| 2:1 | Blow the trumpet* in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed,* it is near!* |
| 2:2 | It will be* a day of dreadful darkness,* a day of foreboding storm clouds,* like blackness* spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army* – there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!* |
| 2:3 | Like fire they devour everything in their path;* a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden* before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness – for nothing escapes them!* |
| 2:4 | They look like horses;* they charge ahead like war horses. |
| 2:5 | They sound like* chariots rumbling* over mountain tops, like the crackling* of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of* a mighty army* being drawn up for battle.* |
| 2:6 | People* writhe in fear when they see them.* All of their faces turn pale with fright.* |
| 2:7 | They* charge* like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers.* Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter* their path. |
| 2:8 | They do not jostle one another;* each of them marches straight ahead.* They burst through* the city defenses* and do not break ranks. |
| 2:9 | They rush into* the city; they scale* its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief. |
| 2:10 | The earth quakes* before them;* the sky reverberates.* The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine.* |
| 2:11 | The voice of the Lord thunders* as he leads his army.* Indeed, his warriors* are innumerable;* Surely his command is carried out!* Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome* and very terrifying – who can survive* it? |
| 2:12 | “Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart – with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts,* not just your garments!” |
| 2:13 | Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love* – often relenting from calamitous punishment.* |
| 2:14 | Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve,* and leave blessing in his wake* – a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God!* |
| 2:15 | Blow the trumpet* in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly! |
| 2:16 | Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters.* |
| 2:17 | Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar.* Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb* among the nations. Why should it be said* among the peoples, “Where is their God?” |
| 2:18 | Then the Lord became* zealous for his land; he had compassion on his people. |
| 2:19 | The Lord responded* to his people, “Look! I am about to restore your grain* as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied.* I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations. |
| 2:20 | I will remove the one from the north* far from you. I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place. Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea,* and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea.* His stench will rise up as a foul smell.”* Indeed, the Lord* has accomplished great things. |
| 2:21 | Do not fear, my land! Rejoice and be glad, because the Lord has accomplished great things! |
| 2:22 | Do not fear, wild animals!* For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass. Indeed, the trees bear their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest.* |
| 2:23 | Citizens of Zion,* rejoice! Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done!* For he has given to you the early rains* as vindication. He has sent* to you the rains – both the early and the late rains* as formerly. |
| 2:24 | The threshing floors are full of grain; the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil. |
| 2:25 | I will make up for the years* that the ‘arbeh-locust* consumed your crops* – the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust – my great army* that I sent against you. |
| 2:26 | You will have plenty to eat, and your hunger will be fully satisfied;* you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has acted wondrously in your behalf. My people will never again be put to shame. |
| 2:27 | You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the Lord your God; there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame. |
| 2:28 | * After all of this* I will pour out my Spirit* on all kinds of people.* Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have revelatory dreams;* your young men will see prophetic visions. |
| 2:29 | Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. |
| 2:30 | I will produce portents both in the sky* and on the earth – blood, fire, and columns of smoke. |
| 2:31 | The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood,* before the day of the Lord comes – that great and terrible day! |
| 2:32 | It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.* For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem* there will be those who survive,* just as the Lord has promised; the remnant* will be those whom the Lord will call.* |
Joel 2 - NET Bible [draft]
