Joel 2
Modern English Version
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,
sound the alarm on My holy mountain!
All the inhabitants of the earth will tremble,
because the day of the Lord has come,
because it is near—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Like blackness spreading over the mountain,
a great and mighty army comes,
such as was never before,
and will never be again,
even through the years of all generations.
3 Before them fire devours,
and behind them a flame blazes;
the land is like the garden of Eden before them,
but behind them a desolate wasteland,
and nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses,
and like cavalry they run.
5 As with the sound of chariots,
they leap on the mountaintops,
as with the sound of a flame of fire consuming stubble,
as a mighty army arrayed for war.
6 Before them, peoples are tormented;
every face turns pale.
7 Like mighty men they run,
like men of war they scale a wall;
each marches on his way,
they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
each marches in his track.
Through the weapons they plunge;
they do not break rank.
9 They rush on the city,
they run on the wall;
they climb up into the houses,
they enter through the windows like thieves.
10 Before them the earth quakes,
the heavens shake;
the sun and moon darken,
and the stars withdraw their radiance.
11 The Lord has sounded His voice
before His army,
for His camp is exceedingly great;
mighty is the one who accomplishes His word.
For great is the day of the Lord,
and very awe-inspiring.
Who can endure it?
Return to the Lord
12 Yet even now, declares the Lord,
return to Me with all your heart,
and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning.
13 Rend your heart,
and not your garments;
return to the Lord your God,
for He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and He relents from punishing.
14 Who knows? He might turn aside and relent,
and He might leave behind a blessing—
a grain offering and a food offering
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,
consecrate a fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the congregation,
assemble the elders,
gather the children
and those nursing at the breast;
let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Between the temple porch and the altar,
let the priests, ministers of the Lord, weep and say,
“Have pity upon Your people,
and do not make Your heritage a disgrace,
a mockery among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
Rescue and Restitution
18 Then the Lord became jealous for His land
and took pity upon His people.
19 So the Lord answered and said to His people,
Here! I am sending you grain, new wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied,
and I will never again make you
a disgrace among the nations.
20 I will remove the northerner far from you,
and I will banish him to a dry and desolate land,
those in front to the eastern sea,
and those in back to the western sea,
and his stink will rise,
and his stench will rise,
for he has done great things.
21 Do not be afraid, land;
exult and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not be afraid, beasts of the field,
because the wild pastures flourish,
because the tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their abundance.
23 And children of Zion, exult
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
because He has given to you
the early rain for vindication.
He showers down rains for you,
the early rain and the latter rain, as before.
24 Then the threshing floors will be filled with grain,
and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 And I will compensate you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the larval locust, the hopper locust,
and the fledging locust—
My great army which I sent against you.
26 You will eat abundantly and be satisfied,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
and My people will never again be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other.
And My people will never again be shamed.
The Outpouring of the Spirit
28 And it will be that, afterwards,
I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 Even on the menservants and maidservants
in those days I will pour out My Spirit.
30 Then I will work wonders in the heavens
and the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the great and awe-inspiring day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will be that everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the Lord has said,
and among the survivors
whom the Lord calls.
Joel 2
1599 Geneva Bible
2 He prophesieth of the coming and cruelty of their enemies. 13 An exhortation to move them to convert. 18 The love of God toward his people.
1 Blow [a]the trumpet in Zion, and shout in mine holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord is come: for it is at hand.
2 A [b]day of darkness, and of blackness, a day of clouds and obscurity, as the morning spread upon the mountains, so is there a [c]great people, and a mighty: there was none like it from the beginning, neither shall be anymore after it, unto the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before him, and behind him a flame burneth up: the land is as the garden of [d]Eden before him, and behind him a desolate wilderness, so that nothing shall escape him.
4 The beholding of him is like the sight of horses, and like the horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots in the tops of the mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, and as a mighty people prepared to the battle.
6 Before his face shall the people tremble: all faces [e]shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like strong men, and go up to the wall like men of war, and every man shall go forward in his ways, and they shall not stay in their paths.
8 Neither shall one [f]thrust another, but everyone shall walk in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city: they shall run upon the wall: they shall clime up upon the houses, and enter in at the windows like the thief.
10 The earth shall tremble before him, the heavens shall shake, the [g]sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
11 And the Lord shall [h]utter his voice before his host: for his host is very great: for he is strong that doeth his word: (A)for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now the Lord saith, Turn you unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning,
13 And [i]rent your heart, and not your clothes: and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth, if he will [j]return and repent and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly.
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation: gather the elders: assemble the [k]children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her bride chamber.
17 Let the Priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage into reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. (B)Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the Lord be [l]jealous over his land, and spare his people.
19 Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen.
20 But I will remove far off from you the [m]Northern army, and I will drive him into a land, barren and desolate with his face toward the [n]East sea, and his end to the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his corruption shall ascend, because he hath exalted himself to do this.
21 Fear not, O land, but be glad, and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness are green for the tree beareth her fruit: the fig tree and the vine do give their force.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he hath given you the rain of [o]righteousness, (C)and he will cause to come down for you the rain, even the first rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
24 And the barns shall be full of wheat, and the presses shall abound with wine and oil.
25 And I will render you the years that the grasshopper hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm, my great host which I sent among you.
26 So you shall eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt marvelously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 Ye shall also know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and none other, and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And afterward will I pour [p]out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream [q]dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
29 And also upon the servants, and upon the maids in those days will I pour my Spirit.
30 And I will show [r]wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The [s]sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
32 But whosoever shall call [t]on the Name of the Lord, shall be saved: for in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said, and in the [u]remnant, whom the Lord shall call.
Footnotes
- Joel 2:1 He showeth the great judgments of God, which are at hand, except they repent.
- Joel 2:2 Of affliction and trouble.
- Joel 2:2 Meaning, the Assyrians.
- Joel 2:3 The enemy destroyed our plentiful country, wheresoever he cometh.
- Joel 2:6 They shall be pale and black for fear, as Nah. 2:10.
- Joel 2:8 For none shall be able to resist them.
- Joel 2:10 Read Joel 2:31 and Isa. 13:10; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 3:15; Matt. 24:29.
- Joel 2:11 The Lord shall stir up the Assyrians to execute his judgments.
- Joel 2:13 Mortify your affections and serve God with pureness of heart, and not with ceremonies.
- Joel 2:14 He speaketh this to stir up their slothfulness, and not that he doubted of God’s mercies, if they did repent. How God repenteth, read Jer. 18:8.
- Joel 2:16 That as all have sinned, so all may show forth signs of their repentance, that men seeing the children which are not free from God’s wrath, might be the more lively touched with the consideration of their own sins.
- Joel 2:18 If they repent he showeth that God will preserve and defend them with a most ardent affection.
- Joel 2:20 That is, the Assyrians your enemies.
- Joel 2:20 Called the salt sea, or Persian sea: meaning, that though his army were so great that it filled all from this sea to the sea called Mediterranean, yet he would scatter them.
- Joel 2:23 That is, such as should come by just measure, and as was wont to be sent when God was reconciled with them.
- Joel 2:28 That is, in greater abundance, and more generally than in times past: and this was fulfilled under Christ, when as God’s graces, and his Spirit under the Gospel was abundantly given to the Church, Isa. 44:3; Acts 2:17; John 7:38, 39.
- Joel 2:28 As they had visions and dreams in old time, so shall they now have clearer revelations.
- Joel 2:30 He warneth the faithful what terrible things should come, to the intent that they should not look for continual quietness in this world, and yet in all these troubles he would preserve them.
- Joel 2:31 The order of nature shall seem to be changed for the horrible afflictions that shall be in the world, Isa. 13:10; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 3:15; Matt. 24:29.
- Joel 2:32 God’s judgments are for the destruction of the infidels, and to move the godly to call upon the Name of God, who will give them salvation.
- Joel 2:32 Meaning hereby the Gentiles, Rom. 10:13.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
