on its own way,
and they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;[o]
each goes on its own trail;
and through the falling weapons,[p]
they are not halted.
9 In the city they rush forth;
on the walls[q] they run.
Into the houses they climb up;
through the windows
they enter like a thief.
10 Before them[r] the earth quakes;
the heavens tremble;
the sun and the moon grow dark,
and the stars have withheld[s] their splendor
11 And Yahweh utters[t] his voice before his army,
because his encampment is very large;
strong is the one who carries out his decree,
for great is the day of Yahweh
and exceedingly fearful.
Who can endure it?
A Call to Repentance
12 “And even now,” declares[u] Yahweh,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and wailing.”
13 Rend your hearts[v] and not your garments,
and return to Yahweh your God,
because he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger[w] and great in loyal love,
and relenting from harm.
14 Who knows whether he will turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
an offering and a libation,
for Yahweh your God?
15 Blow the trumpet[x] in Zion,
sanctify a fast, call an assembly;
16 gather the people, consecrate the assembly;
assemble the elders, gather the children,
even those who are breast-feeding;
let the bridegroom come out from his private room,
and the bride from her canopy.
17 Between the colonnade and the altar,
let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep.
And let them say, “Take pity, Yahweh, on your people.
Do not make your inheritance a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the nations,
‘Where is their God?’”
The Response and Promise of Yahweh
18 Then Yahweh became jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.
19 And Yahweh answered and said to his people,
“Look at me, I am sending to you
grain, new wine, and olive oil,
and you will be satisfied by it.
I will not give you over any more
as a disgrace among the nations.
20 The northerners[y]
I will remove from you;
I will drive them to a desert
and desolate land,
its[z] front to the eastern sea,
and its rear into the western sea;
its stench and odor will rise up
because he[aa] has done great things.
21 Do not fear, O land,
rejoice and be glad,
because Yahweh has done great things.
22 Do not fear, wild animals of the field,
because the pastures of the desert have put forth new green shoots,
because the tree has produced its fruit,
the fig tree and the vine
have yielded their produce.
23 Be glad, O children of Zion,
be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God,
because he has given for you
the autumn rains for your righteousness,[ab]
and he has poured down[ac] for you rainwater,
the autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full with grain,
and the vats will overflow
with new wine and olive oil.
25 I will repay you the years
that the locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my mighty troops that I sent against you.
26 And you will eat abundantly and be satisfied,
and praise the name of Yahweh your God,
who has dealt with you wondrously.[ad]
My people will never be ashamed.[ae]
27 And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and I am Yahweh,
your God, and there is no other.
My people will never be ashamed again.[af]
Yahweh’s Spirit Poured Out
28 [ag] And it will happen afterward thus:
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your elders will dream dreams;
your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on the male slaves and on the female slaves,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 And I will set[ah] wonders in the heavens, and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. 32 And it will happen—everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be rescued, because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape,[ai] as Yahweh said, and among the survivors whom Yahweh is calling.
Yahweh’s Judgment on the Nations
3 [aj] For look! In those days, and in that time, when I will return[ak] the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will argue a case against them[al] there concerning my people and my inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations, and my land that they have divided. 3 For my people they cast lots,[am] and they traded[an] the male child for the prostitute, and the female child they sold for wine and they drank it.
4 What are you to me, O Tyre and O Sidon, and all of the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying to me what is deserved? If you are recompensing me, I will return swiftly and quickly what you deserve on your head! 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and my beautiful treasures you have carried into your temples. 6 And the sons of Judah and Jerusalem you sold to the sons of the Greeks, in order to remove them from their border. 7 Look! I am rousing them from the place where you have sold them, and I will return what you deserve on your head! 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans and to a nation far away, for Yahweh has spoken.
Yahweh’s Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war![ao]
Stir up the mighty warriors;
let them approach and come up;
let all the men of war approach.
10 Beat your cutting tools of iron into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weakling say, ‘I am a mighty warrior!’
11 Hurry and come,
all the nations, from all around,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!
12 Let the nations be roused and let them come up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit to judge
all the nations from all around.
13 Send forth the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe!
Go tread,
for the winepress is full!
The vats overflow,
because their evil is great!
14 Commotion, commotion
in the valley of decision!
For the day of Yahweh is near
in the valley of decision!
15 The sun and the moon grow dark,
and the stars have withheld[ap] their splendor.
16 And Yahweh roars from Zion;
from Jerusalem he utters his voice,
and the heavens and the earth shake.
But Yahweh is a refuge for his people,
and a protection for the children of Israel.
17 And you will know that I, Yahweh your God,
am dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem will be a place of holiness,
and strangers will pass through it no longer.
18 And it will happen on that day;
the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills will flow with milk,
and all the channels of Judah will flow with water.
A spring from the house of Yahweh will come forth,
and it will water the valley of Acacia Trees.[aq]
19 Egypt will become a desolation,
and Edom will become a desolate desert,[ar]
because of the violence they did against the children of Judah,
in whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem for all generations.[as]
21 I will cleanse their bloodguilt[at] that I did not cleanse,[au]
for Yahweh is dwelling in Zion.
Footnotes
- Joel 1:6 Literally “come up against”
- Joel 1:6 Literally “without number”
- Joel 1:9 Or “temple”
- Joel 1:15 Often translated “the Almighty”
- Joel 1:18 Hebrew “beast”
- Joel 1:19 Hebrew “flame”
- Joel 2:1 Hebrew “shofar”
- Joel 2:1 Literally “mountain of my holiness”
- Joel 2:2 Literally “until years of generations”
- Joel 2:3 Literally “before the presence of it”
- Joel 2:3 Literally “before the presence of it”
- Joel 2:6 Or “From in front of it,” or “From the presence of it”
- Joel 2:6 Literally “gather paleness”
- Joel 2:7 That is, the “great and strong army” (see 2:2)
- Joel 2:8 Literally “each man his brother”
- Joel 2:8 Hebrew “weapon”
- Joel 2:9 Hebrew “wall”
- Joel 2:10 Literally “Before the presence of it”
- Joel 2:10 Literally “gathered”
- Joel 2:11 Literally “gives”
- Joel 2:12 Literally “a declaration of”
- Joel 2:13 Hebrew “heart”
- Joel 2:13 Or “patient”; literally “long of anger”
- Joel 2:15 Hebrew “Shofar”
- Joel 2:20 Or “The northern army”
- Joel 2:20 That is, the northern army
- Joel 2:20 That is, Yahweh (see v. 21)
- Joel 2:23 Or “vindication”
- Joel 2:23 Literally “brought down”
- Joel 2:26 Literally “to do a wonder”
- Joel 2:26 Literally “will forever not be ashamed”
- Joel 2:27 Literally “will forever no longer be ashamed”
- Joel 2:28 Joel 2:28–32 in the English Bible is 3:1–5 in the Hebrew Bible
- Joel 2:30 Literally “give”
- Joel 2:32 Literally, “an escape”
- Joel 3:1 Joel 3:1–21 in the English Bible is 4:1–21 in the Hebrew Bible
- Joel 3:1 Or “restore”
- Joel 3:2 Literally “a matter with them”
- Joel 3:3 Hebrew “lot”
- Joel 3:3 Literally “gave”
- Joel 3:9 Literally “Sanctify a battle”
- Joel 3:15 Literally “gathered”
- Joel 3:18 Or “the wadi Shittim”
- Joel 3:19 Literally “desert of desolation”
- Joel 3:20 Or “for each generation”
- Joel 3:21 Literally “I will not leave unpunished their blood”
- Joel 3:21 Or “I did not consider innocent”
Zephaniah 1-3
Lexham English Bible
Judah’s Impending Judgment
1 The word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 “I will surely destroy everything
from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
3 “I will destroy humanity and beast;
I will destroy the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the stumbling blocks[a] with the wicked.
And I will cut off humankind
from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
4 “And I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off from this place
the remnant of Baal,
and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,[b]
5 and those who bow down on the rooftops
to the host of heaven,
and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh
but also swearing by Milkom,[c]
6 and those who turned back from following[d] Yahweh,
and who did not seek Yahweh,
and did not inquire of him.”
7 Be silent before the Lord Yahweh,
for the day of Yahweh draws near,
for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice
and has consecrated his guests.
8 And it shall be that on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh,
I will punish the officials
and the sons of the king
and those who dress in foreign clothing.
9 And on that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill up the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
10 “And there shall be on that day”—a declaration of Yahweh—
“a loud outcry[e] from the Fish Gate,
and a wailing from the Second District,
and a loud[f] crashing from the hills.
11 The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail,
for all the traders have perished;
all who trade with silver have been cut off.
12 And it shall be that at that time
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
whose senses are dulled from drinking,[g]
who say in their hearts,
‘Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.’
13 Then their wealth shall be as plunder,
and their homes as desolation.
And they shall build their houses and not inhabit them,
and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine.”
14 The great day of Yahweh draws near;
it is near and coming very swiftly.
The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness;
there, a warrior cries out!
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of disaster and ruination,
a day of darkness and deep gloom,
a day of clouds[h] and thick clouds,[i]
16 a day of trumpet and trumpet blast
against the fortified cities
and against the high corner towers.
17 And I will bring distress to all humankind,
and they shall walk about like the blind,
for they sinned against Yahweh;
their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.
18 Moreover, their silver and their gold
will not be able to save them
on the day of the wrath of Yahweh.
And in the fire of his zeal,
the whole land shall be consumed,
for a terrifying end he shall make
for all the inhabitants of the land.
Judgment of Judah’s Enemies
2 Gather yourselves together! Now gather together,
O nation having no shame!
2 Before the birth of the decree,
the day flies away like chaff;
before the fierce anger of Yahweh overtakes you;
before the day of the anger of Yahweh overtakes you.
3 Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the land
who have fulfilled his law;
seek righteousness;
seek humility.
Perhaps you will be concealed
on the day of the anger of Yahweh.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon as a desolation.
As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,
people of the Kerethites!
The word of Yahweh is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines.
I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant.[j]
6 And you, O region of the sea, shall become
pastures and meadows for shepherds
and sheep pens for the flocks.
7 And it shall become a region
for the remnant of the house of Judah;
upon them they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down in the evening.
For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,
and he will restore their fortunes.
8 I have heard the reproaches of Moab
and the scorning of the Ammonites,[k]
with which they have taunted my nation
and made boasts against their territory.
9 “Therefore, as I live”—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts,
the God of Israel—
“Moab shall be as Sodom,
and the Ammonites[l] like Gomorrah,
a place of weeds and salt pits
and a desolation forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the remainder of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be for them in place of their pride
because they mocked and boasted
against the people of Yahweh of hosts.
11 Yahweh will be awesome against them,
for he will destroy all the gods of the earth
and all the lands[m] of the nations;
each in its place will bow down to him.
12 You also, O Cushites,
they shall be killed by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
and he will destroy Assyria
and will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry wasteland like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
every wild animal of a nation;
even the desert owl and the screech owl
shall lodge on her capitals.
A voice shall hoot in the window;
rubble[n] on the threshold;
for the cedar is laid bare.
15 This is the city of rejoicing
that lived securely;
the one saying in her heart,
“I am, and there is none besides me.”[o]
How she has become a desolation,
a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
Judgment of Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one!
The oppressing city!
2 She listens to no voice;
she does not accept correction.
In Yahweh she does not trust;
to her God she does not draw near.
3 Her officials in her midst are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves;
they leave nothing until the morning.
4 Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery;
her priests have defiled that which is holy;
they do violence to the law.
5 Yahweh is righteous in her midst;
he does not do wickedness.
Morning by morning[p] he renders his judgment;
at dawn he does not fail,
but an evil one knows no shame.
6 “I have cut off nations;
their strongholds are deserted.
I have laid waste their streets,
so that none pass through.
Their cities have been destroyed
and are without a man, without an inhabitant.
7 I have said, ‘Surely she will fear me;
she will accept discipline.
Then her dwelling place will not be cut down,
nor all that I have brought upon her.’
Surely they rise early;
they make all their deeds corrupt.
8 “Therefore, wait for me”—a declaration of Yahweh—
“for the day of my rising as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble[q] kingdoms,
to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger.
For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.
9 Because then I will make the speech of the nations pure;[r]
that all of them might call on the name of Yahweh,
to serve him in unison.[s]
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers and the daughter of my scattered ones
shall bring my offering.
11 On that day you shall not be humiliated
on account of all your deeds
by which you have rebelled against me.
For then I shall remove from your midst
those exulting in your pride,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.[t]
12 And I will leave in your midst
a people afflicted and poor,
and they shall take refuge
in the name of Yahweh.
13 The remnant of Israel
shall not do wickedness;
they shall not speak deception,
nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall frighten them.”
14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Cry aloud, O Israel!
Rejoice and be jubilant with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 Yahweh has annulled your judgments;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, Yahweh, is in your midst;
you shall no longer fear misfortune.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem,
“Fear not, O Zion;
your hands shall not hang limp.
17 Yahweh your God is in your midst;
a mighty warrior who saves.
He shall rejoice over you with joy;
he renews[u] you in his love;
he will exult over you with singing.
18 I will gather those of you grieving on account of the feast;
they were raising against her a reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors;
I will save the lame and gather the outcast.
I will change[v] them from shame
to glory and renown[w] throughout the whole world.
20 At that time I will bring you in;
at the time of my gathering you together.
For I will make you renowned[x] and praised
among all the nations of the earth
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
says Yahweh.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:3 A reference to idols
- Zephaniah 1:4 The last phrase, “with the priests,” may be a later explanatory gloss
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or “their king”
- Zephaniah 1:6 Literally “after”
- Zephaniah 1:10 Literally “voice of a cry of distress”
- Zephaniah 1:10 Or “great”
- Zephaniah 1:12 Literally “who are thickened with their dregs”
- Zephaniah 1:15 Hebrew “cloud”
- Zephaniah 1:15 Hebrew “cloud”
- Zephaniah 2:5 Literally “from there is not an inhabitant”
- Zephaniah 2:8 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- Zephaniah 2:9 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- Zephaniah 2:11 Or “islands”
- Zephaniah 2:14 The traditional Hebrew text has “waste,” while LXX has “a raven,” reflecting a different word with one consonant changed
- Zephaniah 2:15 Literally “I am and none me”
- Zephaniah 3:5 Literally “In the morning, in the morning”
- Zephaniah 3:8 The traditional Hebrew has “assemble me”; this translation follows LXX
- Zephaniah 3:9 Literally “I will turn to the nations a purged lip”
- Zephaniah 3:9 Literally “with one shoulder”
- Zephaniah 3:11 Literally “the mountain of my holiness”
- Zephaniah 3:17 The translation follows the LXX text; the traditional Hebrew text reads “he will silence you in his love”
- Zephaniah 3:19 Or “make”
- Zephaniah 3:19 Literally “a name”
- Zephaniah 3:20 Literally “a name”
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