2:14 Who knows?
Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, 1
and leave blessing in his wake 2 –
a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! 3
2:15 Blow the trumpet 4 in Zion.
Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a sacred assembly!
2:16 Gather the people;
sanctify an assembly!
Gather the elders;
gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom
and the bride from her private quarters. 5
2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep
from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. 6
Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;
please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,
to become a proverb 7 among the nations.
Why should it be said 8 among the peoples,
“Where is their God?”
2:18 Then the Lord became 9 zealous for his land;
he had compassion on his people.
2:19 The Lord responded 10 to his people,
“Look! I am about to restore your grain 11
as well as fresh wine and olive oil.
You will be fully satisfied. 12
I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.
2:20 I will remove the one from the north 13 far from you.
I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.
Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, 14
and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. 15
His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” 16
Indeed, the Lord 17 has accomplished great things.
2:21 Do not fear, my land!
Rejoice and be glad,
because the Lord has accomplished great things!
2:22 Do not fear, wild animals! 18
For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.
Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. 19
2:23 Citizens of Zion, 20 rejoice!
Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! 21
For he has given to you the early rains 22 as vindication.
He has sent 23 to you the rains –
both the early and the late rains 24 as formerly.
2:24 The threshing floors are full of grain;
the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil.
2:25 I will make up for the years 25
that the ‘arbeh-locust 26 consumed your crops 27 –
the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust –
my great army 28 that I sent against you.
2:26 You will have plenty to eat,
and your hunger will be fully satisfied; 29
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.
2:28 (3:1) 30 After all of this 31
I will pour out my Spirit 32 on all kinds of people. 33
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; 34
your young men will see prophetic visions.
2:29 Even on male and female servants
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky 35 and on the earth –
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness
and the moon to the color of blood, 36
before the day of the Lord comes –
that great and terrible day!
2:32 It will so happen that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. 37
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem 38 there will be those who survive, 39
just as the Lord has promised;
the remnant 40 will be those whom the Lord will call. 41