Yoel 1:19

1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ¹ 

for fire ²  has burned up ³  the grassy pastures, ⁴ 

flames have razed ⁵  all the trees in the fields.

Yoel 2:1

The Locusts’ Devastation

2:1 Blow the trumpet ⁶  in Zion;

sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,

for the day of the Lord is about to come.

Indeed, ⁷  it is near! ⁸ 

Yoel 2:13

2:13 Return to the Lord your God,

for he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ⁹  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ¹⁰ 

Yoel 2:26-27

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ¹¹ 

you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has acted wondrously in your behalf.

My people will never again be put to shame.

2:27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God; there is no other.

My people will never again be put to shame.

Yoel 3:8

3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to ¹²  the people of Judah. ¹³ 

They will sell them to the Sabeans, ¹⁴  a nation far away.

Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

[1:19]  ¹ tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:19]  ² sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).

[1:19]  ³ tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[1:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[2:1]  ⁸ sn The interpretation of 2:1-11 is very difficult. Four views may be mentioned here. (1) Some commentators understand this section to be describing a human invasion of Judah on the part of an ancient army. The exact identity of this army (e.g., Assyrian or Babylonian) varies among interpreters depending upon issues of dating for the book of Joel. (2) Some commentators take the section to describe an eschatological scene in which the army according to some is human, or according to others is nonhuman (i.e., angelic). (3) Some interpreters argue for taking the section to refer to the potential advent in the fall season of a severe east wind (i.e., Sirocco) that would further exacerbate the conditions of the land described in chapter one. (4) Finally, some interpreters understand the section to continue the discussion of locust invasion and drought described in chapter one, partly on the basis that there is no clear exegetical evidence in 2:1-11 to suggest a shift of referent from that of chapter one.

[2:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”

[2:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[3:8]  ¹² tn Heb “into the hand of.”

[3:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

[3:8]  ¹⁴ sn The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45:14; Ps 72:10.