Joel 2

Blow the ram's horn in Zion. Sound the alarm on my holy mountain. Let everyone who lives in the land shake with fear, because the day of the LORD is coming. It is close.

1Blow 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;

NoteThe ram's horn (Hebrew *shofar*) was the standard signal instrument: one pattern of blasts called people to assemble, another warned that an enemy was sighted. Zion is the hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood, and its name is often used for the whole city. "The day of the LORD" was already a fixed phrase in Joel's time, meaning a coming day when God steps in and settles accounts, popularly expected to fall on Israel's enemies.

2It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and deep blackness. Like the light of dawn spreading over the mountains, a great and strong army comes. There has never been anything like it before, and there never will be again, through all the years to come.

2A 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.

3A fire burns everything ahead of them, and behind them a flame scorches. The land in front of them looks like the garden of Eden, but behind them it is an empty wasteland. Nothing escapes them.

3A 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.

NoteThe garden of Eden is the lush garden described at the beginning of Genesis. The contrast is between land as green as that garden on one side of the swarm and bare desert on the other.

4They look like horses, and they charge ahead like war horses.

4The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

NoteThrough verses 4-11 the Hebrew keeps two pictures in play at once and never chooses between them: a locust swarm described as if it were an invading army, or an invading army described as if it were locusts. Ancient readers noticed that a locust's head does look strikingly like a horse's.

5They leap over the mountaintops with a sound like rattling chariots, like fire crackling as it burns dry stalks. They are like a mighty army lined up for battle.

5Like 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.

6People writhe in pain at the sight of them. Every face turns pale.

6Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase behind "turns pale" literally means faces "gather a glow" or "gather blackness," and interpreters disagree whether it pictures faces drained white with fear or flushed dark; both readings are old.

7They run like strong soldiers. They climb walls like men trained for war. Each one marches straight ahead and none of them break formation.

7They 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:

8They do not shove one another. Each one keeps to his own path. They burst through the weapons set against them and are not stopped.

8Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

NoteThe KJV "when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded" and the modern "they burst through the defenses" translate the same difficult Hebrew line. The image is of the swarm pouring straight through armed resistance without being stopped.

9They rush all through the city. They run along the wall. They climb up onto the houses and go in through the windows like thieves.

9They 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.

10The earth shakes before them, and the sky trembles. The sun and the moon go dark, and the stars stop shining.

10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

11The LORD raises his voice at the head of his army. His camp is huge, and those who carry out his command are mighty. The day of the LORD is great and terrifying. Who can survive it?

11And 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"Even now," says the LORD, "come back to me with all your heart. Come with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."

12Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13Tear open your hearts, not your clothes, and come back to the LORD your God. He is kind and full of mercy. He is slow to get angry and full of steady love, and he holds back from sending the harm he warned of.

13And 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.

NoteTearing your outer garment at the neck was the ordinary public gesture of grief or horror in Israel, the way a black armband later was. The point of the line is the contrast between the visible gesture and what is not visible. The string of words that follows (gracious, merciful, slow to anger, full of steady love) is a set formula about God's character that Israelite hearers knew by heart from Exodus 34.

14Who knows? He may turn back and change what he was going to do, and leave a blessing behind him, so there is grain and wine again to offer to the LORD your God.

14Who 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?

Note"Repenteth him of the evil" in the KJV does not mean God is sorry for wrongdoing. "Evil" here means harm or disaster, and "repent" means to change course, so the sense is that God holds back a threatened disaster. The grain offering and drink offering were the daily gifts of flour and wine presented at the temple; a failed harvest meant there was literally nothing left to present, so the return of crops is also the return of worship.

15Blow the ram's horn in Zion. Set apart a time of fasting. Call everyone together for a sacred meeting.

15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16Gather the people. Set the whole assembly apart for God. Bring the elders together, gather the children, even babies still nursing. Let the bridegroom come out of his room, and the bride out of hers.

16Gather 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.

NoteThe word rendered "elders" can mean either old people in general or the community's leaders; paired here with children and nursing babies, it most likely means the aged. A newly married man was normally excused from public duties for a year; that even the bridegroom and bride must leave their wedding chamber marks how total the summons is.

17Let the priests, who serve the LORD, weep between the entrance porch of the temple and the altar. Let them say, "Spare your people, LORD. Do not let the people who belong to you be shamed and ruled over by other nations. Why should anyone say, 'Where is their God?'"

17Let 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?

NoteThe porch was the covered entrance at the front of the temple building; the altar for burnt offerings stood in the open courtyard in front of it. The strip of ground between them was where priests stood to act on the people's behalf. "Give not thine heritage to reproach" uses the legal image of land handed down in a family: Israel is God's allotted property, and letting it be shamed would be a loss to its owner.

18Then the LORD became fiercely protective of his land, and he took pity on his people.

18Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

NoteThe Hebrew verbs here can be read either as past ("the LORD became jealous") or as future ("the LORD will become jealous"), and translations split on it. This is the hinge of the book, so the choice decides whether the rescue that follows is being narrated as already granted or still promised. "Jealous" translates a word meaning fiercely possessive on behalf of something one owns and loves; it carries no suggestion of envy.

19The LORD answered his people and said, "Look, I am sending you grain, new wine, and olive oil, and you will have enough. I will never again let other nations shame you.

19Yea, 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:

Note"Corn" in the KJV means grain of any kind, not maize, which did not reach Europe until after 1492. Grain, new wine and olive oil were the three staple crops of the land, and naming them together is a standard shorthand for a full harvest. "New wine" is juice freshly pressed and still fermenting.

20I will drive the army from the north far away from you. I will push it into a dry and empty land, its front ranks into the eastern sea and its rear ranks into the western sea. Its stench will rise, its foul smell will go up, because it has done great things.

20But 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.

NoteInvading armies reached Israel from the north, since the desert blocked a direct approach from the east, so "the northern army" is the usual way of naming an invader, though locusts normally arrive from the south or east. The eastern sea is the Dead Sea, the western sea the Mediterranean; the swarm is pictured being driven off both edges of the country and left to rot. The last clause, "because he hath done great things," is ambiguous in Hebrew: it may be the invader's arrogant boasting, or the same phrase applied to the LORD as in the next verse.

21Do not be afraid, land. Be glad and celebrate, because the LORD has done great things.

21Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

22Do not be afraid, wild animals, because the open pastures are turning green again. The trees are bearing fruit, and the fig tree and the grapevine are giving their best.

22Be 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.

23So be glad, people of Zion, and celebrate what the LORD your God has done. He has given you the early rain in right measure, and he pours down rain for you, both the early rain and the late rain, as he did at the first.

23Be 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.

NoteRain in Israel falls in two seasons: the "former" or early rain in the autumn, which softens the ground for plowing and sowing, and the "latter" or spring rain, which swells the grain before harvest. Both were needed for a crop. The phrase translated "the early rain in right measure" is genuinely disputed, the Hebrew words can also mean "the early rain for your vindication" or "a teacher for righteousness," and ancient and modern translators divide between them. The last phrase is likewise either "in the first month" or "as at the first."

24The threshing floors will be piled with grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil.

24And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

NoteA threshing floor was a flat, hard, open patch of ground, usually on a windy rise, where grain was trampled and then tossed in the air so the wind carried off the chaff. The vats were basins cut into rock below a press, which the juice or oil ran into.

25"I will pay you back for the years that the locusts ate, all the swarms of them, my great army that I sent against you.

25And 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.

NoteThe Hebrew names four different words for the destroyers, traditionally rendered locust, cankerworm, caterpillar and palmerworm. They may be four stages in a locust's growth, four kinds of locust, or simply a piling-up of terms for effect; no one is certain which.

26You will have plenty to eat and will be full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has done wonderful things for you. My people will never again be put to shame.

26And 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.

27Then you will know that I am right here among the people of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.

27And 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.

28After that, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will speak messages from me, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

28And 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:

NoteIn Hebrew Bibles these last five verses form a separate short chapter 3, which is why references to "Joel 3" can point to two different passages. "All flesh" means all human beings. To "prophesy" is to speak on God's behalf; in this period it was the work of a recognized few, and the striking claim here is that it spreads across every group named.

29In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on male and female servants.

29And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Note"Servants" and "handmaids" are male and female slaves, the bottom of the social order, people with no standing to speak for anyone. Listing them completes the sweep begun in the previous verse, which crossed the divides of sex and age.

30I will show wonders in the sky and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

30And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

NoteBlood, fire and columns of smoke are the standard sights of a city under attack, the smoke of a burning town rising in a pillar, used here as signs in the sky and on the earth.

31The sun will turn dark and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and terrifying day of the LORD comes.

31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

NoteThe sun darkening and the moon looking blood-red are things ancient observers actually saw during eclipses, dust storms and heavy smoke, and such sights were widely read as announcements of a coming upheaval.

32And it will happen that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be rescued. On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be people who escape, just as the LORD said, among those left alive whom the LORD calls.

32And 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.

NoteTo "call on the name of the LORD" is a set phrase for appealing to God out loud by name, as one would call for help. The "remnant" is a standard term in the prophets for the portion of a people left alive after a catastrophe, out of which the nation could begin again. The verse leaves an unresolved pull between everyone who calls and the limited group whom the LORD calls, and the Hebrew does not settle it.