HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1169
JOEL 2
page 799
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Despair, all you farmers!
Wail, all you vine growers!
Weep, because the wheat and barley—
all the crops of the field—are ruined.
The 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.
Dress 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.
Announce 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.
The day of the Lord is near,
the day when destruction comes from
the Almighty.
How terrible that day will be!
Our food disappears before our very eyes.
No joyful celebrations are held in the
house of our God.
The seeds die in the parched ground,
and the grain crops fail.
The barns stand empty,
and granaries are abandoned.
How 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.
Lord, help us!
The fire has consumed the wilderness
pastures,
and flames have burned up all the trees.
Even the wild animals cry out to you
because the streams have dried up,
and fire has consumed the wilderness
pastures.
Locusts Invade like an Army
1 Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem*!
Raise the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let everyone tremble in fear
because the day of the Lord is upon us.
2 It is a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
2
2:1 Hebrew Zion; also in 2:15, 23. 2:4 Or like charioteers.
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.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Fire 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.
They look like horses;
they charge forward like warhorses.*
Look 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.
Fear grips all the people;
every face grows pale with terror.
The attackers march like warriors
and scale city walls like soldiers.
Straight forward they march,
never breaking rank.
They never jostle each other;
each moves in exactly the right position.
They break through defenses
without missing a step.
They swarm over the city
and run along its walls.
They enter all the houses,
climbing like thieves through the
windows.
The earth quakes as they advance,
and the heavens tremble.
The sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars no longer shine.
The 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?
A Call to Repentance
12 That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and
mourning.
13 Don’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.