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Joel 2 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
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cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../joel/1.htm" title="Joel 1">◄</a> Joel 2 <a href="../joel/3.htm" title="Joel 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="text-html"> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span class="chapter-1"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">1</span>Blow the trumpet in Zion;</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">sound the alarm on my holy mountain!</span></span><br /><span class="text">Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for the day of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> is coming, it is near—</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">2</span>a day of darkness and gloom,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a day of clouds and thick darkness!</span></span><br /><span class="text">Like blackness spread upon the mountains</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a great and powerful army comes;</span></span><br /><span class="text">their like has never been from of old,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">nor will be again after them</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">in ages to come.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">3</span>Fire devours in front of them,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and behind them a flame burns.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">but after them a desolate wilderness,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and nothing escapes them.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">4</span>They have the appearance of horses,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and like war-horses they charge.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">5</span>As with the rumbling of chariots,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they leap on the tops of the mountains,</span></span><br /><span class="text">like the crackling of a flame of fire</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">devouring the stubble,</span></span><br /><span class="text">like a powerful army</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">drawn up for battle.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">6</span>Before them peoples are in anguish,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">all faces grow pale.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-26590a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote a">a</a>]</span></span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">7</span>Like warriors they charge,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">like soldiers they scale the wall.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Each keeps to its own course,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they do not swerve from<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-26591b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote b">b</a>]</span> their paths.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">8</span>They do not jostle one another,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">each keeps to its own track;</span></span><br /><span class="text">they burst through the weapons</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and are not halted.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">9</span>They leap upon the city,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they run upon the walls;</span></span><br /><span class="text">they climb up into the houses,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they enter through the windows like a thief.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">10</span>The earth quakes before them,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the heavens tremble.</span></span><br /><span class="text">The sun and the moon are darkened,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the stars withdraw their shining.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">11</span>The <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> utters his voice</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">at the head of his army;</span></span><br /><span class="text">how vast is his host!</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Numberless are those who obey his command.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Truly the day of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> is great;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">terrible indeed—who can endure it?</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">12</span>Yet even now, says the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">return to me with all your heart,</span></span><br /><span class="text">with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">13</span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span>rend your hearts and not your clothing.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Return to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, your God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for he is gracious and merciful,</span></span><br /><span class="text">slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and relents from punishing.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">14</span>Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and leave a blessing behind him,</span></span><br /><span class="text">a grain offering and a drink offering</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, your God?</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">15</span>Blow the trumpet in Zion;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">sanctify a fast;</span></span><br /><span class="text">call a solemn assembly;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">16</span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span>gather the people.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Sanctify the congregation;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">assemble the aged;</span></span><br /><span class="text">gather the children,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">even infants at the breast.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Let the bridegroom leave his room,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the bride her canopy.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">17</span>Between the vestibule and the altar</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">let the priests, the ministers of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, weep.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Let them say, “Spare your people, O <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and do not make your heritage a mockery,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a byword among the nations.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Why should it be said among the peoples,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">‘Where is their God?’”</span></span></p></div> <h3><span id="en" class="text">God’s Response and Promise</span></h3><div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">18</span>Then the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> became jealous for his land,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and had pity on his people.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">19</span>In response to his people the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> said:</span><br /><span class="text">I am sending you</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">grain, wine, and oil,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and you will be satisfied;</span></span><br /><span class="text">and I will no more make you</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a mockery among the nations.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">20</span>I will remove the northern army far from you,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and drive it into a parched and desolate land,</span></span><br /><span class="text">its front into the eastern sea,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and its rear into the western sea;</span></span><br /><span class="text">its stench and foul smell will rise up.</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Surely he has done great things!</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">21</span>Do not fear, O soil;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">be glad and rejoice,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> has done great things!</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">22</span>Do not fear, you animals of the field,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for the pastures of the wilderness are green;</span></span><br /><span class="text">the tree bears its fruit,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the fig tree and vine give their full yield.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">23</span>O children of Zion, be glad</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and rejoice in the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God;</span></span><br /><span class="text">for he has given the early rain<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-26607c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote c">c</a>]</span> for your vindication,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">he has poured down for you abundant rain,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the early and the later rain, as before.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">24</span>The threshing floors shall be full of grain,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">25</span>I will repay you for the years</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">that the swarming locust has eaten,</span></span><br /><span class="text">the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">my great army, which I sent against you.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">26</span>You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and praise the name of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">who has dealt wondrously with you.</span></span><br /><span class="text">And my people shall never again be put to shame.</span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">27</span>You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and that I, the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, am your God and there is no other.</span></span><br /><span class="text">And my people shall never again be put to shame.</span></p></div> <h3><span id="en" class="text">God’s Spirit Poured Out</span></h3><div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">28</span><span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-26612d" title="See footnote d">d</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote d">d</a>]</span> Then afterward</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;</span></span><br /><span class="text">your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">your old men shall dream dreams,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and your young men shall see visions.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">29</span>Even on the male and female slaves,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">in those days, I will pour out my spirit.</span></span></p></div> <p class="top-1"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">30</span>I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">31</span>The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> comes. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">32</span>Then everyone who calls on the name of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> calls.</span></p> <A name="fen"></a><div class="footnotes"><h4>Footnotes</h4><ol><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Joel 2:6">Joel 2:6</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Meaning of Heb uncertain</span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Joel 2:7">Joel 2:7</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk Syr Vg: Heb <i>they do not take a pledge along</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Joel 2:23">Joel 2:23</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Meaning of Heb uncertain</span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Joel 2:28">Joel 2:28</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Ch 3.1 in Heb</span></li></ol></div> <!--end of footnotes--></div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 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