Joel · Brenton's English Septuagint
Joel 2 Brenton's English Septuagint
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (2)
- Square brackets mark words Brenton supplied for English sense.
- Old Testament only (no New Testament). First printed 1844; the 1851 edition added the deuterocanonical books.
1 Sound the trumpet in Sion, make a proclamation in my holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the land be confounded: for the day of the Lord is near;
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
2 for a day of darkness and gloominess is near, a day of cloud and mist: a numerous and strong people shall be spread upon the mountains as the morning; there has not been from the beginning one like it, and after it there shall not be again even to the years of many generations.
2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
3 Before them is a consuming fire, and behind them is a flame kindled: the land before them is as a paradise of delight, and behind them a desolate plain: and there shall none of them escape.
3 A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
4 Their appearance is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they pursue.
4 Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, and they run as horsemen.
5 As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, and as the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble, and as a numerous and strong people setting themselves in array for battle.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them shall the people be crushed: every face [shall be] as the blackness of a caldron.
6 At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
7 As warriors shall they run, and as men of war shall they mount on the walls; and each shall move in his [right] path, and they shall not turn aside from their tracks:
7 They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
8 and not one shall stand aloof from his brother: they shall go on weighed down with their arms, and they fall upon their weapons, yet shall they in no wise be destroyed.
8 One doesn’t jostle another. They each march in their own path. They burst through the defenses and don’t break ranks.
9 They shall seize upon the city, and run upon the walls, and go up upon the houses, and enter in through the windows as thieves.
9 They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
10 Before them the earth shall be confounded, and the sky shall be shaken: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.
10 The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host: for his camp is very great: for the execution of his words is mighty: for the day of the Lord is great, very glorious, and who shall be able to [resist] it?
11 Yahweh thunders his voice before his army, for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?
12 Now therefore, saith the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation:
12 “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repents of evils.
13 Tear your heart and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord your God?
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
15 Sound the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a [solemn] service:
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
16 Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go out of his room, and the bride out of her chamber.
17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests that minister to the Lord weep, and say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, lest they should say among the heathen, Where is their God?
17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
18 But the Lord was jealous of his land, and spared his people.
18 Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
19 And the Lord answered and said to his people, Behold, I [will] send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied with them: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles.
19 Yahweh answered his people, “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
20 And I will chase away from you the northern [adversary], and will drive him away into a dry land, and I will sink his face in the former sea, and his back parts in the latter sea, and his ill savour shall come up, and his stink shall come up, because he has wrought great things.
20 But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things.
21 Be of good courage, O land; rejoice and be glad: for the Lord has done great things.
21 Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.
22 Be of good courage, ye beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig-tree and the vine have yielded their strength.
22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
23 Rejoice then and be glad, ye children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before.
23 “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the early rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the early rain and the latter rain, as before.
24 And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil.
24 The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, [even] my great army, which I sent against you.
25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God [for the things] which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever.
26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and [that] I am the Lord your God, and [that] there is none else beside me; and my people shall no more be ashamed for ever.
27 You will know that I am among Israel, and that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.
Cross references (27)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joel 2:15; Joel 1:15; 1 Peter 4:7; Malachi 4:1; Zephaniah 1:14
- 2 Joel 1:6; Zephaniah 1:14–15; Joel 2:10–11; Amos 5:18–20; Joel 2:5
- 3 Isaiah 51:3; Genesis 2:8; Joel 1:19–20; Zechariah 7:14; Amos 7:4
- 4 Revelation 9:7
- 5 Isaiah 5:24; Revelation 9:9; Isaiah 30:30; Matthew 3:12; Nahum 2:3–4
- 6 Nahum 2:10; Isaiah 13:8; Jeremiah 30:6; Lamentations 4:8; Psalm 119:83
- 7 Proverbs 30:27; Jeremiah 5:10; 2 Samuel 2:18–19; Isaiah 5:26–29; 2 Samuel 1:23
- 8 2 Chronicles 23:10; Job 33:18; Nehemiah 4:23; 2 Chronicles 32:5; Nehemiah 4:17
- 9 Jeremiah 9:21; John 10:1; Exodus 10:6
- 10 Matthew 24:29; Isaiah 13:10; Joel 3:15–16; Psalm 18:7; Acts 2:20
- 11 Malachi 3:2; Nahum 1:6; Revelation 18:8; Joel 3:16; Jeremiah 30:7
- 12 James 4:8–9; Isaiah 55:6–7; 2 Chronicles 7:13–14; Hosea 12:6; Jeremiah 29:12–13
- 13 Psalm 86:15; Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 57:15; Exodus 34:6–7; Matthew 5:3–4
- 14 Jonah 3:9; Haggai 2:19; 2 Samuel 12:22; 2 Kings 19:4; Amos 5:15
- 15 Joel 1:14; Joel 2:1; Numbers 10:3; 1 Kings 21:12; 1 Kings 21:9
- 16 2 Chronicles 20:13; 2 Chronicles 29:5; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Samuel 16:5; Exodus 19:22
- 17 Psalm 115:2; Psalm 79:10; Ezekiel 8:16; Hosea 14:2; Exodus 34:9
- 18 Zechariah 8:2; Psalm 103:13; Zechariah 1:14; James 5:11; Lamentations 3:22
- 19 Ezekiel 34:29; Ezekiel 36:15; Jeremiah 31:12; Isaiah 62:8–9; Joel 2:24
- 20 Zechariah 14:8; Amos 4:10; Isaiah 34:3; Deuteronomy 11:24; Ezekiel 47:18
- 21 Zephaniah 3:16–17; Isaiah 54:4; Psalm 126:1–3; Isaiah 41:10; 1 Samuel 12:16
- 22 Zechariah 8:12; Psalm 65:12; Isaiah 51:3; Psalm 67:6; Amos 9:14–15
- 23 James 5:7–8; Philippians 4:4; Leviticus 26:4; Hosea 6:3; Deuteronomy 11:14
- 24 Malachi 3:10; Amos 9:13; Joel 3:18; Joel 3:13; Leviticus 26:10
- 25 Zechariah 10:6; Joel 1:4–7; Joel 2:2–11
- 26 Romans 10:11; Psalm 22:26; Romans 5:5; Deuteronomy 12:7; Isaiah 49:23
- 27 Ezekiel 37:26–28; Leviticus 26:11–12; Zephaniah 3:17; Ezekiel 39:28; Isaiah 45:5
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
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Do thou also then groan, even as that holy one, I forbid it not. "Rend," as the prophet commanded, "thine heart, and not thy garments." Out of deeps call upon God, for it is said, "Out of the depths have I cried to Thee, O Lord." From beneath, out of the heart, draw forth a voice, make thy prayer a …
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The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
"The day of the Lord," Scripture says, "is great and very terrible," and elsewhere "Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you?
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