Joel 1-3

English Standard Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

An Invasion of Locusts

²^(A)Hear this, ^(B)you elders;
    give ear, ^(C)all inhabitants of the land!
^(D)Has such a thing happened in your days,
    or in the days of your fathers?
³^(E)Tell your children of it,
    and let your children tell their children,
    and their children to another generation.

⁴What ^(F)the cutting locust left,
    ^(G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    ^(H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    ^(I)the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
    and ^(J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of ^(K)the sweet wine,
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶For ^(L)a nation has come up against my land,
    ^(M)powerful and beyond number;
^(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
⁷It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my ^(O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

⁸Lament like a virgin^[a] ^(P)wearing sackcloth
    for the bridegroom of her youth.
⁹^(Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
    from the house of the Lord.
^(R)The priests mourn,
    ^(S)the ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰The fields are destroyed,
    ^(T)the ground mourns,
because ^(U)the grain is destroyed,
    ^(V)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

¹¹^(W)Be ashamed,^[b] O tillers of the soil;
    wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
    ^(X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
¹²The vine dries up;
    ^(Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
    all the trees of the field are dried up,
and ^(Z)gladness dries up
    from the children of man.

A Call to Repentance

¹³^(AA)Put on sackcloth and lament, ^(AB)O priests;
    ^(AC)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, ^(AD)pass the night in sackcloth,
    ^(AE)O ministers of my God!
^(AF)Because grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁴^(AG)Consecrate a fast;
    ^(AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather ^(AI)the elders
    and ^(AJ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

¹⁵Alas for the day!
^(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty^[c] it comes.
¹⁶Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
^(AL)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

¹⁷^(AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;^[d]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because ^(AN)the grain has dried up.
¹⁸How ^(AO)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.^[e]

¹⁹To you, ^(AP)O Lord, I call.
^(AQ)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
^(AR)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
²⁰Even the beasts of the field ^(AS)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
^(AT)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

The Day of the Lord

2 ^(AU)Blow a trumpet in ^(AV)Zion;
    sound an alarm on ^(AW)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for ^(AX)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
²^(AY)a day of darkness and gloom,
    ^(AZ)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    ^(BA)a great and powerful people;
^(BB)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

³^(BC)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(BD)the garden of Eden before them,
    but ^(BE)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

⁴^(BF)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
⁵^(BG)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(BH)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(BI)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(BJ)all faces grow pale.
⁷Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸They do not jostle one another;
    ^(BK)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
⁹^(BL)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(BM)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(BN)they enter through the windows ^(BO)like a thief.

¹⁰^(BP)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(BQ)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
¹¹^(BR)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(BS)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(BT)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(BU)For the day of the Lord is ^(BV)great and very awesome;
    ^(BW)who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    ^(BX)“return to me with all your heart,
^(BY)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and ^(BZ)rend your hearts and not ^(CA)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    ^(CB)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    ^(CC)and he relents over disaster.
¹⁴^(CD)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and ^(CE)leave a blessing behind him,
^(CF)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(CG)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(CH)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶    gather the people.
^(CI)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(CJ)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(CK)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷^(CL)Between the ^(CM)vestibule and the ^(CN)altar
    ^(CO)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.^[f]
^(CP)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

¹⁸^(CQ)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    ^(CR)and had pity on his people.
¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, ^(CS)I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    ^(CT)and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
    a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[g] into ^(CU)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[h] into ^(CV)the western sea;
^(CW)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

²¹“Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for ^(CX)the Lord has done great things!
²²Fear not, ^(CY)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(CZ)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(DA)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(DB)vine give their full yield.

²³^(DC)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(DD)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(DE)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(DF)the early and ^(DG)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵I will restore^[i] to you the years
    that ^(DH)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(DI)the hopper, ^(DJ)the destroyer, and ^(DK)the cutter,
    ^(DL)my great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶^(DM)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(DN)shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷^(DO)You shall know that I am ^(DP)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(DQ)I am the Lord your God ^(DR)and there is none else.
And my people ^(DS)shall never again be put to shame.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

²⁸^[j] ^(DT)“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that ^(DU)I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
^(DV)your sons and ^(DW)your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹^(DX)Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

³⁰“And I will show ^(DY)wonders in the heavens and ^(DZ)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹^(EA)The sun shall be turned to darkness, ^(EB)and the moon to blood, ^(EC)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³²And it shall come to pass that ^(ED)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ^(EE)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among ^(EF)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

The Lord Judges the Nations

3 ^[k] “For behold, ^(EG)in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ²^(EH)I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And ^(EI)I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, ³and ^(EJ)have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

⁴“What are you to me, ^(EK)O Tyre and Sidon, and all ^(EL)the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, ^(EM)I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. ⁵For ^(EN)you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.^[l] ⁶You have sold ^(EO)the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. ⁷Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and ^(EP)I will return your payment on your own head. ⁸I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the ^(EQ)Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”

⁹Proclaim this among the nations:
^(ER)Consecrate for war;^[m]
    stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
    let them come up.
¹⁰^(ES)Beat your plowshares into swords,
    and ^(ET)your pruning hooks into spears;
    let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

¹¹^(EU)Hasten and come,
    all you surrounding nations,
    and gather yourselves there.
^(EV)Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
¹²Let the nations stir themselves up
    and come up to ^(EW)the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
^(EX)for there I will sit to judge
    all the surrounding nations.

¹³^(EY)Put in the sickle,
    ^(EZ)for the harvest is ripe.
^(FA)Go in, tread,
    ^(FB)for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
    for their evil is great.

¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes,
    in the valley of decision!
For ^(FC)the day of the Lord is near
    in the valley of decision.
¹⁵^(FD)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.

¹⁶^(FE)The Lord roars from Zion,
    and ^(FF)utters his voice from Jerusalem,
    ^(FG)and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is ^(FH)a refuge to his people,
    a stronghold to the people of Israel.

The Glorious Future of Judah

¹⁷^(FI)“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
^(FJ)who dwells in Zion, ^(FK)my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and ^(FL)strangers shall never again pass through it.

¹⁸“And in that day
^(FM)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and the hills shall flow with milk,
and ^(FN)all the streambeds of Judah
    shall flow with water;
^(FO)and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
    and water the Valley of ^(FP)Shittim.

¹⁹^(FQ)“Egypt shall become a desolation
    and ^(FR)Edom a desolate wilderness,
^(FS)for the violence done to the people of Judah,
    because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
²⁰^(FT)But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
    and Jerusalem to all generations.
²¹^(FU)I will avenge their blood,
    blood I have not avenged,^[n]
    ^(FV)for the Lord dwells in Zion.”

Footnotes

Joel 1:8 Or young woman
Joel 1:11 The Hebrew words for dry up and be ashamed in verses 10–12, 17 sound alike
Joel 1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty
Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
Joel 1:18 Or are made desolate
Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them
Joel 2:20 Hebrew face
Joel 2:20 Hebrew his end
Joel 2:25 Or pay back
Joel 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Hebrew
Joel 3:1 Ch 4:1 in Hebrew
Joel 3:5 Or palaces
Joel 3:9 Or Consecrate a war
Joel 3:21 Or I will acquit their bloodguilt that I have not acquitted

Revelation 2

English Standard Version

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ^(A)him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, ^(B)who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²^(C)“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but ^(D)have tested those ^(E)who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up ^(F)for my name's sake, and you ^(G)have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned ^(H)the love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do ^(I)the works you did at first. If not, ^(J)I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶Yet this you have: you hate the works of ^(K)the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷^(L)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(M)To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of ^(N)the tree of life, which is in ^(O)the paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^(P)the first and the last, ^(Q)who died and came to life.

⁹“‘I know your tribulation and ^(R)your poverty (^(S)but you are rich) and the slander^[a] of ^(T)those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, ^(U)that you may be tested, and for ^(V)ten days ^(W)you will have tribulation. ^(X)Be faithful ^(Y)unto death, and I will give you ^(Z)the crown of life. ¹¹^(AA)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AB)The one who conquers will not be hurt by ^(AC)the second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ^(AD)the sharp two-edged sword.

¹³“‘I know where you dwell, ^(AE)where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not ^(AF)deny my faith^[b] even in the days of Antipas ^(AG)my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of ^(AH)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^(AI)eat food sacrificed to idols and ^(AJ)practice sexual immorality. ¹⁵So also you have some who hold the teaching of ^(AK)the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent. If not, ^(AL)I will come to you soon and ^(AM)war against them with ^(AN)the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷^(AO)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AP)To the one who conquers I will give some of ^(AQ)the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with ^(AR)a new name written on the stone ^(AS)that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^(AT)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹^(AU)“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^(AV)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants ^(AW)to practice sexual immorality and ^(AX)to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but ^(AY)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he ^(AZ)who searches mind and heart, and ^(BA)I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ^(BB)the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^(BC)do not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast ^(BD)what you have until I come. ²⁶^(BE)The one who conquers and who keeps my works ^(BF)until the end, ^(BG)to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ^(BH)he will ^(BI)rule^[c] them with a rod of iron, ^(BJ)as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him ^(BK)the morning star. ²⁹^(BL)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’