Joel 2:10-21

10 ¹The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. ²The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

11 ³The LORD utters his voice before ⁴his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; ⁵he who executes his word is powerful. ⁶For the day of the LORD is ⁷great and very awesome; ⁸who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, ⁹"return to me with all your heart, ¹⁰with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

13 and ¹¹rend your hearts and not ¹²your garments." Return to the LORD your God, ¹³for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; ¹⁴and he relents over disaster.

14 ¹⁵Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and ¹⁶leave a blessing behind him, ¹⁷a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

15 ¹⁸Blow the trumpet in Zion; ¹⁹consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;

16 gather the people. ²⁰Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; ²¹gather the children, even nursing infants. ²²Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

17 ²³Between the ²⁴vestibule and the ²⁵altar ²⁶let 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] 27}Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

The Lord Had Pity

18 ²⁸Then the LORD became jealous for his land ²⁹and had pity on his people.

19 The LORD answered and said to his people, "Behold, ³⁰I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, ³¹and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

20 "I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard^[b] into ³²the eastern sea, and his rear guard^[c] into ³³the western sea; ³⁴the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.

21 "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for ³⁵the LORD has done great things!

Joel 2:10-21 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.

Cross References

• 1. Joel 3:16; [Psalms 18:7; Amos 8:8]
• 2. Joel 3:15; Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Matthew 24:29; [Revelation 9:2]
• 3. Joel 3:16; [1 Thessalonians 4:16]
• 4. ver. 25
• 5. Revelation 18:8
• 6. See Joel 1:15
• 7. ver. 31
• 8. Malachi 3:2; [Numbers 24:23]
• 9. Deuteronomy 4:30; 1 Samuel 7:3; Jeremiah 4:1; Hosea 12:6
• 10. [1 Samuel 7:6]
• 11. [Psalms 34:18]
• 12. See Genesis 37:29
• 13. Exodus 34:6; Psalms 86:5, 15; Jonah 4:2
• 14. [Numbers 23:19; Ezekiel 24:14]
• 15. Jonah 3:9
• 16. Haggai 2:19; Malachi 3:10
• 17. Joel 1:9, 13
• 18. See ver. 1
• 19. See Joel 1:14
• 20. See Joshua 3:5
• 21. [2 Chronicles 20:13]
• 22. [Deuteronomy 24:5; Ecclesiastes 3:5; Zechariah 12:12-14; 1 Corinthians 7:5]
• 23. Ezekiel 8:16
• 24. 1 Kings 6:3; 2 Chronicles 3:4
• 25. 2 Chronicles 4:1
• 26. See Joel 1:9
• 27. Psalms 42:3; Psalms 79:10; Psalms 115:2
• 28. Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 8:2
• 29. [Psalms 103:13]
• 30. [Joel 1:10; Psalms 4:7]; See Malachi 3:10-12
• 31. [Joel 1:10; Psalms 4:7]; See Malachi 3:10-12
• 32. Ezekiel 47:18; Zechariah 14:8
• 33. Zechariah 14:8
• 34. Isaiah 34:3; [Amos 4:10]
• 35. Psalms 126:2, 3

Footnotes

• [a]. Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them
• [b]. Hebrew face
• [c]. Hebrew his end