Joel 2:12-3:3

English Standard Version

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    ^(A)“return to me with all your heart,
^(B)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and ^(C)rend your hearts and not ^(D)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    ^(E)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    ^(F)and he relents over disaster.
¹⁴^(G)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and ^(H)leave a blessing behind him,
^(I)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(J)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(K)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶    gather the people.
^(L)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(M)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(N)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷^(O)Between the ^(P)vestibule and the ^(Q)altar
    ^(R)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.^[a]
^(S)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

¹⁸^(T)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    ^(U)and had pity on his people.
¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, ^(V)I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    ^(W)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^[b] into ^(X)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[c] into ^(Y)the western sea;
^(Z)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 ^(AA)the Lord has done great things!
²²Fear not, ^(AB)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(AC)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(AD)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(AE)vine give their full yield.

²³^(AF)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(AG)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(AH)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(AI)the early and ^(AJ)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^[d] to you the years
    that ^(AK)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(AL)the hopper, ^(AM)the destroyer, and ^(AN)the cutter,
    ^(AO)my great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶^(AP)“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 ^(AQ)shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷^(AR)You shall know that I am ^(AS)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(AT)I am the Lord your God ^(AU)and there is none else.
And my people ^(AV)shall never again be put to shame.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

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

³⁰“And I will show ^(BB)wonders in the heavens and ^(BC)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹^(BD)The sun shall be turned to darkness, ^(BE)and the moon to blood, ^(BF)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³²And it shall come to pass that ^(BG)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ^(BH)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among ^(BI)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

The Lord Judges the Nations

3 ^[f] “For behold, ^(BJ)in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ²^(BK)I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And ^(BL)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 ^(BM)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.