Joel 2
English Standard Version
The Day of the Lord
2 (A)Blow a trumpet in (B)Zion;
sound an alarm on (C)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for (D)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2 (E)a day of darkness and gloom,
(F)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
(G)a great and powerful people;
(H)their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
3 (I)Fire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like (J)the garden of Eden before them,
but (K)behind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
4 (L)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
5 (M)As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of (N)a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
(O)like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish;
(P)all faces grow pale.
7 Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
(Q)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
9 (R)They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
(S)they climb up into the houses,
(T)they enter through the windows (U)like a thief.
10 (V)The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
(W)The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 (X)The Lord utters his voice
before (Y)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
(Z)he who executes his word is powerful.
(AA)For the day of the Lord is (AB)great and very awesome;
(AC)who can endure it?
Return to the Lord
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
(AD)“return to me with all your heart,
(AE)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and (AF)rend your hearts and not (AG)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
(AH)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
(AI)and he relents over disaster.
14 (AJ)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and (AK)leave a blessing behind him,
(AL)a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 (AM)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
(AN)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
(AO)Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
(AP)gather the children,
even nursing infants.
(AQ)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17 (AR)Between the (AS)vestibule and the (AT)altar
(AU)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]
(AV)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
The Lord Had Pity
18 (AW)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
(AX)and had pity on his people.
19 The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, (AY)I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
(AZ)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 (BA)the eastern sea,
and his rear guard[c] into (BB)the western sea;
(BC)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 (BD)the Lord has done great things!
22 Fear not, (BE)you beasts of the field,
for (BF)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
(BG)the tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and (BH)vine give their full yield.
23 (BI)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and (BJ)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given (BK)the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
(BL)the early and (BM)the latter rain, as before.
24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will restore[d] to you the years
that (BN)the swarming locust has eaten,
(BO)the hopper, (BP)the destroyer, and (BQ)the cutter,
(BR)my great army, which I sent among you.
26 (BS)“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 (BT)shall never again be put to shame.
27 (BU)You shall know that I am (BV)in the midst of Israel,
and that (BW)I am the Lord your God (BX)and there is none else.
And my people (BY)shall never again be put to shame.
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
28 [e] (BZ)“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that (CA)I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
(CB)your sons and (CC)your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 (CD)Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30 “And I will show (CE)wonders in the heavens and (CF)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 (CG)The sun shall be turned to darkness, (CH)and the moon to blood, (CI)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that (CJ)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (CK)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among (CL)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
Joel 2
The Message
The Locust Army
2 1-3 Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
Trumpet the alarm on my holy mountain!
Shake the country up!
God’s Judgment’s on its way—the Day’s almost here!
A black day! A Doomsday!
Clouds with no silver lining!
Like dawn light moving over the mountains,
a huge army is coming.
There’s never been anything like it
and never will be again.
Wildfire burns everything before this army
and fire licks up everything in its wake.
Before it arrives, the country is like the Garden of Eden.
When it leaves, it is Death Valley.
Nothing escapes unscathed.
4-6 The locust army seems all horses—
galloping horses, an army of horses.
It sounds like thunder
leaping on mountain ridges,
Or like the roar of wildfire
through grass and brush,
Or like an invincible army shouting for blood,
ready to fight, straining at the bit.
At the sight of this army,
the people panic, faces white with terror.
7-11 The invaders charge.
They climb barricades. Nothing stops them.
Each soldier does what he’s told,
so disciplined, so determined.
They don’t get in each other’s way.
Each one knows his job and does it.
Undaunted and fearless,
unswerving, unstoppable.
They storm the city,
swarm its defenses,
Loot the houses,
breaking down doors, smashing windows.
They arrive like an earthquake,
sweep through like a tornado.
Sun and moon turn out their lights,
stars black out.
God himself bellows in thunder
as he commands his forces.
Look at the size of that army!
And the strength of those who obey him!
God’s Judgment Day—great and terrible.
Who can possibly survive this?
Change Your Life
12 But there’s also this, it’s not too late—
God’s personal Message!—
“Come back to me and really mean it!
Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”
13-14 Change your life, not just your clothes.
Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,
maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s said and done,
there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!
* * *
15-17 Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
Declare a day of repentance, a holy fast day.
Call a public meeting.
Get everyone there. Consecrate the congregation.
Make sure the elders come,
but bring in the children, too, even the nursing babies,
Even men and women on their honeymoon—
interrupt them and get them there.
Between Sanctuary entrance and altar,
let the priests, God’s servants, weep tears of repentance.
Let them intercede: “Have mercy, God, on your people!
Don’t abandon your heritage to contempt.
Don’t let the pagans take over and rule them
and sneer, ‘And so where is this God of theirs?’”
* * *
18-20 At that, God went into action to get his land back.
He took pity on his people.
God answered and spoke to his people,
“Look, listen—I’m sending a gift:
Grain and wine and olive oil.
The fast is over—eat your fill!
I won’t expose you any longer
to contempt among the pagans.
I’ll head off the final enemy coming out of the north
and dump them in a wasteland.
Half of them will end up in the Dead Sea,
the other half in the Mediterranean.
There they’ll rot, a stench to high heaven.
The bigger the enemy, the stronger the stench!”
The Trees Are Bearing Fruit Again
21-24 Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate!
God has done great things.
Fear not, wild animals!
The fields and meadows are greening up.
The trees are bearing fruit again:
a bumper crop of fig trees and vines!
Children of Zion, celebrate!
Be glad in your God.
He’s giving you a teacher
to train you how to live right—
Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words
to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do.
And plenty of food for your body—silos full of grain,
casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.
* * *
25-27 “I’ll make up for the years of the locust,
the great locust devastation—
Locusts savage, locusts deadly,
fierce locusts, locusts of doom,
That great locust invasion
I sent your way.
You’ll eat your fill of good food.
You’ll be full of praises to your God,
The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder.
Never again will my people be despised.
You’ll know without question
that I’m in the thick of life with Israel,
That I’m your God, yes, your God,
the one and only real God.
Never again will my people be despised.
The Sun Turning Black and the Moon Blood-Red
28-32 “And that’s just the beginning: After that—
“I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters.
Your old men will dream,
your young men will see visions.
I’ll even pour out my Spirit on the servants,
men and women both.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below:
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Judgment Day of God,
the Day tremendous and awesome.
Whoever calls, ‘Help, God!’
gets help.
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be a great rescue—just as God said.
Included in the survivors
are those that God calls.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson