Joel 2:12-29

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹² Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;^(A)
13     rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
    and relenting from punishment.^(B)
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent
    and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?^(C)

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;^(D)
16     gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the aged;
gather the children,
    even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
    and the bride her canopy.^(E)

¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar,
    let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and do not make your heritage a mockery,
    a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’ ”^(F)

²⁰ I will remove the northern army far from you
    and drive it into a parched and desolate land,
its front into the eastern sea
    and its rear into the western sea;
its stench and foul smell will rise up.”
    Surely he has done great things!^(I)

²¹ Do not fear, O soil;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for the Lord has done great things!
²² Do not fear, you animals of the field,
    for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and vine give their full yield.^(J)

²³ O children of Zion, be glad,
    and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain^[a] for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    the early and the later rain, as before.^(K)
24 The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

²⁵ I will repay you for the years
    that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
    my great army that I sent against you.^(L)

²⁶ 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 shall never again be put to shame.^(M)
27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel
    and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.^(N)