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Joel 1-2
Amplified Bible
Joel 1-2
Amplified Bible
1 The word of the Lord that came to [a]Joel, the son of Pethuel.
The Devastation of Locusts
2
Hear this, O elders,
Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing as this occurred in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3
Tell your children about it,
And let your children tell their children,
And their children the next generation.
4
What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten [in judgment of Judah].
5
Awake [from your intoxication], you drunkards, and weep;
Wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the [fresh] sweet wine
That is cut off from your mouth.
6
For a [pagan and hostile] nation has invaded My land [like locusts],
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.(A)
7
It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror,
And splintered and broken My fig tree.
It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away;
Their branches have become white.(B)
8
Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with [b]sackcloth
For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].
9
The [daily] grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
From the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn
Who minister to the Lord.
10
The field is ruined,
The ground mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The fresh oil fails.
11
Be ashamed, O farmers;
Wail, O vinedressers,
For the wheat and for the barley,
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
12
The vine dries up
And the fig tree fails;
The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,
All the trees of the field dry up,
Indeed, joy dries up and withdraws
From the sons of men.
13
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth
And lament (cry out in grief), O priests;
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing],
O ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
Starvation and Drought
14
Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a solemn assembly,
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord [in penitent pleadings].
15
Alas for the day!
For the [judgment] day of the Lord is at hand,
And it will come [upon the nation] as a destruction from the [c]Almighty.(C)
16
Has not the food been cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17
The seeds [of grain] shrivel under the clods,
The storehouses are desolate and empty,
The barns are in ruins
Because the grain is dried up.
18
How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlessly
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19
O Lord, I cry out to You,
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20
Even the wild animals pant [in longing] for You;
For the water brooks are dried up
And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
The Terrible Visitation
2 Blow the trumpet in Zion [warning of impending judgment],
Sound an alarm on My holy mountain [Zion]!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble and shudder in fear,
For the [judgment] day of the Lord is coming;
It is close at hand,(D)
2
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and of thick [dark] mist,
Like the dawn spread over the mountains;
There is a [pagan, hostile] people numerous and mighty,
The like of which has never been before
Nor will be again afterward
Even for years of many generations.
3
Before them a fire devours,
And behind them a flame burns;
Before them the land is like the Garden of Eden,
But behind them a desolate wilderness;
And nothing at all escapes them.
4
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
And they run like war horses.
5
Like the noise of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble,
Like a mighty people set in battle formation.(E)
6
Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces become pale [with terror].
7
They run like warriors;
They climb the wall like soldiers.
They each march [straight ahead] in line,
And they do not deviate from their paths.
8
They do not crowd each other;
Each one marches in his path.
When they burst through the defenses (weapons),
They do not break ranks.
9
They rush over the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb up into the houses,
They enter at the windows like a thief.
10
The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.(F)
11
The Lord utters His voice before His army,
For His camp is very great,
Because strong and powerful is he who [obediently] carries out His word.
For the day of the Lord is indeed great and very terrible [causing dread];
Who can endure it?(G)
12
“Even now,” says the Lord,
“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],
With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
13
Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”
Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];
And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].
14
Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence],
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you]
For the Lord your God?
15
Blow a trumpet in Zion [warning of impending judgment],
Dedicate a fast [as a day of restraint and humility], call a solemn assembly.
16
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber. [No one is excused from the assembly.]
17
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Have compassion and spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance (Israel) an object of ridicule,
Or a [humiliating] byword among the [Gentile] nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Deliverance Promised
18
Then the Lord will be jealous for His land [ready to defend it since it is rightfully and uniquely His]
And will have compassion on His people [and will spare them].
19
The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to send you grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you an object of ridicule among the [Gentile] nations.
20
“But I will remove the northern army far away from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
With its forward guard into the eastern sea (Dead Sea)
And with its rear guard into the western sea (Mediterranean Sea).
And its stench will arise and its foul odor of decay will come up [this is the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord],
For [d]He has done great things.”(H)
21
Do not fear, O land; be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done great things!(I)
22
Do not be afraid, you animals of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green;
The tree has produced its fruit,
And the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23
So rejoice, O children of Zion,
And delight in the Lord, your God;
For He has given you the early [autumn] rain in vindication
And He has poured down the rain for you,
The early [autumn] rain and the late [spring] rain, as before.
24
And the threshing floors shall be full of grain,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
25
“And I will compensate you for the years
That the swarming 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 eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of the Lord your God
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
27
“And you shall know [without any doubt] that I am in the midst of Israel [to protect and bless you],
And that I am the Lord your God,
And there is no other;
My people will never be put to shame.
The Promise of the Spirit
28
“It shall come about after this
That I shall pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29
“Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
The Day of the Lord
30
“I will show signs and wonders [displaying My power] in the heavens and on the earth,
Blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31
“The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.(J)
32
“And it shall come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be saved [from the coming judgment]
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
As the Lord has said,
Even among the remnant [of survivors] whom the Lord calls.(K)
Footnotes
- Joel 1:1 Joel was a prophet of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, and possibly a contemporary of Elisha. After the united kingdom divided, the Kingdom of Judah consisted primarily of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Judah continued to be ruled by the kings of the Davidic line. Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah. The name “Joel” means “The Lord is God.”
- Joel 1:8 A coarse cloth made from goat’s hair. It was worn as a sign of mourning or as an act of penitence.
- Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai.
- Joel 2:20 Interpreters are divided as to whether it is the northern destroyer who has done “great things,” or the Lord. The latter view is supported by v 21.
Joel 1-2
New International Version
Joel 1-2
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel(B) son of Pethuel.
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this,(C) you elders;(D)
listen, all who live in the land.(E)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(F)
3 Tell it to your children,(G)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(H)
4 What the locust(I) swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left(J)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(K)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(L)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(M) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(N)
it has the teeth(O) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(P) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(Q)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(R)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(S)
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(T)
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(U)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(V) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(W)
11 Despair, you farmers,(X)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(Y)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(Z)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(AA)
the pomegranate,(AB) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(AC)
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth,(AD) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(AE) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(AF)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(AG)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(AH)
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out(AI) to the Lord.(AJ)
15 Alas for that(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AM)
16 Has not the food been cut off(AN)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AO)
from the house of our God?(AP)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](AQ)
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(AR)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AS)
19 To you, Lord, I call,(AT)
for fire(AU) has devoured the pastures(AV) in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(AW)
the streams of water have dried up(AX)
and fire has devoured the pastures(AY) in the wilderness.
An Army of Locusts
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord(BC) is coming.
It is close at hand(BD)—
2 a day of darkness(BE) and gloom,(BF)
a day of clouds(BG) and blackness.(BH)
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army(BI) comes,
such as never was in ancient times(BJ)
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire(BK) devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,(BL)
behind them, a desert waste(BM)—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;(BN)
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots(BO)
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire(BP) consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;(BQ)
every face turns pale.(BR)
7 They charge like warriors;(BS)
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,(BT)
not swerving(BU) from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;(BV)
like thieves they enter through the windows.(BW)
10 Before them the earth shakes,(BX)
the heavens tremble,(BY)
the sun and moon are darkened,(BZ)
and the stars no longer shine.(CA)
11 The Lord(CB) thunders(CC)
at the head of his army;(CD)
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;(CE)
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?(CF)
Rend Your Heart
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return(CG) to me with all your heart,(CH)
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart(CI)
and not your garments.(CJ)
Return(CK) to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,(CL)
slow to anger and abounding in love,(CM)
and he relents from sending calamity.(CN)
14 Who knows? He may turn(CO) and relent(CP)
and leave behind a blessing(CQ)—
grain offerings and drink offerings(CR)
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet(CS) in Zion,(CT)
declare a holy fast,(CU)
call a sacred assembly.(CV)
16 Gather the people,
consecrate(CW) the assembly;
bring together the elders,(CX)
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom(CY) leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister(CZ) before the Lord,
weep(DA) between the portico and the altar.(DB)
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,(DC)
a byword(DD) among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?(DE)’”
The Lord’s Answer
19 The Lord replied[e] to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wine(DH) and olive oil,(DI)
enough to satisfy you fully;(DJ)
never again will I make you
an object of scorn(DK) to the nations.
20 “I will drive the northern horde(DL) far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench(DM) will go up;
its smell will rise.”
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid,(DN) land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.(DO)
Surely the Lord has done great things!(DP)
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.(DQ)
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree(DR) and the vine(DS) yield their riches.(DT)
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice(DU) in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.(DV)
He sends you abundant showers,(DW)
both autumn(DX) and spring rains,(DY) as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow(DZ) with new wine(EA) and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts(EB) have eaten(EC)—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm[f]—
my great army(ED) that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,(EE)
and you will praise(EF) the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders(EG) for you;
never again will my people be shamed.(EH)
27 Then you will know(EI) that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord(EJ) your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.(EK)
The Day of the Lord
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit(EL) on all people.(EM)
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,(EN)
your old men will dream dreams,(EO)
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants,(EP) both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.(EQ)
30 I will show wonders in the heavens(ER)
and on the earth,(ES)
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness(ET)
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.(EU)
32 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord(EV) will be saved;(EW)
for on Mount Zion(EX) and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,(EY)
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors(EZ)
whom the Lord calls.[g](FA)
Footnotes
- Joel 1:4 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
- Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot
- Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
- Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Joel 2:19 Or Lord will be jealous … / and take pity … / 19 The Lord will reply
- Joel 2:25 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.
- Joel 2:32 In Hebrew texts 2:28-32 is numbered 3:1-5.
Joel 1-2
King James Version
Joel 1-2
King James Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
2 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
19 Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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