6 "A mighty nation without number has invaded your land. It has teeth like the fangs of a lioness." 7 "It has laid waste My vine and made splinters of My fig tree." 8 "Wail like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth."

9 "Grain offerings and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning along with the ministers of the LORD."

10 "The field is ruined, so the land is in mourning. The new wine has dried up, and fresh oil fails." 11 "Despair, you farmers. Wail, you vine growers. Grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished."

12 "The vine has dried up and the fig tree fails. The pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree, along with all the trees of the field, are dried up. Indeed, all rejoicing of the sons of men has dried up."

13 "Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, O priests. Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, for the grain offering and the drink offering cannot be presented in the house of your God." 14 "Declare a holy fast and a solemn assembly. Summon the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to Him."

15 "Alas for the day of the LORD is near. The Almighty is sending destruction." 16 "Haven't you noticed that food has been cut off while you watch? Haven't you seen how gladness and joy are no longer in the house of our God?" 17 "Seed shrivels in the ground. The storehouses are empty and the barns are torn down. There is no grain to put in them anyway." 18 "The cattle moan, and the herds mill about because there is no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer." 19 "I cry to You, O LORD. The wilderness pastures have been burned, and even all the trees." 20 "The wild animals pant for the streams of water that are no more. Fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness."

Joel 2 - RWB Paraphrase (32 V)
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The Day Of The Lord
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 the LORD is at hand." 2 "It is a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreads over the mountains, so there is coming a great and mighty people. There has never been anything like this, nor will there ever be again for many generations." 3 "A fire consumes before them and they leave a trail of smoke and flames. What was like the garden of Eden before their arrival becomes a desolate wilderness in their wake. Nothing escapes." 4 "Their appearance is like a war horse at a dead run." 5 "With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops. They are like a crackling fire consuming stubble, and a mighty army drawn up for battle." 6 "At the sight of their coming people's faces pale with anguish." 7 "They watch as mighty soldiers climb the wall, marching rank by rank in lines that do not deviate." 8 "Everyone marches on and when they break through a defense, they do not break ranks." 9 "They rush upon the city, run along the wall and climb into the houses. They enter like thieves through the windows." 10 "The earth quakes as they approach. The heavens tremble as the sun, moon and stars loose their brightness." 11 "The LORD thunders at the head of his army. His forces are beyond number. Mighty are those who obey His command. The day of the LORD is great and dreadful. Who can endure it?" 12 "Even now, " declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." 13 "And rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil." 14 "Who knows? He might have pity and turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, even a grain offering and a drink offerings for the LORD your God." 15 "Blow the trumpet in Zion. Declare a holy fast. Call a solemn assembly." 16 "Gather the people and sanctify them. Assemble the elders and even the children and nursing infants. Let the bridegroom and his bride come out to this meeting." 17 "Let the priests and the LORD's ministers weep between the porch and the alter. Let them plead for the people that they not become a reproach, a byword among the nations, who would say, 'Where is their God?'" 18 "If they do this, surely the LORD will be zealous for His land have pity on His people." 19 "The LORD will answer them and say to His people, 'Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil, to completely satisfied you. Never again will I make you the scorn of the nations.'." 20 "I will remove the northern army far from before you, and drive it into a parched and desolate land. Its vanguard will go into the eastern sea, and its rear guard into the western sea. The stench of it will go up, because of the great things it has committed."

21 "Do not fear, but rejoice and be glad. For the LORD has done great things." 22 "Even the beast will have peace in the wilderness. The trees will bear their fruit and the vine will give its full yield."

23 "So be happy, sons of Zion. Rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the early and latter rain for your vindication."

COMMENT: Always God gives the rain just when it is needed.

24 "The threshing floors will be piled with grain. Your vats will overflow with new wine and oil."

25 "I will repay you for the years when the locusts ate all your crops." 26 "You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied as you praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people will never be put to shame." 27 Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God. There is no other, and My people will never be put to shame. 28 "After this I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions." 29 "In those days I will even pour out My Spirit on your men and women servants." 30 "I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke." 31 "The sun will be darkened and the moon will appear as blood before the great and terrible day of the LORD." 32 "At that time whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered. There will be those who escape on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, survivors among whom the LORD calls."

Joel 3 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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The Day Of The Lord Is Near
1 "In those days when I restore Judah and Jerusalem," 2 "I will gather all the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat where I will enter into judgment on behalf of My people Israel, who has been scattered among the nations and divided My land." 3 "They cast lots for My people, trading a boy for a harlot and selling a girl for wine to drink."

4 "So, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying back for what you have done? I will swiftly return on your head judgment for all you have done." 5 "Since you have taken My silver and gold, and brought My precious treasures to your temples," 6 "selling the sons of Judah to the Greeks so that they would be far from their territory," 7 "for this reason I will arouse them from the place where you sold them and return your judgment on your own head." 8 "Then I will sell your sons and daughters to Judah and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. The LORD has spoken."

9 "Tell the nations to rouse their soldiers and prepare for war." 10 "Tell them to beat their plowshares into swords and their pruning hooks into spears. Let even the weak says that they are mighty." 11 "Hasten, you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. The LORD will bring down your mighty ones." 12 "Let the nations be aroused and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will sit in judgment of them."

13 "Thrust in the sickle. The harvest is ripe. Come and tread the full wine press. The vats overflow with great wickedness." 14 "Multitudes are in the valley of decision, for the day of the LORD is near!" 15 "The sun and moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness."

16 "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem, making heaven and earth tremble. Yet the LORD is a refuge to His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel." 17 "Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and never again invaded by foreigners." 18 "In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, and water will flow in all the brooks of Judah. A spring will send out water from the house of the LORD."

19 "Egypt will be desolate and Edom a desert waste, 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 for all generations." 21 "And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in Zion."

Chapters: 1 2 3