Joel 2
The army of locusts
Tell the people on the Lord's hill that they must watch for trouble.
All the people who live in this country will be afraid.
They will be afraid because the
It is very near.
There will be dark clouds.
A great big army is coming.
It comes across the sky like light in the morning.
A great army like this has never come before.
And it will never come again in future years.
It burns everything behind them.
The land in front of them is like the Garden of Eden.
Behind them it is like a
They leave nothing behind them.
And they run fast to the war.
They jump over the mountains
as fast as fire burns dry grass.
They are like a great army ready for a fight.
Every face changes colour.
They climb walls like soldiers.
They march on in a straight line.
They do not turn away.
Each one of them goes straight on.
You can put
but they go straight on.
They run along the wall.
They climb into houses.
They go through the windows like robbers.
The sky itself moves.
The sun and moon are dark
and the stars do not give any light.
as he leads his army.
We cannot count his soldiers.
Those who obey him are very strong.
The
It makes us afraid.
Not many of us will be alive after it has gone.
Show the Lord that you are sorry
‘return to me and put me first.
Eat no food. Cry and be very sad.
Show me instead that you are really sorry.’
Return to the Lord, your God.
He is kind and full of
He does not quickly become angry, and he is full of love.
He is sad that he had to cause troubles for you.
He may send you
Then you can offer gifts to the Lord your God.
Tell the people that they must not eat any food.
Tell the people that they must all come to
Make them all ready to
Bring the old people together.
Bring the children – even the smallest ones.
Every new husband must leave his room.
Every wife must leave her secret room.
They must cry as they go from the
They must say to the Lord, ‘Do not hurt your people.
Do not let the people in other countries
They will point at them. And they will say that they have no value.
They will say that we have no God.’
The Lord's answer
He will be kind to his people.
‘I am giving you new
You will have enough to fill you up.
I will never again let people in other countries laugh about you.
I will push it into empty land where nothing grows.
I will make the front of it go into the sea on the east.
And I will make the back of it go into the sea on the west.
I will make its smell rise up high
because it has done great things.’
Be very happy.
Be sure that the Lord has done great things.
The fields in the
Fruit is growing on the trees.
The
Be very happy because of the things that the Lord your God has done.
He has given you just enough autumn rain.
He has given you the winter rain,
and the summer rain, as before.
And he will fill your jars with new
I will give you all that the great
and other
All that my great army has eaten I will give you.
You will
He has done great things for you.
My people will never again be ashamed.
You will know that I am the Lord your God.
And you will know that there is no other God.
My people will never again be ashamed.’
The day of the Lord
Your sons and daughters will be
Your old men will dream and
your young men will see pictures in their minds. (The Lord will send these to them.)
on men and on women in those days.
I will send blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
Then the great and frightening
They will be safe if they believe in his name.
The Lord will save the people on
He has promised this to those people whom he has asked to come to him.