Joel 2 — Legacy Standard Bible

2^aBlow a trumpet in Zion,And make a loud shout on My holy mountain!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,For the ^bday of Yahweh is coming;Surely it is near,²A day of ^adarkness and thick darkness,A day of clouds and dense gloom.As the dawn is spread over the mountains,So there is a ^bnumerous and mighty people;There has ^cnever been anything like it,Nor will there be again after itFor the years from generation to generation.³A ^afire consumes before them,And behind them a flame burns.The land is ^blike the garden of Eden before themBut a ^cdesolate wilderness behind them,And nothing at all escapes them.⁴Their ^aappearance is like the appearance of horses;And like war horses, so they run.⁵¹With a ^anoise as of chariotsThey leap on the tops of the mountains,Like the ²crackling of a ^bflame of fire consumes the stubble,Like a mighty people arranged for battle.⁶Before them the peoples are ^awrithing;All ^bfaces ¹turn pale.⁷They run like mighty men;They climb up the wall like men of war;And they each ^amarch ¹in line,And they do not deviate from their paths.⁸They do not crowd each other;They march everyone in his path;When they fall against the defending weapons,They do not break ranks.⁹They rush on the city;They run on the wall;They climb up into the ^ahouses;They ^benter through the windows like a thief.¹⁰Before them the earth ^atrembles;The heavens quake;The ^bsun and the moon grow dark,And the stars ¹lose their brightness.¹¹But Yahweh ^agives forth His voice before ^bHis military force;Surely His camp is very numerous,For ^cmighty is he who does His word.The ^dday of Yahweh is indeed great and very awesome,And ^ewho can endure it?

Return to Yahweh

¹²“Yet even now,” declares Yahweh,“^aReturn to Me with all your heartAnd with ^bfasting, weeping, and ¹wailing;¹³And ^atear your heart and not ^byour garments.”Now return to Yahweh your God,For He is ^cgracious and compassionate,Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness,And ^drelenting concerning evil.¹⁴Who knows ^awhether He will not turn and relentAnd leave a ^bblessing behind Him,Even ^ca grain offering and a drink offeringFor Yahweh your God?¹⁵^aBlow a trumpet in Zion,^bSet apart a fast as holy, call for a solemn assembly,¹⁶Gather the people, ^aset apart the congregation as holy,Assemble the elders,Gather the infants and the nursing babies.Let the ^bbridegroom come out of his roomAnd the bride out of her bridal chamber.¹⁷Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh,Weep ^abetween the porch and the altar,And let them say, “^bPity Your people, O Yahweh,And do not make Your inheritance a ^creproach,A byword among the nations.Why should they among the peoples say,‘^dWhere is their God?’”

Yahweh Will Spare His People

¹⁸Then Yahweh ¹will be ^azealous for His landAnd ²will ^bspare His people.¹⁹Then Yahweh ¹will answer and say to His people,“Behold, I am going to ^asend you grain, new wine, and oil,And you will be satisfied in full with ²them;And I will ^bnever again make you a reproach among the nations.²⁰“But I will remove the ^anorthern military force far from you,And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,And its vanguard into the ^beastern sea,And its rear guard into the ^cwestern sea.And its ^dstench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up,For it has done great things.”²¹^aDo not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,For Yahweh has done ^bgreat things.²²Do not fear, beasts of the field,For the ^apastures of the wilderness have turned green,For the tree has borne its fruit;The fig tree and the vine have yielded ¹their full force.²³So rejoice, O ^asons of Zion,And ^bbe glad in Yahweh your God,For He has ^cgiven you ¹the early rain in righteousness.And He has poured down for you the rain,The ²early and ³^,^dlate rains ⁴as before.²⁴The threshing floors will be full of grain,And the vats will ^aoverflow with the new wine and oil.²⁵“Then I will pay back to you in full for the yearsThat the swarming ^alocust 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 ^aconsume and be satisfiedAnd ^bpraise the name of Yahweh your God,Who has ^cdealt wondrously with you;Then My people will ^dnever be put to shame.²⁷“Thus you will ^aknow that I am in the midst of Israel,And that I am Yahweh your God,And there is ^bno other;And My people will never be ^cput to shame.

Yahweh Will Pour Out His Spirit

²⁸“¹^,^aAnd it will be afterwardsThat I will ^bpour out My Spirit on all ²^,^cmankind;And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy;Your old men will dream dreams;Your young men will see visions.²⁹“Even on the ^amale slaves and female slavesI will in those days pour out My Spirit.

Deliverance in the Day of Yahweh

³⁰“And I will ^aput wonders in the sky and on the earth,Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.³¹“The ^asun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into bloodBefore the ^bgreat and awesome day of Yahweh comes.³²“And it will be that ^aeveryone who calls on the name of YahwehWill ¹be delivered;For ^bon Mount Zion and in JerusalemThere will be those who ^cescape,As Yahweh has said,Even among the ^dsurvivors whom Yahweh calls.