1The Lord gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel.H1697H3068H3100H1121H6602
Mourning over the Locust Plague
2Hear this, you leaders of the people. Listen, all who live in the land. In all your history, has anything like this happened before?H8085H2205H238H3427H776H3117H518H3117H13Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation.H5608H1121H1121H1121H1121H312H17554After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too!H1501H3499H697H398H697H3499H3218H398H3218H3499H2625H3985Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine-drinkers! All the grapes are ruined, and all your sweet wine is gone.H6974H7910H1058H3213H8354H3196H6071H3772H63106A vast army of locusts has invaded my land, a terrible army too numerous to count. Its teeth are like lions’ teeth, its fangs like those of a lioness.H1471H5927H776H6099H4557H8127H8127H738H4973H38337It has destroyed my grapevines and ruined my fig trees, stripping their bark and destroying it, leaving the branches white and bare.H7760H1612H8047H7111H8384H2834H2834H7993H8299H38358Weep like a bride dressed in black, mourning the death of her husband.H421H1330H2296H8242H1167H52719For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of the Lord. So the priests are in mourning. The ministers of the Lord are weeping.H4503H5262H3772H1004H3068H3548H3068H8334H5610The fields are ruined, the land is stripped bare. The grain is destroyed, the grapes have shriveled, and the olive oil is gone.H7704H7703H127H56H1715H7703H8492H3001H3323H53511Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat and barley—all the crops of the field—are ruined.H3001H406H3213H3755H2406H8184H7105H7704H612The grapevines have dried up, and the fig trees have withered. The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees—all the fruit trees—have dried up. And the people’s joy has dried up with them.H1612H3001H8384H535H7416H8558H8598H6086H7704H3001H8342H3001H1121H12013Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests! Wail, you who serve before the altar! Come, spend the night in burlap, you ministers of my God. For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of your God.H2296H5594H3548H3213H8334H4196H935H3885H8242H8334H430H4503H5262H4513H1004H43014Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to him there.H6942H6685H7121H6116H622H2205H3427H776H1004H3068H430H2199H306815The day of the Lord is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be!H162H3117H3117H3068H7138H7701H7706H93516Our food disappears before our very eyes. No joyful celebrations are held in the house of our God.H400H3772H5869H8057H1524H1004H43017The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned.H6507H5685H4053H214H8074H4460H2040H1715H300118How the animals moan with hunger! The herds of cattle wander about confused, because they have no pasture. The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.H929H584H5739H1241H943H4829H5739H6629H81619Lord, help us! The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures, and flames have burned up all the trees.H3068H7121H784H398H4999H4057H3852H3857H6086H770420Even the wild animals cry out to you because the streams have dried up, and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures.H929H7704H6165H650H4325H3001H784H398H4999H4057
Joel 2
Locusts Invade like an Army
2Sound the alarm in Jerusalem! Raise the battle cry on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the Lord is upon us.H8628H7782H6726H7321H6944H2022H3427H776H7264H3117H3068H935H71382It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears. Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again.H3117H2822H653H3117H6051H6205H7837H6566H2022H7227H5971H6099H1961H5769H3254H310H8141H1755H17553Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes.H784H398H6440H310H3852H3857H776H1588H5731H6440H310H8077H4057H64134They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses.H4758H4758H5483H6571H73235Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops. Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots, like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble, or like a mighty army moving into battle.H6963H4818H7218H2022H7540H6963H3851H784H398H7179H6099H5971H4421H61866Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror.H6440H5971H2342H6440H6908H62897The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank.H7323H1368H5927H2346H582H4421H3212H376H1870H5670H7348They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step.H376H1766H251H3212H1397H4546H5307H7973H12149They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows.H8264H5892H7323H2346H5927H1004H935H2474H159010The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine.H776H7264H6440H8064H7493H8121H3394H6937H3556H622H505111The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?H3068H5414H6963H6440H2428H4264H3966H7227H6099H6213H1697H3117H3068H1419H3966H3372H3557
A Call to Repentance
12That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.H5002H3068H7725H3824H6685H1065H455313Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.H7167H3824H899H7725H3068H430H2587H7349H750H639H7227H2617H5162H745114Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before.H3045H7725H5162H7604H1293H310H4503H5262H3068H43015Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting.H8628H7782H6726H6942H6685H7121H611616Gather all the people—the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room.H622H5971H6942H6951H6908H2205H622H5768H3243H7699H2860H3318H2315H3618H264617Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence, stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar. Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord! Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery. Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”H3548H8334H3068H1058H197H4196H559H2347H5971H3068H5414H5159H2781H1471H4910H559H5971H430
The Lord’s Promise of Restoration
18Then the Lord will pity his people and jealously guard the honor of his land.H3068H7065H776H2550H597119The Lord will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations.H3068H6030H559H5971H7971H1715H8492H3323H7646H5414H2781H147120I will drive away these armies from the north. I will send them into the parched wastelands. Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea, and those at the rear into the Mediterranean. The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.” Surely the Lord has done great things!H7368H6830H5080H776H6723H8077H6440H6931H3220H5490H314H3220H889H5927H6709H5927H6213H143121Don’t be afraid, my people. Be glad now and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things.H3372H127H1523H8055H3068H6213H143122Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field, for the wilderness pastures will soon be green. The trees will again be filled with fruit; fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.H3372H929H7704H4999H4057H1876H6086H5375H6529H8384H1612H5414H242823Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring.H1523H1121H6726H8055H3068H430H5414H4175H6666H3381H1653H4175H4456H722324The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.H1637H4390H1250H3342H7783H8492H332325The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.H7999H8141H697H398H3218H2625H1501H1419H2428H797126Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the Lord your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced.H398H398H7646H1984H8034H3068H430H6213H6381H5971H5769H95427Then you will know that I am among my people Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. Never again will my people be disgraced.H3045H7130H3478H3068H430H5971H5769H954
The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit
28“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.H310H8210H7307H1320H1121H1323H5012H2205H2492H2472H970H7200H238429In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.H5650H8198H3117H8210H730730And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke.H5414H4159H8064H776H1818H784H8490H622731The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.H8121H2015H2822H3394H1818H6440H1419H3372H3117H3068H93532But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called.H7121H8034H3068H4422H2022H6726H3389H6413H3068H559H8300H3068H7121
Joel 3
Judgment against Enemy Nations
3“At the time of those events,” says the Lord, “when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,H3117H6256H7725H7725H7622H3063H33892I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land.H6908H1471H3381H6010H3092H8199H5971H5159H3478H6340H1471H2505H7763They threw dice to decide which of my people would be their slaves. They traded boys to obtain prostitutes and sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.H3032H1486H5971H5414H3206H2181H4376H3207H3196H83544“What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done.H6865H6721H1552H6429H7999H1576H1580H7031H4120H7725H1576H72185You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and have carried them off to your pagan temples.H3947H3701H2091H935H1964H2896H42616You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could take them far from their homeland.H1121H3063H1121H3389H4376H3125H1121H7368H13667“But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done.H5782H4725H4376H7725H1576H72188I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia, a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H4376H1121H1323H3027H1121H3063H4376H7615H1471H7350H3068H16969Say to the nations far and wide: “Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors. Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.H7121H1471H6942H4421H5782H1368H582H4421H5066H592710Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors.H3807H855H2719H4211H7420H2523H559H136811Come quickly, all you nations everywhere. Gather together in the valley.” And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!H5789H935H1471H6908H5439H1368H5181H306812“Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the Lord, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all.H1471H5782H5927H6010H3092H3427H8199H1471H543913Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people.”H7971H4038H7105H1310H935H3381H1660H4390H3342H7783H7451H722714Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.H1995H1995H6010H2742H3117H3068H7138H6010H274215The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.H8121H3394H6937H3556H622H505116The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress for the people of Israel.H3068H7580H6726H5414H6963H3389H8064H776H7493H3068H4268H5971H4581H1121H3478
Blessings for God’s People
17“Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, live in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy forever, and foreign armies will never conquer her again.H3045H3068H430H7931H6726H6944H2022H3389H6944H2114H567418In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the Lord’s Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias.H3117H2022H5197H6071H1389H3212H2461H650H3063H3212H4325H4599H3318H1004H3068H8248H5158H785119But Egypt will become a wasteland and Edom will become a wilderness, because they attacked the people of Judah and killed innocent people in their land.H4714H8077H123H8077H4057H2555H1121H3063H8210H5355H1818H77620“But Judah will be filled with people forever, and Jerusalem will endure through all generations.H3063H3427H5769H3389H1755H175521I will pardon my people’s crimes, which I have not yet pardoned; and I, the Lord, will make my home in Jerusalem with my people.”H5352H1818H5352H3068H7931H6726
Psalms 125
125[A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.] Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever.H7892H4609H982H3068H2022H6726H4131H3427H57692Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.H2022H5439H3389H3068H5439H5971H5704H57693The wicked will not rule the land of the godly, for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.H7626H7562H5117H1486H6662H4616H6662H7971H3027H57664O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with you.H2895H3068H2896H3477H38265But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord. Take them away with those who do evil. May Israel have peace!H5186H6128H3068H3212H6466H205H7965H3478
Dublin, OH
, too!H1501
