Joel 2

1Sound the trumpet in Zion; make a proclamation in My holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land be confounded, for the day of the Lord is near,

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2a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of cloud and of dense fog. About daybreak a people both strong and great in number will be spread upon the mountains, the likes of whom have never been nor will come after them, not even for many generations.

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3Before them is a consuming fire and behind them a flame set ablaze. Before them the land is as a paradise of splendor, but behind them a desolate plain; no one will be able to escape them.

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4Their outward appearance is as the appearance of horses, and thus as horsemen they will pursue.

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5They shall bound upon the tops of the mountains as the sound of chariots, as the sound of a flame of fire devouring straw, as a great number of mighty men setting themselves in battle array.

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6Before them the people will be crushed; every face shall be as the blackness of a cauldron.

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7As warriors they shall march quickly, and they will climb the walls like men of war. Everyone shall march in formation; they will never break their ranks.

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8They will not separate from their comrades and will march weighed down with their arms. And though they fall by their arrows, even so they will not be stopped.

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9They will seize the city and run on the wall. They will climb into the houses and enter the windows as do thieves.

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10Before their presence the land will be confounded, and the sky will be shaken. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will hold back their brightness.

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11And because the day of the Lord is great and exceedingly glorious, the Lord shall utter His voice before the face of His army, for His army is numberless, and the works of His words are mighty. Who shall resist?

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12Now says the Lord your God, 'Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting and wailing and with mourning;

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13rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and compassionate. He is longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and repents of evils.

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14Who knows if He will return and change His mind—if He will leave a blessing behind Him, even an offering and drink-offering to the Lord our God?'

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15Sound the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly;

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16gather the people, sanctify the congregation, call out the elders, and gather the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom go out from his bedchamber and the bride out of her bridal chamber.

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17Between the porch and the altar, the priests of the altar, ministering to the Lord, will each be weeping and will say, 'O Lord, spare Your people; do not give Your inheritance to reproach, that the Gentiles should rule over them, lest they should say among the Gentiles, 'Where is their God?' '

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18But the Lord was zealous for His land and spared His people.

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19And the Lord answered His people and said, 'Behold, I send you wheat, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them. I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations,

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20and I will drive the army from the north away from you, and I shall force him into a dry land. I will drown his face in the eastern sea and his back in the western sea; its stench and foul smell will rise up, because he has done powerful works.'

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21O land, be of good courage; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things.

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22Take courage, you beasts of the field, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, and the trees bear their fruit. And again the vine and the fig tree yield their full potency.

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23And you children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He gives food that is right for you, and He will shower you as before with the early and the late rain.

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24The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the presses of wine and olive oil will overflow.

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25'And I will restore to you the years the grasshopper and the locust have eaten, and for the blight, and the caterpillar, even for My great army, which I sent against you.

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26You will eat abundantly and be satisfied and will praise the name of the Lord your God for what He has so wondrously done unto you. And My people will not be put to shame forever.

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27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel; that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other but Me. And at no time will My people be put to shame forever.

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28'After this it shall come to pass that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

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29And in those days I shall pour out My Spirit on My servants and on My handmaids.

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30And I shall give wonders in the heavens and upon the earth, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

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31The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes to pass.

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32And it shall be that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord Himself said, and there shall be proclamation of the good news to those whom the Lord Himself called.

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