15
Blow the horn in Zion!
Announce a sacred fast;
proclaim an assembly.
16
Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even those nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
17
Let the priests, the
Lord
's ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say:
“Have pity on Your people,
Lord
,
and do not make Your inheritance a disgrace,
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God? ' ”
God's Response to His People
18
Then the
Lord
became jealous for His land and spared His people.
19
The
Lord
answered His people:
Look, I am about to send you
grain, new wine, and olive oil.
You will be satiated with them,
and I will no longer make you
a disgrace among the nations.
20
I will drive the northerner far from you
and banish him to a dry and desolate land,
his front ranks into the Dead Sea,
and his rear guard into the Mediterranean Sea.
His stench will rise;
yes, his rotten smell will rise,
for he has done catastrophic things.
21
Don't be afraid, land;
rejoice and be glad,
for the
Lord
has done great things.
22
Don't be afraid, wild animals,
for the wilderness pastures have turned green,
the trees bear their fruit,
and the fig tree and grapevine yield their riches.
23
Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad
in the
Lord
your God,
because He gives you the autumn rain
for your vindication.
He sends showers for you,
both autumn and spring rain as before.
24
The threshing floors will be full of grain,
and the vats will overflow
with new wine and olive oil.
25
I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust ate,
the young locust, the destroying locust,
and the devouring locust —
My great army that I sent against you.
26
You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied.
You will praise the name of
•Yahweh
your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
My people will never again be put to shame.
27
You will know that I am present in Israel
and that I am Yahweh your God,
and there is no other.
My people will never again be put to shame.
God's Promise of His Spirit
28
After this
I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29
I will even pour out My Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.
30
I will display wonders
in the heavens and on the earth:
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the
Lord
comes.
32
Then everyone who calls
on the name of Yahweh will be saved,
for there will be an escape
for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
as the
Lord
promised,
among the survivors the
Lord
calls.
Joel
Chapter 3
Judgment of the Nations
1
Yes, in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2
I will gather all the nations
and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will enter into judgment with them there
because of My people, My inheritance Israel.
The nations have scattered the Israelites
in foreign countries
and divided up My land.
3
They cast lots for My people;
they bartered a boy for a prostitute
and sold a girl for wine to drink.
4
And also: Tyre, Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia — what are you to Me? Are you paying Me back or trying to get even with Me? I will quickly bring retribution on your heads.
5
For you took My silver and gold and carried My finest treasures to your temples.
6
You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks to remove them far from their own territory.
7
Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them; I will bring retribution on your heads.
8
I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation, for the
Lord
has spoken.
9
Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for holy war;
rouse the warriors;
let all the men of war advance and attack!
10
Beat your plows into swords
and your pruning knives into spears.
Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.”
11
Come quickly, all you surrounding nations;
gather yourselves.
Bring down Your warriors there,
Lord
.
12
Let the nations be roused
and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit down
to judge all the surrounding nations.
13
Swing the sickle
because the harvest is ripe.
Come and trample the grapes
because the winepress is full;
the wine vats overflow
because the wickedness of the nations is great.
14
Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the Day of the
Lord
is near
in the valley of decision.
15
The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will cease their shining.
16
The
Lord
will roar from
•Zion
and raise His voice from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth will shake.
But the
Lord
will be a refuge for His people,
a stronghold for the Israelites.
Israel Blessed
17
Then you will know
that I am
•Yahweh
your God,
who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
and foreigners will never overrun it again.
18
In that day
the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
All the streams of Judah will flow with water,
and a spring will issue from the
Lord
's house,
watering the Valley of Acacias.
19
Egypt will become desolate,
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20
But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21
I will pardon their bloodguilt,
which I have not pardoned,
for the
Lord
dwells in Zion.
Amos
Amos
1
The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa — what he saw regarding Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2
He said:
The
Lord
roars from
•Zion
and raises His voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
and the summit of Carmel withers.
Judgment on Israel's Neighbors
3
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing Damascus
for three crimes, even four,
because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.
4
Therefore, I will send fire against Hazael's palace,
and it will consume Ben-hadad's citadels.
5
I will break down the gates of Damascus.
I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven,
and the one who wields the scepter from Beth-eden.
The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir.
The
Lord
has spoken.
6
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing Gaza
for three crimes, even four,
because they exiled a whole community,
handing them over to Edom.
7
Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Gaza,
and it will consume its citadels.
8
I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod,
and the one who wields the scepter from Ashkelon.
I will also turn My hand against Ekron,
and the remainder of the Philistines will perish.
The Lord
God
has spoken.
9
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing Tyre
for three crimes, even four,
because they handed over
a whole community of exiles to Edom
and broke a treaty of brotherhood.
10
Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Tyre,
and it will consume its citadels.
11
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing Edom
for three crimes, even four,
because he pursued his brother with the sword.
He stifled his compassion,
his anger tore at them continually,
and he harbored his rage incessantly.
12
Therefore, I will send fire against Teman,
and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
13
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites
for three crimes, even four,
because they ripped open
the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to enlarge their territory.
14
Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah,
and it will consume its citadels.
There will be shouting on the day of battle
and a violent wind on the day of the storm.
15
Their king and his princes
will go into exile together.
The
Lord
has spoken.
Amos
2
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing Moab
for three crimes, even four,
because he burned the bones
of the king of Edom to lime.
2
Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,
and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.
Moab will die with a tumult,
with shouting and the sound of the ram's horn.
3
I will cut off the judge from the land
and kill all its officials with him.
The
Lord
has spoken.
Judgment on Judah
4
The
Lord
says:
I will not relent from punishing Judah
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the
Lord
and have not kept His statutes.
The lies that their ancestors followed
have led them astray.
5
Therefore, I will send fire against Judah,
and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.