1
2 3 
1 <1> Joel son of Pethuel received this message from the Lord:
<2> Leaders, listen to this message!
Listen to me, all you people who live in the land.
Has anything like this happened before
during your lifetime? No.
Did anything like this happen
during your fathers’ lifetime? No.
<3> You will tell these things to your children,
and your children will tell their children,
and your grandchildren will tell the people of the next generation.
<4> What the cutting locust[1] has left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
And what the swarming locust has left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust has left,
the destroying locust[2] has eaten!
<5> Drunks, wake up and cry!
All of you who drink wine, cry
because your sweet wine is finished.
You will not get another taste of that wine.
<6> A large and powerful nation came to attack my country.
Its soldiers were too many to count.
Its weapons were as sharp as a lion’s teeth
and as powerful as a lion’s jaw.
<7> It destroyed my grapevine.
Its good vines withered and died.
It destroyed my fig tree,
stripped off the bark and threw it away.
<8> Cry like the young woman
who was ready to be married,
and her husband-to-be was killed.
<9> Priests, servants of the Lord, cry
because there will be no more grain and drink offerings in the Lord’s Temple.[3]
<10> The fields are ruined.
Even the ground is crying
because the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up,
and the olive oil is gone.
<11> Be sad, farmers!
Cry loud, for the grapes,
for the wheat and for the barley
because the harvest in the field is ruined.
<12> The vines have become dry,
and the fig tree is dying.
All the trees in the field—
the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple—have withered.
And happiness among the people is dead.
<13> Priests, put on your clothes of sadness
and cry loudly.
Servants of the altar,[4] cry loudly.
Servants of my God, you will sleep in your clothes of sadness
because there will be no more grain and drink offerings in God’s Temple.
<14> Tell the people that there will be a special time of fasting. Call them together for a special meeting. Bring the leaders and everyone living in the land together at the Temple[5] of the Lord your God, and pray to the Lord.
<15> Be sad because the Lord’s special day is near. At that time punishment will come like an attack from God All-Powerful. <16> Our food is gone. Joy and happiness are gone from the Temple of our God. <17> We planted seeds, but the seeds became dry and dead lying in the soil. Our plants are dry and dead. Our barns are empty and falling down.
<18> The animals are hungry and groaning. The herds of cattle wander around confused because they have no grass to eat. The sheep are dying.[6] <19> Lord, I am calling to you for help. Fire has changed our green fields into a desert. Flames have burned all the trees in the field. <20> Wild animals also need your help. The streams are dry—there is no water! Fire has changed our green fields into a desert.
2
<1> Blow the trumpet on Zion.[7]
Shout a warning on my holy mountain.
Let all the people who live in the land
shake with fear.
The Lord’s special day is coming;
it is near.
<2> It will be a dark, gloomy day.
It will be a dark and cloudy day.
At sunrise you will see the army
spread over the mountains.
It will be a great and powerful army.
There has never been anything like it before,
and there will never be anything like it again.
<3> The army will destroy the land
like a burning fire.
In front of them the land will be like
the Garden of Eden.
Behind them the land will be like
an empty desert.
Nothing will escape them.
<4> They look like horses.
They run like war horses.
<5> Listen to them.
It is like the noise of chariots[8]
riding over the mountains.
It is like the noise of flames
burning the chaff.[9]
They are a powerful people
who are ready for war.
<6> Before this army, people shake with fear.
Their faces become pale from fear.
<7> The soldiers run fast.
They climb over the walls.
Each soldier marches straight ahead.
They don’t move from their path.
<8> They don’t trip each other.
Each soldier walks in his own path.
If one of the soldiers is hit and falls down,
the others keep right on marching.
<9> They run to the city.
They quickly climb over the wall.
They climb into the houses.
They climb through the windows like thieves.
<10> Before them, earth and sky shake.
The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars stop shining.
<11> The Lord calls loudly to his army.
His camp is very large.
The army obeys his commands.
His army is very powerful.
The Lord’s special day
is a great and terrible day.
No one can stop it.
<12> This is the Lord’s message:
“Now come back to me with all your heart.
Cry and mourn, and don’t eat any food
to show you are sad for doing wrong.
<13> Tear your hearts, not your clothes.[10]”
Come back to the Lord your God.
He is kind and merciful.
He does not become angry quickly.
He has great love.
Maybe he will change his mind
about the bad punishment he planned.
<14> Who knows, maybe the Lord
will change his mind.
And maybe he will leave behind
a blessing for you.
Then you can give grain and drink offerings
to the Lord your God.
<15> Blow the trumpet at Zion.[11]
Call for a special meeting.
Call for a special time of fasting.
<16> Bring the people together.
Call for a special meeting.
Bring together the old men,
the children, and the small babies still at their mother’s breasts.
Let the bride and her new husband
come from their bedroom.
<17> Let the priests, the Lord’s servants,
cry between the porch[12] and the altar.[13]
All of them should say this:
“Lord, have mercy on your people.
Don’t let your people be put to shame.
Don’t let other people tell jokes about your people.
Don’t let the other nations laugh at us and say, ‘Where is their God?’”
<18> Then the Lord cared very much about his land.
He felt sorry for his people.
<19> The Lord spoke to his people.
He said, “I will send you grain, wine, and oil.
You will have plenty.
I will not shame you among the nations any more.
<20> No, I will force the people from the north[14] to leave your land
and make them go into a dry, empty land.
Some of them will go to the eastern sea
and some to the western sea.
They did such terrible things,
but they will be like a dead and rotting body.
There will be such a terrible smell!”
<21> Land, don’t be afraid.
Be happy and full of joy.
The Lord will do great things.
<22> Animals of the field, don’t be afraid.
The desert pastures will grow grass.
The trees will grow fruit.
The fig trees and the vines will grow plenty of fruit.
<23> So be happy, people of Zion.[15]
Be joyful in the Lord your God.
He will be good and give you rain.
He will send you the early rains
and the late rains like before.
<24> The threshing[16] floors will be filled with wheat.
And the barrels will overflow with wine and olive oil.
<25> “I, the Lord, sent my army against you.
The swarming locusts
and the hopping locusts
and the destroying locusts
and the cutting locusts[17] ate everything you had.
But I, the Lord, will pay you back
for those years of trouble.
<26> Then you will have plenty to eat.
You will be full.
You will praise the name
of the Lord your God.
He has done wonderful things for you.
My people will never again be ashamed.
<27> You will know that I am with Israel.
You will know that I am the Lord your God.
There is no other God.
My people will never be ashamed again.”
<28> “After this, I will pour out my Spirit
on all kinds of people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.[18]
Your old men will dream dreams.
Your young men will see visions.[19]
<29> At that time I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants, both men and women.
<30> I will show amazing things
in the sky and on the earth—
There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke.
<31> The sun will be changed into darkness,
The moon will be changed into blood.
And then the great and awesome
Day of the Lord will come!
<32> Whoever calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
There will be survivors on Mount Zion[20] and in Jerusalem,
just as the Lord said.
Yes, the survivors who the Lord is calling will come [back].
3 <1> “Yes, at that time, I will bring back the people of Judah and Jerusalem from captivity. <2> I will also gather all the nations together. I will bring all these nations down into Jehoshaphat Valley.[21] There I will judge them. Those nations scattered my people, Israel. They forced them to live in other nations, so I will punish those nations. They divided up my land. <3> They threw lots[22] for my people. They sold boys to buy a prostitute, and they sold girls to buy wine to drink.
<4> “Tyre! Sidon! All of you areas of Philistia! You are not important to me![23] Are you punishing me for something I did? You might think that you are punishing me, but I will soon punish you. <5> You took my silver and gold. You took my precious treasures and put them in your temples.[24]
<6> “You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks. That way you could take them far from their land. <7> You sent my people to that faraway place, but I will bring them back. And I will punish you for what you did. <8> I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. Then they will sell them to the faraway Sabeans.[25]” This is what the Lord said.
<9> Announce this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Wake up the strong men!
Let all the men of war come near.
Let them come up!
<10> Beat your plows into swords.
Make spears from your pruning hooks.[26]
Let the weak man say,
“I am a strong soldier.”
<11> All of you nations, hurry!
Come together in that place.
Lord, bring your strong soldiers.
<12> Wake up, nations!
Come to Jehoshaphat Valley.
There I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
<13> Bring the sickle,[27]
because the harvest is ripe.[28]
Come, walk on the grapes,
because the winepress is full.
The barrels will be full and spilling over,
because their evil is great.
<14> There are many, many people
in the Valley of Decision.[29]
The Lord’s special day is near
in the Valley of Decision.
<15> The sun and the moon will become dark.
The stars will stop shining.
<16> The Lord God will shout from Zion.[30]
He will shout from Jerusalem,
and the sky and the earth will shake.
But the Lord God will be a safe place
for his people.
He will be a place of safety
for the people of Israel.
<17> “Then you will know
that I am the Lord your God.
I live on Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will become holy.
Strangers will never pass through
that city again.”
<18> “On that day, the mountains will drip
with sweet wine.
The hills will flow with milk,
and water will flow through all the empty rivers of Judah.
A fountain will come from
the Lord’s Temple.[31]
It will give water to Acacia Valley.
<19> Egypt will be empty.
Edom will be an empty wilderness,
because they were cruel to the people of Judah.
They killed innocent people[32]
in their country.
<20> But there will always be people
living in Judah,
People will live in Jerusalem
through many generations.
<21> Those people killed my people,
so I really will punish them!”
The Lord God will live in Zion[33]!
[1] 1:4 locust Insects like grasshoppers that could destroy a large crop very quickly. Here, Joel might be talking about an enemy’s army.
[2] 1:4 cutting locusts … destroying locusts These are the different names for the locusts. These may be different names for the same kind of locusts—only at different times of the locust’s growth period.
[3] 1:9 Temple The permanent building in Jerusalem that replaced the portable “Holy Tent” that was used by the Israelites from the time of their wandering in the desert to the reign of king Solomon, when the first Temple was built. Like the Holy Tent, the Temple was the center of Israelite worship, although provision was made for it to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa. 56:7).
[4] 1:13 altar A raised area, pile of stones, or table where sacrifices were offered as gifts to God. An important altar was the one in front of the Temple in Jerusalem. See also “golden altar.”
[5] 1:14 Temple The permanent building in Jerusalem that replaced the portable “Holy Tent” that was used by the Israelites from the time of their wandering in the desert to the reign of king Solomon, when the first Temple was built. Like the Holy Tent, the Temple was the center of Israelite worship, although provision was made for it to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa. 56:7).
[6] 1:18 dying Literally, “being punished.”
[7] 2:1 Zion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.
[8] 2:5 chariot A small, two-wheeled cart pulled by horses and used in war.
[9] 2:5 chaff The seed coverings and stems separated from the seeds of plants like wheat or barley. Farmers saved the seeds but let the wind blow the useless chaff away.
[10] 2:13 Tear your hearts, not your clothes People tore their clothes to show their sadness. Here, God wants the people to be very sad for the bad things they did.
[11] 2:15 Zion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.
[12] 2:17 porch An open area in front of the Temple.
[13] 2:17 altar A raised area, pile of stones, or table where sacrifices were offered as gifts to God. An important altar was the one in front of the Temple in Jerusalem. See also “golden altar.”
[14] 2:20 north The Babylonian army came from this direction to attack Judah. Armies from countries north and east of Israel often came this way to attack Judah and Israel.
[15] 2:23 Zion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.
[16] 2:24 threshing Putting newly harvested wheat or other grain on a hard floor and walking on it or beating it with special tools to separate the hulls from the grain.
[17] 2:25 swarming locusts … cutting locusts See Joel 1:4.
[18] 2:28 prophesy To speak or teach things from God.
[19] 2:28 vision Something like a dream used by God to speak to people.
[20] 2:32 Zion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.
[21] 3:2 Jehoshaphat Valley This name means “The Lord judges.”
[22] 3:3 lots Stones, sticks, or bones used like dice for making decisions. See Prov. 16:33.
[23] 3:4 You are not important to me Literally, “What are you to me?”
[24] 3:5 temples Buildings used for worship. Here, the temples were used to worship idols.
[25] 3:8 Sabeans A group of people from the Arabian Desert.
[26] 3:10 pruning hooks These tools were used to prune (cut) branches of trees. Read Isa. 2:4.
[27] 3:13 sickle A tool with a curved blade for harvesting grain and other crops.
[28] 3:13 harvest is ripe This time of judgment is compared to harvest time.
[29] 3:14 Valley of Decision This is like the name “Jehoshaphat Valley.”
[30] 3:16 Zion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.
[31] 3:18 Temple The permanent building in Jerusalem that replaced the portable “Holy Tent” that was used by the Israelites from the time of their wandering in the desert to the reign of king Solomon, when the first Temple was built. Like the Holy Tent, the Temple was the center of Israelite worship, although provision was made for it to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa. 56:7).
[32] 3:19 killed innocent people Literally, “shed innocent blood.”
[33] 3:21 Zion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.