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Yahweh Will Spare His People

18 Then Yahweh [a]will be (A)zealous for His land
And [b]will (B)spare His people.
19 Then Yahweh [c]will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to (C)send you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with [d]them;
And I will (D)never again make you a reproach among the nations.
20 But I will remove the (E)northern military force far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the (F)eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the (G)western sea.
And its (H)stench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up,
For it has done great things.”

21 (I)Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For Yahweh has done (J)great things.
22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the (K)pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine have yielded [e]their full force.
23 So rejoice, O (L)sons of Zion,
And (M)be glad in Yahweh your God,
For He has (N)given you [f]the early rain in righteousness.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The [g]early and [h](O)late rains [i]as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will (P)overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will pay back to you in full for the years
That the swarming (Q)locust has consumed,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust,
My great military force which I sent among you.
26 And you will have plenty to (R)consume and be satisfied
And (S)praise the name of Yahweh your God,
Who has (T)dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will (U)never be put to shame.
27 Thus you will (V)know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am Yahweh your God,
And there is (W)no other;
And My people will never be (X)put to shame.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 2:18 Or was zealous
  2. Joel 2:18 Or had spared
  3. Joel 2:19 Or answered and said
  4. Joel 2:19 Lit it
  5. Joel 2:22 Or their excellence
  6. Joel 2:23 Autumn; or possibly word play to mean the teacher for righteousness, cf. Is 30:20
  7. Joel 2:23 Autumn
  8. Joel 2:23 Spring
  9. Joel 2:23 As in ancient versions; Heb in the first

The Lord’s Promise of Restoration

18 Then the Lord will pity his people
    and jealously guard the honor of his land.
19 The Lord will reply,
“Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil,
    enough to satisfy your needs.
You will no longer be an object of mockery
    among the surrounding nations.
20 I will drive away these armies from the north.
    I will send them into the parched wastelands.
Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea,
    and those at the rear into the Mediterranean.[a]
The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”

Surely the Lord has done great things!
21     Don’t be afraid, O land.
Be glad now and rejoice,
    for the Lord has done great things.
22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field,
    for the wilderness pastures will soon be green.
The trees will again be filled with fruit;
    fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.
23 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem!
    Rejoice in the Lord your God!
For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
    Once more the autumn rains will come,
    as well as the rains of spring.
24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain,
    and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.

25 The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
    to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.[b]
    It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
26 Once again you will have all the food you want,
    and you will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.
    Never again will my people be disgraced.
27 Then you will know that I am among my people Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other.
    Never again will my people be disgraced.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:20 Hebrew into the eastern sea, . . . into the western sea.
  2. 2:25 The precise identification of the four kinds of locusts mentioned here is uncertain.