Joel
Chapter 2
1 Play the trumpet in Zion, and ring the alarm on my holy mountain: let everyone in the land shake with fear: for the day of God is coming, for it is very near.
2 A day of darkness and sadness, a day of clouds and deep darkness, like dawn spreading over the mountains: a huge and powerful group of people; nothing like this has ever happened before, nor will it ever happen again, even after many years and generations.
3 A fire consumes in front of them; behind them a flame blazes: the land is like the garden of Eden before them, and behind them it’s a ruined wasteland; indeed, nothing can escape them.
4 They look like horses, and like riders, they will run.
5 They will jump like the sound of chariots on mountain tops, like the crackling of fire burning dry plants, as a mighty army ready for battle.
6 The people will feel great pain, and all faces will turn dark.
7 They will run like strong men; they will climb the wall like soldiers; they will all walk on their own paths, and they will not leave their positions.
8 No one will push another; each will walk in his own way: and if they fall on the sword, they will not be hurt.
9 They will run around in the city; they will run on the walls, climb onto the houses; they will enter through the windows like a thief.
10 The earth will shake before them; the sky will quiver; the sun and moon will turn dark, and the stars will stop shining.
11 God will speak before his army: His forces are vast: He is powerful and does what He says: The day of God is immense and very frightening; who can endure it?
12 So now, God says, turn back to me with all your heart, by fasting, crying, and mourning.
13 Tear your heart, not your clothes, and return to God, for he is kind and merciful, slow to get angry, full of love, and changes his mind about the harm.
14 Who knows if God will come back, change his mind, and leave a blessing for you, including food and drink offerings for your God?
15 Sound the trumpet in Zion, declare a fast, call a gathering.
16 Bring the people together, make the group holy, call the old leaders, get the children and the babies: let the man getting married leave his room, and the woman getting married come out of her private place.
17 Let the priests, who serve God, cry between the entrance and the altar. Let them say, “Save your people, God, don’t let others insult your chosen ones by ruling over them. Why should others ask, ‘Where is their God?’”
18 Then God will care deeply for his land and have compassion on his people.
19 Yes, God will reply to his people, “Look, I will give you grain, wine, and olive oil, and you will have enough: and I will not let you be shamed among the nations anymore.”
20 I will take the northern army far away from you and push them into a dry and empty land. Their front will face the eastern sea and their back the farthest sea. Their smell will rise up, their stench too, because they have done great things.
21 Don’t be afraid, land; be happy and celebrate: God will do amazing things.
22 Do not fear, you animals of the fields: the wild pastures are growing, and the trees are bearing their fruit, the fig tree and the grapevine are giving their best.
23 Be happy, people of Zion, and be joyful in God: He has given you enough early rain, and He will make sure you get both early and late rain in the first month.
24 The floors will be full of wheat, and the containers will overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will give back to you the years the locusts, the cankerworms, the caterpillars, and the palmerworms have eaten, my great army that I sent to you.
26 You will eat a lot, feel full, and thank God, who has done amazing things for you; and my people will never feel shame.
27 You will know that I am with Israel, and that I am your God and no other; and my people will never be ashamed.
28 Afterward, I will give my spirit to everyone; your sons and daughters will speak of the future, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.
29 I will pour out my spirit on the servants and maidens in those days.
30 I will show amazing things in the sky and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn red, before the great and terrible day of God comes.
32 Whoever calls on God’s name will be saved; deliverance will be in Mount Zion and Jerusalem as God promised, and among the survivors God calls.