Joel 2:1-7

1 Sing ye with a trump in Zion, yell ye in mine holy hill. All the dwellers of earth be disturbed; for the day of the Lord cometh, (Sing ye with a trumpet in Zion, yell ye upon my holy hill. All the people of the land be troubled; for the day of the Lord cometh,)

2 for the day of darknesses and of mist is nigh, the day of cloud and of whirlwind. (These locusts be) As the morrowtide spread abroad on hills, (like) a much people and strong. None was like it from the beginning, and after it shall not be, till into years of generation and of generation. (for the day of darkness and of mist is near, the day of cloud and of whirlwind. These locusts be like the morning spread abroad upon the hills, like a strong, innumerable host, or army. Nothing was ever like them before, and after them, nothing shall ever be like them again.)

3 Before the face thereof shall be fire devouring, and after it shall be burning flame; as a garden of liking the land shall be before them, and wilderness of desert (it) shall be after them, and none is that shall escape them. (At the front, they be like a devouring fire, and at the back, they be like a burning flame; before they come, the land shall be like a Garden of Eden, but after they leave, it shall be a wilderness of the desert, and there is nothing that shall escape them.)

4 The looking of them shall be as the looking of horses; and as horsemen, so they shall run.

5 As the sound of carts on the heads of hills they shall skip; as the sound of the flame of fire devouring stubble, as a strong people made ready to battle. (They shall skip over the hill-tops, sounding like the rattle of carts, and like the flames of fire devouring stubble; they shall come like a strong, innumerable host, or army, prepared to do battle.)

6 Peoples shall be tormented of the face thereof, all faces shall be (as) driven into a pot. (The peoples shall be tormented before them, yea, all their faces shall turn pale with fear.)

7 As strong men they shall run, as men warriors they shall ascend on the wall. (These) Men shall go in their ways, and they shall not bow away from their paths. (They shall run like strong men, and like fighting men they shall go up on the walls. They shall go straight in their ways, and they shall not turn away from their paths.)

Joel 2:1-7 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.