Study Desk

The ^(C1)word of the LORD that came to ^(C2)Joel, the son of Pethuel:

^(C1)Hear this, you ^(C2)elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. ^(C3)Has anything like this happened in your days, Or in your fathers' days?

^(C1)Tell your sons about it, And have your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation.

What the ^(C1)gnawing locust has left, the ^(F1)swarming locust has eaten; And what the ^(C2)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the ^(C3)stripping locust has eaten.

Awake, ^(C1)you heavy drinkers, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, Because of the sweet wine, For it has been ^(C2)eliminated from your mouth.

For a ^(C1)nation has ^(F1)invaded my land, Mighty and without number; ^(C2)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the jaws of a lioness.

It has ^(C1)made my vine a waste And my fig tree a stump. It has stripped them bare and hurled them away; Their branches have become white.

^(C1)Wail like a virgin ^(C2)clothed with sackcloth For the groom of her youth.

The ^(C1)grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off From the house of the LORD. The ^(C2)priests mourn, The ministers of the LORD.

The field is ^(C1)ruined, ^(C2)The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine has dried up, Fresh oil has ^(F1)failed.

^(C1)Be ashamed, you farm workers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the ^(C2)harvest of the field is destroyed.

The ^(C1)vine has dried up And the fig tree has withered; The ^(C2)pomegranate, the ^(C3)palm also, and the ^(C4)apple tree, All the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, ^(C5)joy has dried up From the sons of mankind.

^(C1)Put on sackcloth And mourn, you priests; ^(C2)Wail, you ministers of the altar! Come, ^(C3)spend the night in sackcloth, You ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Have been withheld from the house of your God.

^(C1)Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a ^(C2)solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And ^(C3)cry out to the LORD.

^(C1)Woe for the day! For the ^(C2)day of the LORD is near, And it will come as ^(C3)destruction from the ^(F1)Almighty.

Has ^(C1)food not been cut off before our eyes, and Joy and ^(C2)rejoicing from the house of our God?

The ^(F1)(C1)seeds have dried up under their shovels; The storehouses have become desolate, The grain silos are ruined, Because the grain has dried up.

How ^(C1)the animals have groaned! The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep have ^(F1)suffered.

^(C1)To You, LORD, I cry out; For ^(C2)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

Even the animals of the field ^(F1)(C1)pant for You; For the ^(C2)stream beds of water are dried up, And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

^(C1)Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the ^(C2)day of the LORD is coming; Indeed, it is near,

A day of ^(C1)darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a ^(C2)great and mighty people; There has ^(C3)never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.

A ^(C1)fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame devours. The land is ^(C2)like the Garden of Eden before them, But a ^(C3)desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

Their ^(C1)appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

^(F1)With a ^(C1)noise as of chariots They leap about on the tops of the mountains, Like the ^(F2)crackling of a ^(C2)flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.

Before them the people are in ^(C1)anguish; All ^(C2)faces ^(F1)turn pale.

They run like warriors, They climb the wall like soldiers; And each of them ^(C1)marches ^(F1)in line, Nor do they lose their way.

They do not crowd each other, Every warrior of them marches in his path; When they ^(F1)burst through the ^(F2)defenses, They do not break ranks.

They storm the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the ^(C1)houses, They ^(C2)enter through the windows like a thief.

Before them the earth ^(C1)quakes, The heavens tremble, The ^(C2)sun and the moon become dark, And the stars lose their brightness.

The LORD ^(C1)utters His voice before ^(C2)His army; His camp is indeed very great, For ^(C3)mighty is one who carries out His word. The ^(C4)day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And ^(C5)who can endure it?

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "^(C1)Return to Me with all your heart, And with ^(C2)fasting, weeping, and mourning;

And ^(C1)tear your heart and not merely ^(C2)your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is ^(C3)gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in mercy And ^(C4)relenting of catastrophe.

Who knows, ^(C1)He might turn and relent, And leave a ^(C2)blessing behind Him, Resulting in ^(C3)a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God.

^(C1)Blow a trumpet in Zion, ^(C2)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

Gather the people, ^(C1)sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Have the ^(C2)groom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers, Weep ^(C1)between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "^(F1)(C2)Spare Your people, LORD, And do not make Your inheritance a ^(C3)disgrace, With the nations jeering at them. Why should those among the peoples say, '^(C4)Where is their God?'"

Then the LORD ^(F1)will be ^(C1)zealous for His land, And ^(F2)will have ^(C2)compassion for His people.

The LORD ^(F1)will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to ^(C1)send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with ^(F2)them; And I will ^(C2)never again make you a disgrace among the nations.

-"But I will remove the ^(C1)northern army far from you, And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land, Its advance guard into the ^(C2)eastern sea, And its rear guard into the ^(C3)western sea. And its ^(C4)stench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up, Because it has done great things."

^(C1)Do not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice, For the LORD has done ^(C2)great things.

Do not fear, animals of the field, For the ^(C1)pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has produced its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded ^(F1)in full.

So shout for joy, you ^(C1)sons of Zion, And ^(C2)rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has ^(C3)given you ^(F1)the early rain for your vindication. And He has brought down for you the rain, The ^(F2)early and ^(F3)(C4)latter rain ^(F4)as before.

The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will ^(C1)overflow with the new wine and oil.

"Then I will compensate you for the years That the ^(F1)swarming ^(C1)locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust— My great army which I sent among you.

-"You will have plenty to ^(C1)eat and be satisfied, And you will ^(C2)praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has ^(C3)dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will ^(C4)never be put to shame.

-"So you will ^(C1)know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the LORD your God And there is ^(C2)no other; And My people will never be ^(C3)put to shame.

"^(F1)(C1)It will come about after this That I will ^(C2)pour out My Spirit on all ^(F2)(C3)mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions.

-"And even on the ^(C1)male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

-"I will ^(F1)(C1)display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

-"The ^(C1)sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the ^(C2)great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

-"And it will come about that ^(C1)everyone who calls on the name of the LORD Will ^(F1)be saved; For ^(C2)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who ^(C3)escape, Just as the LORD has said, Even among the ^(C4)survivors whom the LORD calls.

"^(F1)For behold, ^(C1)in those days and at that time, When I ^(C2)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

I will ^(C1)gather all the nations And bring them down to the ^(C2)Valley of ^(F1)Jehoshaphat. Then I will ^(C3)enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have ^(C4)scattered among the nations; And they have ^(C5)divided up My land.

-"They have also ^(C1)cast lots for My people, ^(F1)(C2)Traded a boy for a prostitute, And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.

"Moreover, what are you to Me, ^(C1)Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of ^(C2)Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will ^(C3)return your retribution on your head!

"Since you have ^(C1)taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious ^(F1)treasures to your temples,

and sold the ^(C1)sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the ^(F1)Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,

behold, I am going to ^(C1)stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head.

"I will also ^(C1)sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the ^(C2)Sabeans, to a distant nation," for the LORD has spoken.

^(C1)Proclaim this among the nations: ^(C2)Prepare for holy war; ^(C3)stir up the warriors! Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!

^(C1)Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears; ^(C2)Let the weak man say, "I am a warrior."

^(F1)(C1)Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, LORD, Your ^(C2)warriors.

Let the nations be awakened And come up to the ^(C1)Valley of ^(F1)Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to ^(C2)judge All the surrounding nations.

^(C1)Put in the sickle, for the ^(C2)harvest is ripe. Come, ^(C3)tread the grapes, for the ^(C4)wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their ^(C5)wickedness is great.

^(C1)Multitudes, multitudes in the ^(C2)valley of ^(F1)decision! For the ^(C3)day of the LORD is near in the valley of ^(F1)decision.

The ^(C1)sun and moon have become dark, And the stars have lost their brightness.

The LORD ^(C1)roars from Zion And ^(C2)utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the ^(C3)heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a ^(C4)refuge for His people, And a ^(C5)stronghold for the sons of Israel.

Then you will ^(C1)know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling on Zion, My ^(C2)holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be ^(C3)holy, And ^(C4)strangers will no longer pass through it.

And on that day The ^(C1)mountains will drip with ^(F1)sweet wine, And the hills will ^(C2)flow with milk, And all the ^(C3)brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a ^(C4)spring will go out from the house of the LORD And water the Valley of ^(F2)Shittim.

Egypt will become a wasteland, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the ^(C1)violence ^(F1)done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

But Judah will be ^(C1)inhabited forever, And Jerusalem for all generations.

And I will ^(C1)avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the LORD dwells in Zion.