Passage

Joel 2.1-11

Book: Joel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2. a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations. 3. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and none hath escaped them. 4. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run. 5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6. At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale. 7. They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks. 8. Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and they burst through the weapons, and break not off their course. 9. They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief. 10. The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11. And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"

"12. Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13. and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repenteth him of the evil." (Joel 2:1-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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. 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. 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 do they run. 5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6. At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale. 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. Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and don’t break ranks. 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. The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 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. “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” 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." (Joel 2:1-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Blow ye 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 cometh, for it is nigh at hand; ^{trumpet: or, cornet} 2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. ^{of many: Heb. of generation and generation} 3. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. ^{blackness: Heb. pot} 7. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8. Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. ^{sword: or, dart} 9. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11. And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"

"12. Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13. And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." (Joel 2:1-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Blow ye a trumpet in Zion, And shout ye in My holy hill, Tremble do all inhabitants of the earth, For coming is the day of Jehovah, for [it is] near! 2. A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloud and thick darkness, As darkness spread on the mountains, A people numerous and mighty, Like it there hath not been from of old, And after it there is not again, till the years of generation and generation. 3. Before it consumed hath fire, And after it burn doth a flame, As the garden of Eden [is] the land before it, And after it a wilderness, a desolation! And also an escape there hath not been to it, 4. As the appearance of horses [is] its appearance, And as horsemen, so they run. 5. As the noise of chariots, on the tops of the mountains they skip, As the noise of a flame of fire devouring stubble, As a mighty people set in array for battle. 6. From its face pained are peoples, All faces have gathered paleness. 7. As mighty ones they run, As men of war they go up a wall, And each in his own ways they do go, And they embarrass not their paths. 8. And each his brother they press not, Each in his way they go on, If by the missile they fall, they are not cut off. 9. In the city they run to and fro, On the wall they run, Into houses they go up by the windows, They go in as a thief. 10. At their face trembled hath the earth, Shaken have the heavens, Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining. 11. And Jehovah hath given forth His voice before His force, For very great [is] His camp, For mighty [is] the doer of His word, For great [is] the day of Jehovah, very fearful, And who doth bear it?"

"12. And also now, an affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation. 13. And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn back unto Jehovah your God, For gracious and merciful [is] He, Slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, And He hath repented concerning the evil." (Joel 2:1-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Eschatology

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.