Joel 2:8-18

8 They do not jostle one another; ¹each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.

9 ²They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, ³they climb up into the houses, ⁴they enter through the windows ⁵like a thief.

10 ⁶The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. ⁷The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

11 ⁸The LORD utters his voice before ⁹his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; ¹⁰he who executes his word is powerful. ¹¹For the day of the LORD is ¹²great and very awesome; ¹³who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, ¹⁴"return to me with all your heart, ¹⁵with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

13 and ¹⁶rend your hearts and not ¹⁷your garments." Return to the LORD your God, ¹⁸for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; ¹⁹and he relents over disaster.

14 ²⁰Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and ²¹leave a blessing behind him, ²²a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

15 ²³Blow the trumpet in Zion; ²⁴consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;

16 gather the people. ²⁵Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; ²⁶gather the children, even nursing infants. ²⁷Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

17 ²⁸Between the ²⁹vestibule and the ³⁰altar ³¹let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, "Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.^[a] ³²Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

The Lord Had Pity

18 ³³Then the LORD became jealous for his land ³⁴and had pity on his people.

Read Chapter Compare

Images for Joel 2:8-18

Joel 2:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 2

In this chapter a further account is given of the judgment of the locusts and caterpillars, or of those who are designed by them, Joe 2:1-11; the people of the Jews are called to repentance, humiliation, and fasting, urged from the grace and goodness of God, his jealousy and pity for his people, and the answer of prayer that might he expected from him upon this, even to the removal of the calamity, Joe 2:12-20; a prophecy of good things, both temporal and spiritual, in the times of the Messiah, is delivered out as matter and occasion of great joy, Joe 2:21-27; and another concerning the effusion of the Spirit, which was fulfilled an the day of Pentecost, Joe 2:28-29; and the chapter is concluded with the judgments and desolations that should come upon the land of Judea after this, for their rejection of Christ, though the remnant according to the election of grace should be delivered and saved from the general destruction, Joe 2:30-32.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 34

1. Proverbs 30:27
2. Isaiah 33:4
3. [Jeremiah 9:21]
4. [Jeremiah 9:21]
5. [John 10:1]
6. Joel 3:16; [Psalms 18:7; Amos 8:8]
7. Joel 3:15; Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Matthew 24:29; [Revelation 9:2]
8. Joel 3:16; [1 Thessalonians 4:16]
9. ver. 25
10. Revelation 18:8
11. See Joel 1:15
12. ver. 31
13. Malachi 3:2; [Numbers 24:23]
14. Deuteronomy 4:30; 1 Samuel 7:3; Jeremiah 4:1; Hosea 12:6
15. [1 Samuel 7:6]
16. [Psalms 34:18]
17. See Genesis 37:29
18. Exodus 34:6; Psalms 86:5, 15; Jonah 4:2
19. [Numbers 23:19; Ezekiel 24:14]
20. Jonah 3:9
21. Haggai 2:19; Malachi 3:10
22. Joel 1:9, 13
23. See ver. 1
24. See Joel 1:14
25. See Joshua 3:5
26. [2 Chronicles 20:13]
27. [Deuteronomy 24:5; Ecclesiastes 3:5; Zechariah 12:12-14; 1 Corinthians 7:5]
28. Ezekiel 8:16
29. 1 Kings 6:3; 2 Chronicles 3:4
30. 2 Chronicles 4:1
31. See Joel 1:9
32. Psalms 42:3; Psalms 79:10; Psalms 115:2
33. Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 8:2
34. [Psalms 103:13]

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.