Joel 2:1-17

The Terrible Visitation

1 ¹Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the ²day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near,

2 A day of ³darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a ⁴great and mighty people; There has ⁵never * * been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.

3 A ⁶fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is ⁷like the garden of Eden before them But a ⁸desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

4 Their ⁹appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

5 With a ¹⁰noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a ¹¹flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before * them the people are in ¹²anguish; All ¹³faces turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers *; And they each ¹⁴march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths.

8 They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.

9 They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the ¹⁵houses, They ¹⁶enter through the windows like a thief.

10 Before them the earth ¹⁷quakes, The heavens tremble, The ¹⁸sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.

11 The LORD ¹⁹utters His voice before ²⁰His army; Surely His camp is very great, For ²¹strong is he who carries out His word. The ²²day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And ²³who can endure it?

12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "²⁴Return to Me with all your heart, And with ²⁵fasting, weeping and mourning;

13 And ²⁶rend your heart and not ²⁷your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is ²⁸gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And ²⁹relenting of evil.

14 Who knows ³⁰whether He will not turn and relent And leave a ³¹blessing behind Him, Even ³²a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?

15 ³³Blow a trumpet in Zion, ³⁴Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

16 Gather the people, ³⁵sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the ³⁶bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

17 Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers, Weep ³⁷between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "³⁸Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not make Your inheritance a ³⁹reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, '⁴⁰Where is their God?' "

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Joel 2:1-17 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 40

1. Jeremiah 4:5; Joel 2:15; Zephaniah 1:16
2. Joel 1:15; Joel 2:11, 31; Joel 3:14; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:14
3. Joel 2:10, 31; Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:15
4. Joel 1:6; Joel 2:11, 25
5. Lamentations 1:12; Daniel 9:12; Daniel 12:1; Joel 1:2
6. Psalms 97:3; Isaiah 9:18, 19
7. Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 36:35
8. Exodus 10:5, 15; Psalms 105:34, 35; Zechariah 7:14
9. Revelation 9:7
10. Revelation 9:9
11. Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 30:30
12. Isaiah 13:8; Nahum 2:10
13. Jeremiah 30:6
14. Proverbs 30:27
15. Exodus 10:6
16. Jeremiah 9:21; John 10:1
17. Psalms 18:7; Joel 3:16; Nahum 1:5
18. Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 4:23; Ezekiel 32:7, 8; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Revelation 8:12
19. Psalms 46:6; Isaiah 13:4; Jeremiah 25:30; Joel 3:16
20. Joel 2:25
21. Jeremiah 50:34; Revelation 18:8
22. Jeremiah 30:7; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1, 31; Joel 3:14; Zephaniah 1:14, 15; Revelation 6:17
23. Ezekiel 22:14; Malachi 3:2
24. Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 4:1, 2; Ezekiel 33:11; Hosea 12:6
25. Daniel 9:3
26. Psalms 34:18; Psalms 51:17; Isaiah 57:15
27. Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 1:11; Job 1:20; Jeremiah 41:5
28. Exodus 34:6
29. Jeremiah 18:8; Jeremiah 42:10; Amos 7:3, 6
30. Jeremiah 26:3; Jonah 3:9
31. Haggai 2:19
32. Joel 1:9, 13
33. Numbers 10:3; 2 Kings 10:20
34. Joel 1:14
35. 1 Samuel 16:5; 2 Chronicles 29:5
36. Psalms 19:5
37. 2 Chronicles 8:12; Ezekiel 8:16
38. Exodus 32:11, 12; Isaiah 37:20; Amos 7:2, 5
39. Psalms 44:13; Psalms 74:10
40. Psalms 42:10; Psalms 79:10; Psalms 115:2

Footnotes 6

[a]. Lit "Like the noise of chariots"
[b]. Lit "noise"
[c]. Or "become flushed"
[d]. Lit "in his ways"
[e]. Lit "fall"
[f]. Lit "weapon," probably "javelin"