Joel 2:12-27

Contemporary English Version

The Lord's Invitation

¹²The Lord said:

It isn't too late.
You can still return to me
    with all your heart.
Start crying and mourning!
    Go without eating.
¹³Don't rip your clothes
    to show your sorrow.
Instead, turn back to me
    with broken hearts.
I am merciful, kind, and caring.
I don't easily lose my temper,
    and I don't like to punish.

¹⁴I am the Lord your God.
Perhaps I will change my mind
and treat you with mercy.
Then you will be blessed
with enough grain and wine
for offering sacrifices to me.

¹⁵Sound the trumpet on Zion!
    Call the people together.
Show your sorrow
    by going without food.
¹⁶^(A) Make sure that everyone
    is fit to worship me.^[a]
Bring adults, children, babies,
and even bring newlyweds
    from their festivities.

¹⁷^(B) Tell my servants, the priests,
    to cry inside the temple
and to offer this prayer
    near the altar:^[b]
“Save your people, Lord God!
Don't let foreign nations
    make jokes about us.
Don't let them laugh and ask,
    ‘Where is your God?’ ”

The Lord Will Bless the Land

¹⁸The Lord was deeply concerned
about his land
    and had pity on his people.
¹⁹In answer to their prayers
    he said,
“I will give you enough grain,
wine, and olive oil
    to satisfy your needs.
No longer will I let you
    be insulted by the nations.
²⁰An army attacked from the north,
but I will chase it
    into a scorching desert.
There it will rot and stink
from the Dead Sea
    to the Mediterranean.”

The Lord works wonders
²¹    and does great things.
So tell the soil to celebrate
²²and wild animals
    to stop being afraid.
Grasslands are green again;
fruit trees and fig trees
    are loaded with fruit.
Grapevines are covered
    with grapes.

²³People of Zion,^[c]
celebrate in honor
    of the Lord your God!
He is generous and has sent
the autumn and spring rains
    in the proper seasons.^[d]
²⁴Grain will cover
    your threshing places;
jars will overflow
    with wine and olive oil.

The Lord Will Rescue His People

²⁵I, the Lord your God,
will make up for the losses
    caused by those swarms
and swarms of locusts^[e]
    I sent to attack you.
²⁶My people, you will eat
    until you are satisfied.
Then you will praise me
for the wonderful things
    I have done.
Never again will you
    be put to shame.

²⁷Israel, you will know
    that I stand at your side.
I am the Lord your God—
    there are no other gods.
Never again will you
    be put to shame.

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Footnotes

2.16 fit to worship me: This required going through certain kinds of ceremonies.
2.17 inside … altar: The Hebrew text has “between the porch and the altar,” which is the place where the priests usually prayed for the people.
2.23 Zion: Jerusalem.
2.23 in … seasons: Or “as he used to do.”
2.25 swarms … locusts: See the note at 1.4.