Joel 2

New American Standard Bible 1995

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;
Surely it is near,
² A day of ^(C)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the 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 burns.
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 on the tops of the mountains,
Like the ^[b]crackling of a ^(K)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
⁶ Before them the people are in ^(L)anguish;
All ^(M)faces ^[c]turn pale.
⁷ They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each ^(N)march ^[d]in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.
⁸ They do not crowd each other,
They march everyone in his path;
When they ^[e]burst through the ^[f]defenses,
They do not break ranks.
⁹ They rush on 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 grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
¹¹ The Lord ^(S)utters His voice before ^(T)His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For ^(U)strong is he 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)rend your heart and not ^(AA)your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^(AB)gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness
And ^(AC)relenting of evil.
¹⁴ Who knows ^(AD)whether He will not turn and relent
And leave a ^(AE)blessing behind Him,
Even ^(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.
Let the ^(AJ)bridegroom 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, “^(AL)Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a ^(AM)reproach,
A byword among the nations.
Why should they among the peoples say,
‘^(AN)Where is their God?’”

¹⁸ Then the Lord ^[g]will be ^(AO)zealous for His land
And ^[h]will have ^(AP)pity on His people.
¹⁹ The Lord ^[i]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 ^[j]them;
And I will ^(AR)never again make you a reproach among the nations.
²⁰ “But I will remove the ^(AS)northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the ^(AT)eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the ^(AU)western sea.
And its ^(AV)stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.”

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

³⁰ “I will ^(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)whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be delivered;
For ^(BU)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who ^(BV)escape,
As the Lord has said,
Even among the ^(BW)survivors whom the Lord calls.