The Prophet Joel

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- Chapter 2 -

(Amos 7:1–9)

Blow trumpets on Mount Zion, God’s sacred hill in Jerusalem! Tell the people of Judah that they should be afraid and tremble, because it will soon be the time for Yahweh to punish us further.

That will be a very dark and gloomy day; there will be black clouds and it will be very dark. A huge swarm of locusts has covered the mountains like a black cloud. Nothing like this has ever happened before, and nothing like this will ever happen again.

It is as though they bring flames of fire from which no one can escape. In front of them, the land was as beautiful as the garden of Eden, but behind them the land is like a desert, and nothing survives.

The locusts resemble horses, and they run like soldiers on horses.

Leaping over the mountaintops, they make a noise like rumbling chariots, like a mighty army that is preparing for a battle, or like the roar of a fire that burns up stubble in a field.

When people see them coming, they become very pale and frightened.

The locusts climb over walls like soldiers do; they march along in columns and never turn aside from their lines.

They rush straight ahead without pushing each other. Even though people throw spears and javelins at them, that will not cause them to stop.

They swarm over the city walls and enter our houses; they enter through our windows as thieves do.

It is as though they cause the earth to shake and the sky to tremble. The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars do not shine because there are so many locusts in the sky.

Yahweh leads this army of countless locusts, and they obey his commands. This time when he is judging and punishing us is very terrible, with the result that it seems that no one can survive it.

Return with All Your Heart

But Yahweh says, “In spite of these disasters that you have experienced, you can return to me with all your inner being. Weep, and mourn, and fast to show that you are sorry that you have abandoned me.

Do not tear only your clothes to show that you are sorry; more importantly, show in your inner being that you are sorry.” Yahweh is merciful and kind; he does not quickly become angry; he faithfully loves people. He does not quickly become angry; instead, he greatly and faithfully loves you, and he does not like to punish us.

No one knows if he will change his mind about punishing you and instead act mercifully toward you. If he does that, he will bless you by giving you plenty of grain and wine in order that you can offer some of those things for sacrifices to him.

Blow the trumpets on Mount Zion! Gather the people together! Set apart time to fast, to show that you are sorry for your sins.

Perform the rituals to cause yourselves to be acceptable to Yahweh. Come apart and join together as a group with a purpose, the old people and the children, even the babies, and summon brides and bridegrooms from their rooms.

Tell the priests who serve Yahweh to cry between the altar and the entrance to the temple and to pray this: “Yahweh, rescue us, your people; do not allow people from other nations to despise us; do not allow them to ridicule us and say, ‘Why has their God abandoned them?’”

Restoration Promised

But Yahweh showed that he was concerned about his people and that he would act mercifully toward them.

When the people prayed, Yahweh answered and said, “I will give you plenty of grain and wine and olive oil, and you will be satisfied. I will no longer allow other nations to insult you.

Another army of locusts will come from the north to attack you, but I will force them to continue past Jerusalem into the desert. Some will go into the Dead Sea in the east, and some will go into the Mediterranean Sea in the west. There they will all die, and their bodies will stink.” God will certainly do wonderful things.

Yahweh will indeed do wonderful things! So even the ground should rejoice!

And the wild animals should not be afraid, because the meadows will soon become green again; the fig trees and other trees will be full of fruit, and the grapevines will be covered with grapes.

You people of Jerusalem, rejoice about what Yahweh, your God, will do for you. He will send abundant rain at the right time, in the spring and in the autumn, as he did previously.

The ground where you thresh the grain will be covered with grain, and your vats where you store the fresh grape juice and olive oil will overflow.

Yahweh said, “I will repay you for everything that was destroyed by those great swarms of locusts, that enormous army that I sent to attack you.

You, my people, will eat until your stomachs are full. Then you will praise me, Yahweh, your God, for the wonderful things that I have done for you. And never again will I let others shame you.

When that happens, you will know that I am always among you, that I am Yahweh, your God, and that there is no other God. Never again will I let others shame you.”

I Will Pour Out My Spirit

(Acts 2:14–36)

“Some time later, I will give my Spirit to many people. Your sons and daughters will proclaim messages that come directly from me. Your old men will have dreams that come from me, and your young men will have visions that come from me.

At that time, I will give my Spirit even to servants, both men and women.

I will do unusual things on the earth and in the sky. On the earth, there will be much blood shed, and there will be very large fires and smoke that resembles huge clouds.

In the sky, the sun will become dark, and the moon will become as red as blood. Those things will happen before that great and terrible day when I, Yahweh, come to judge all people.

But at that time I will save everyone who worships me. I promise that some people in Jerusalem will escape those disasters; those whom I have chosen will survive.”

(Amos 7:1–9)

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 the LORD comes, for it is close at hand:

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.

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 appearance is as the appearance of horses, and they run as horsemen.

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.

At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.

They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.

One doesn’t jostle another. They each march in their own path. They burst through the defenses and don’t break ranks.

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 quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

The LORD thunders his voice before his army, for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of the LORD is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?

Return with All Your Heart

“Yet even now,” says the LORD, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”

Tear your heart and not your garments, and turn to the LORD, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.

Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.

Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go out of his room, and the bride out of her chamber.

Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, LORD, 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?’”

Restoration Promised

Then the LORD was jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.

The LORD answered his people, “Behold,(a) 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.

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.

Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things.

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 rejoice in the LORD, your God; for he gives you the early rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the early rain and the latter rain, as before.

The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

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 plenty to eat and be satisfied, and will praise the name of the LORD, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.

You will know that I am among Israel, and that I am the LORD, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.

I Will Pour Out My Spirit

(Acts 2:14–36)

“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 also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.

I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.

It will happen that whoever will call on the LORD’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the remnant, those whom the LORD calls.

Footnotes

(a)2:19 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.