Joel 2 - New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Terrible Visitation

2 ^(A)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the ^(B)day of the Lord is coming;
Indeed, it is near,
² A day of ^(C)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a ^(D)great and mighty people;
There has ^(E)never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
³ A ^(F)fire consumes before them,
And behind them a flame devours.
The land is ^(G)like the Garden of Eden before them,
But a ^(H)desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
⁴ Their ^(I)appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
^{5 [a]}With a ^(J)noise as of chariots
They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
Like the ^[b]crackling of a ^(K)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
⁶ Before them the people are in ^(L)anguish;
All ^(M)faces ^[c]turn pale.
⁷ They run like warriors,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And each of them ^(N)marches ^[d]in line,
Nor do they lose their way.
⁸ They do not crowd each other,
Every warrior of them marches in his path;
When they ^[e]burst through the ^[f]defenses,
They do not break ranks.
⁹ They storm the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the ^(O)houses,
They ^(P)enter through the windows like a thief.
¹⁰ Before them the earth ^(Q)quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The ^(R)sun and the moon become dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
¹¹ The Lord ^(S)utters His voice before ^(T)His army;
His camp is indeed very great,
For ^(U)mighty is one who carries out His word.
The ^(V)day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And ^(W)who can endure it?
¹² “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“^(X)Return to Me with all your heart,
And with ^(Y)fasting, weeping, and mourning;
¹³ And ^(Z)tear your heart and not merely ^(AA)your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^(AB)gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And ^(AC)relenting of catastrophe.
¹⁴ Who knows, ^(AD)He might turn and relent,
And leave a ^(AE)blessing behind Him,
Resulting in ^(AF)a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
^{15 (AG)}Blow a trumpet in Zion,
^(AH)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
¹⁶ Gather the people, ^(AI)sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the ^(AJ)groom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
¹⁷ Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep ^(AK)between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “^[g](AL)Spare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a ^(AM)disgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘^(AN)Where is their God?’”

Deliverance Promised

¹⁸ Then the Lord ^[h]will be ^(AO)zealous for His land,
And ^[i]will have ^(AP)compassion for His people.
¹⁹ The Lord ^[j]will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to ^(AQ)send you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with ^[k]them;
And I will ^(AR)never again make you a disgrace among the nations.
²⁰ But I will remove the ^(AS)northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land,
Its advance guard into the ^(AT)eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the ^(AU)western sea.
And its ^(AV)stench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up,
Because it has done great things.”

^{21 (AW)}Do not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice,
For the Lord has done ^(AX)great things.
²² Do not fear, animals of the field,
For the ^(AY)pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has produced its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded ^[l]in full.
²³ So shout for joy, you ^(AZ)sons of Zion,
And ^(BA)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has ^(BB)given you ^[m]the early rain for your vindication.
And He has brought down for you the rain,
The ^[n]early and ^[o](BC)latter rain ^[p]as before.
²⁴ The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will ^(BD)overflow with the new wine and oil.
²⁵ “Then I will compensate you for the years
That the ^[q]swarming ^(BE)locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—
My great army which I sent among you.
²⁶ You will have plenty to ^(BF)eat and be satisfied,
And you will ^(BG)praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has ^(BH)dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will ^(BI)never be put to shame.
²⁷ So you will ^(BJ)know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is ^(BK)no other;
And My people will never be ^(BL)put to shame.

The Promise of the Spirit

²⁸ “^[r](BM)It will come about after this
That I will ^(BN)pour out My Spirit on all ^[s](BO)mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
²⁹ And even on the ^(BP)male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the Lord

³⁰ I will ^[t](BQ)display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
³¹ The ^(BR)sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the ^(BS)great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
³² And it will come about that ^(BT)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will ^[u]be saved;
For ^(BU)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who ^(BV)escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the ^(BW)survivors whom the Lord calls.

Footnotes

1. Joel 2:5 Lit Like the noise of chariots
2. Joel 2:5 Lit sound
3. Joel 2:6 Or become flushed
4. Joel 2:7 Lit in his ways
5. Joel 2:8 Lit fall
6. Joel 2:8 Lit weapon, prob. javelin
7. Joel 2:17 Or Look compassionately on
8. Joel 2:18 Or was zealous
9. Joel 2:18 Or had compassion
10. Joel 2:19 Or answered and said
11. Joel 2:19 Lit it
12. Joel 2:22 Lit their wealth
13. Joel 2:23 I.e., autumn; or possibly the teacher for righteousness
14. Joel 2:23 I.e., autumn
15. Joel 2:23 I.e., spring
16. Joel 2:23 As in ancient versions; MT in the first
17. Joel 2:25 Or migratory
18. Joel 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Heb
19. Joel 2:28 Lit flesh
20. Joel 2:30 Lit give
21. Joel 2:32 Or flee to safety

Cross references

1. Joel 2:1 : Jer 4:5; Joel 2:15; Zeph 1:16
2. Joel 2:1 : Joel 1:15; 2:11, 31; 3:14; Obad 15; Zeph 1:14
3. Joel 2:2 : Joel 2:10, 31; Amos 5:18; Zeph 1:15
4. Joel 2:2 : Joel 1:6; 2:11, 25
5. Joel 2:2 : Lam 1:12; Dan 9:12; 12:1; Joel 1:2
6. Joel 2:3 : Ps 97:3; Is 9:18, 19
7. Joel 2:3 : Is 51:3; Ezek 36:35
8. Joel 2:3 : Ex 10:5, 15; Ps 105:34, 35; Zech 7:14
9. Joel 2:4 : Rev 9:7
10. Joel 2:5 : Rev 9:9
11. Joel 2:5 : Is 5:24; 30:30
12. Joel 2:6 : Is 13:8; Nah 2:10
13. Joel 2:6 : Jer 30:6
14. Joel 2:7 : Prov 30:27
15. Joel 2:9 : Ex 10:6
16. Joel 2:9 : Jer 9:21; John 10:1
17. Joel 2:10 : Ps 18:7; Joel 3:16; Nah 1:5
18. Joel 2:10 : Is 13:10; 34:4; Jer 4:23; Ezek 32:7, 8; Joel 2:31; 3:15; Matt 24:29; Rev 8:12
19. Joel 2:11 : Ps 46:6; Is 13:4; Jer 25:30; Joel 3:16
20. Joel 2:11 : Joel 2:25
21. Joel 2:11 : Jer 50:34; Rev 18:8
22. Joel 2:11 : Jer 30:7; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 31; 3:14; Zeph 1:14, 15; Rev 6:17
23. Joel 2:11 : Ezek 22:14; Mal 3:2
24. Joel 2:12 : Deut 4:29; Jer 4:1, 2; Ezek 33:11; Hos 12:6
25. Joel 2:12 : Dan 9:3
26. Joel 2:13 : Ps 34:18; 51:17; Is 57:15
27. Joel 2:13 : Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 1:11; Job 1:20; Jer 41:5
28. Joel 2:13 : Ex 34:6
29. Joel 2:13 : Jer 18:8; 42:10; Amos 7:3, 6
30. Joel 2:14 : Jer 26:3; Jon 3:9
31. Joel 2:14 : Hag 2:19
32. Joel 2:14 : Joel 1:9, 13
33. Joel 2:15 : Num 10:3; 2 Kin 10:20
34. Joel 2:15 : Joel 1:14
35. Joel 2:16 : 1 Sam 16:5; 2 Chr 29:5
36. Joel 2:16 : Ps 19:5
37. Joel 2:17 : 2 Chr 8:12; Ezek 8:16
38. Joel 2:17 : Ex 32:11, 12; Is 37:20; Amos 7:2, 5
39. Joel 2:17 : Ps 44:13; 74:10
40. Joel 2:17 : Ps 42:10; 79:10; 115:2
41. Joel 2:18 : Zech 1:14; 8:2
42. Joel 2:18 : Is 60:10; 63:9, 15
43. Joel 2:19 : Jer 31:12; Hos 2:21, 22; Joel 1:10; Mal 3:10
44. Joel 2:19 : Ezek 34:29; 36:15
45. Joel 2:20 : Jer 1:14, 15
46. Joel 2:20 : Zech 14:8
47. Joel 2:20 : Deut 11:24
48. Joel 2:20 : Is 34:3; Amos 4:10
49. Joel 2:21 : Is 54:4; Jer 30:10; Zeph 3:16, 17
50. Joel 2:21 : Ps 126:3; Joel 2:26
51. Joel 2:22 : Ps 65:12, 13
52. Joel 2:23 : Ps 149:2
53. Joel 2:23 : Is 12:2-6
54. Joel 2:23 : Deut 11:14; Is 41:16; Jer 5:24; Hab 3:18; Zech 10:7
55. Joel 2:23 : Lev 26:4; Hos 6:3; Zech 10:1
56. Joel 2:24 : Lev 26:10; Amos 9:13; Mal 3:10
57. Joel 2:25 : Joel 1:4-7; 2:2-11
58. Joel 2:26 : Lev 26:5; Deut 11:15; Is 62:9
59. Joel 2:26 : Deut 12:7; Ps 67:5-7
60. Joel 2:26 : Ps 126:2, 3; Is 25:1
61. Joel 2:26 : Is 45:17
62. Joel 2:27 : Lev 26:11, 12; Joel 3:17, 21
63. Joel 2:27 : Is 45:5, 6
64. Joel 2:27 : Is 49:23
65. Joel 2:28 : Acts 2:17-21
66. Joel 2:28 : Is 32:15; 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Zech 12:10
67. Joel 2:28 : Is 40:5; 49:26
68. Joel 2:29 : 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:28
69. Joel 2:30 : Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24, 25; Luke 21:11, 25, 26; Acts 2:19
70. Joel 2:31 : Is 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10; 3:15; Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25; Acts 2:20; Rev 6:12, 13
71. Joel 2:31 : Is 13:9; Zeph 1:14-16; Mal 4:1, 5
72. Joel 2:32 : Jer 33:3; Acts 2:21; Rom 10:13
73. Joel 2:32 : Is 46:13; Rom 11:26
74. Joel 2:32 : Is 4:2; Obad 17
75. Joel 2:32 : Is 11:11; Jer 31:7; Mic 4:7; Rom 9:27