Joel 2

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BBE WEB

God's punishments

Let the horn be sounded in Zion, and a war-cry in my holy mountain; let all the people of the land be troubled: for the day of the Lord is coming; Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
For a day of dark and deep shade is near, a day of cloud and black night: like a black cloud a great and strong people is covering the mountains; there has never been any like them and will not be after them again, from generation to generation. A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
Before them fire sends destruction, and after them flame is burning: the land is like the garden of Eden before them, and after them an unpeopled waste; truly, nothing has been kept safe from them. A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
Their form is like the form of horses, and they are running like war-horses. Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run.
Like the sound of war-carriages they go jumping on the tops of the mountains; like the noise of a flame of fire burning up the grain-stems, like a strong people lined up for the fight. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
At their coming the people are bent with pain: all faces become red together. At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
They are running like strong men, they go over the wall like men of war; every man goes straight on his way, their lines are not broken. They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
No one is pushing against another; everyone goes straight on his way: bursting through the sword points, their order is not broken. Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and don’t break ranks.
They make a rush on the town, running on the wall; they go up into the houses and in through the windows like a thief. They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
The earth is troubled before them and the heavens are shaking: the sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining: The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
And the Lord is thundering before his forces; for very great is his army; for he is strong who gives effect to his word: for the day of the Lord is great and greatly to be feared, and who has strength against it? Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?
But even now, says the Lord, come back to me with all your heart, keeping from food, with weeping and with sorrow: “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
Let your hearts be broken, and not your clothing, and come back to the Lord your God: for he is full of grace and pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, ready to be turned from his purpose of punishment. Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
May it not be that he will again let his purpose be changed and let a blessing come after him, even a meal offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.

Words urging fasting and prayer; blessings promised

Let a horn be sounded in Zion, let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting: Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
Get the people together, make the mass of the people holy, send for the old men, get together the children and babies at the breast: let the newly married man come out of his room and the bride from her tent. Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her room.
Let the priests, the servants of the Lord, be weeping between the covered way and the altar, and let them say, Have mercy on your people, O Lord, do not give up your heritage to shame, so that the nations become their rulers: why let them say among the peoples, Where is their God? Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
Then the Lord had a care for the honour of his land and had pity on his people. Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
And the Lord made answer and said to his people, See, I will send you grain and wine and oil in full measure: and I will no longer let you be shamed among the nations: Yahweh answered his people, “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
I will send the one from the north far away from you, driving him into a dry and waste land, with his front to the sea of the east and his back to the sea of the west, and the smell of him will go up, even his evil smell will go up. But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things.
Have no fear, O land; be glad with great joy; for the Lord has done great things. Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.
Have no fear, you beasts of the field, for the grass-lands of the waste are becoming green, for the trees are producing fruit, the fig-tree and the vine give out their strength. Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
Be glad, then, you children of Zion, and have joy in the Lord your God: for he gives you food in full measure, making the rain come down for you, the early and the late rain as at the first. “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before.
And the floors will be full of grain, and the crushing-places overflowing with wine and oil. The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
I will give back to you the years which were food for the locust, the plant-worm, the field-fly, and the worm, my great army which I sent among you. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
You will have food in full measure, and give praise to the name of the Lord your God, who has done wonders for you: You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.
And you will be certain that I am in Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other: and my people will never be shamed. You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.

A promise of the Holy Spirit, and of future mercies

And after that, it will come about, says the Lord, that I will send my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, your old men will have dreams, your young men will see visions: “It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
And on the servants and the servant-girls in those days I will send my spirit. And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
And I will let wonders be seen in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun will be made dark and the moon turned to blood, before the great day of the Lord comes, a day to be feared. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
And it will be that whoever makes his prayer to the name of the Lord will be kept safe: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem some will be kept safe, as the Lord has said, and will be among the small band marked out by the Lord. It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
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