Joel 2:1-11

1 Blow the ram's horn in Zion. Sound the alarm on my holy mountain. Everyone who lives in the land should tremble, because the day of the LORD is coming. Certainly, it is near.

2 It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and overcast skies. A large and mighty army will spread over the mountains like the dawn. Nothing like this has ever happened. Nothing like this will ever happen again.

3 In front of this army a fire burns. Behind it flames are blazing. In front of it the land is like the garden of Eden. Behind it the land is like a barren desert. Nothing escapes it!

4 The soldiers look like horses. They run like war horses.

5 As they leap on mountaintops, they sound like rattling chariots, like crackling fire burning up straw, and like a mighty army prepared for battle.

6 People are terrified in their presence. Every face turns pale.

7 They run like warriors. They climb walls like soldiers. They march straight ahead. They do not leave their places.

8 They do not crowd one another. They keep in their own lines. Even when they break through the defenses, they do not break their ranks.

9 They rush into the city. They run along the wall. They climb into houses. They enter through windows like thieves.

10 The earth quakes in their presence, and the sky shakes. The sun and the moon turn dark, and the stars no longer shine.

11 The LORD shouts out orders to his army. His forces are very large. The troops that carry out his commands are mighty. The day of the LORD is extremely terrifying. Who can endure it?

Joel 2:1-11 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.