Joel 2:1-2

Good News Translation

The Locusts as a Warning of the Day of the Lord

2 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm
    on Zion, God's sacred hill.^[a]
Tremble, people of Judah!
    The day of the Lord is coming soon.
²It will be a dark and gloomy day,
    a black and cloudy day.
The great army of locusts advances
    like darkness spreading over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it,
    and there never will be again.

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Footnotes

Joel 2:1 Mount Zion (see Zion in Word List).

Joel 2:12-17

Good News Translation

A Call to Repentance

¹²“But even now,” says the Lord,
    “repent sincerely and return to me
    with fasting and weeping and mourning.
¹³Let your broken heart show your sorrow;
    tearing your clothes is not enough.”

Come back to the Lord your God.
    He is kind and full of mercy;
    he is patient and keeps his promise;
    he is always ready to forgive and not punish.
¹⁴Perhaps the Lord your God will change his mind
    and bless you with abundant crops.
Then you can offer him grain and wine.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet on Mount Zion;
    give orders for a fast and call an assembly!
¹⁶Gather the people together;
    prepare them for a sacred meeting;
    bring the old people;
    gather the children
    and the babies too.
    Even newly married couples
    must leave their homes and come.
¹⁷^(A)The priests, serving the Lord
    between the altar and the entrance of the Temple,
must weep and pray:
    “Have pity on your people, Lord.
    Do not let other nations despise us and mock us
    by saying, ‘Where is your God?’”