The Abridged Book of Joel

1:1. God spoke to Joel, Pethuel's son.

1:2. Listen up, everyone, especially the older ones. Have you ever experienced anything like this in your lifetime or in your ancestors' time?

1:3. Make sure you tell your kids about this, and have them pass the story down to their kids and so on for generations to come.

1:4. The destruction is complete—just like when one type of locust eats what’s left by another, leaving nothing behind.

1:5. You who drink too much and celebrate with wine, it’s time to grieve because there’ll be no more wine for you.

1:6. An unstoppable force has invaded our land with the strength and ferocity of a lion.

1:7. It has destroyed our vineyards and fig trees, stripping them bare and leaving them white and lifeless.

1:8. Cry deeply like a young woman mourning for her lost love.

1:9. The food and drink offerings are no longer brought to God's house; the religious leaders are deeply saddened.

1:10. The fields are ruined, the earth is grieving because the crops have failed; wine and oil production is down.

1:11. You farmers should feel bad, and you who grow grapes should wail because the wheat and barley are gone; the harvest is destroyed.

1:12. The grapevines are withered, along with the fig trees, pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees—indeed all the trees of the field have dried up. And with this, happiness has faded from humanity.

1:13. Dress in mourning clothes and cry out in sorrow, you religious leaders; howl you who serve at the altar: spend all night in mourning clothes, you servants of my God because food and drink offerings have been stopped at God’s house.

1:14. Declare a day for fasting, plan a serious meeting; bring together the respected leaders and all residents to God's house, and plead with God for help.

1:15. It's a time for distress! The day of God approaches swiftly, ready to devastate us all.

1:16. Hasn't our food disappeared before our very eyes, robbing us of happiness from God’s house?

1:17. The seeds rot in the ground, the storage areas are empty, and barns are crumbling because the crops have failed.

1:18. The animals moan in distress; the cattle are confused and wandering since there's no grass to eat; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

1:19. God, I'm calling out for help because wild fires have ruined the grazing lands and all the trees out there.

1:20. Even wild animals beg for your help; streams have dried up and fires have consumed their only places to graze.

2:1. Sound the trumpet in Zion, and ring the alarm on my holy mountain. Let all the people of the area shake with fear, because God's day is coming very soon.

2:2. It will be a day filled with darkness and gloom, a day of cloudy skies and deep shadows, like the dusk spreading over the mountains. A powerful and vast force will appear; such an army has never been seen before and will never be seen again for generations to come.

2:3. The land in front of them burns like fire; behind them flames consume everything. The land was once lush and beautiful, but after they pass through, it's left barren and empty – nothing survives their advance.

2:4. They look like horses in their speed; they race forward just as swiftly as cavalry.

2:5. They bound like speedy chariot over the mountain peaks; they crackle like fire consuming dry grass and move with as much determination as soldiers ready for battle.

2:6. When they approach, people are in torment; every face turns pale with fear.

2:7. They sprint energetically; they scale walls as skillfully as soldiers do – each moving along their own path without breaking formation.

2:8. They won’t push each other out of the way; each will keep to their path: even if they crash into swords, they won't be hurt.

2:9. People will rush around the city; they will run along the walls and climb onto rooftops; they will slip in through the windows like robbers.

2:10. The ground will shake before them; the sky above will quiver: the sun and moon will go dark, and the stars will stop shining.

2:11. God will call out before God's troops: because there's a huge number in God's ranks, who carry out God's commands effectively. The day when God acts is mighty and very fearsome; who can stand up to it?

2:12. Even now, declares God, come back to me wholeheartedly, with fasting, crying, and sadness for what's been lost.

2:13. Let your heart be touched and changed, not just your clothes. Come back to God because God is forgiving and compassionate, doesn't get angry quickly, and has abundant love. God may reconsider planned consequences.

2:14. Who knows whether God might turn things around and leave a blessing behind – something to eat and drink as an offering to your God.

2:15. Sound an alarm in Zion; call for people to fast; announce a special meeting;

2:16. Bring everyone together – set apart the gathering; round up the elders, bring children of all ages, even nursing infants: let new husbands leave their rooms, and new wives leave their homes.

2:17. Let the religious leaders, who serve God, cry in the space between the entrance and the worship area, asking God to protect their people and not to let other nations defeat them and mock them, asking "Where is their God now?"

2:18. Then God's desire to protect their land will grow strong and they’ll have compassion on the people.

2:19. Indeed, God will respond to the people by providing them with plenty of food, drinks, and oil until they are full, ensuring that other nations don’t look down on them anymore.

2:20. God will force the threatening northern forces far away into lifeless and empty lands with their backs towards the eastern sea and faces towards the western sea; their defeat will be known because of their past actions.

2:21. Don't be scared, land; be happy and celebrate because God is about to do amazing things for you.

2:22. Don't fear any harm, animals in the fields: as the wild places are about to bloom with vegetation where trees will provide fruit and it’s a prosperous time for vines and fig trees.

2:23. Therefore, people of Zion must feel joyous and praise God for bringing ample early rain as well as bringing more downpours during the spring month.

2:24. As a result of this supply of rain from God, it is certain that there'll be so much grain that it'll cover your storage floor while wine and oil pour out over your containers.

2:25. I will make up for the years you've lost to crop destruction caused by swarms of locusts, worms, and larvae—my own overwhelming forces I unleashed upon you.

2:26. You will have more than enough to eat, feel full, and praise God for the amazing things that have been done for you; and you, my community, will not feel embarrassed or disgraced.

2:27. And you’ll recognize that I am present in your community, that I am your God, just me alone; and my community will not experience disgrace again.

2:28. Time will come when I will share my spirit with everyone; your sons and daughters will speak of things not yet happened, your older folks will have meaningful dreams, and your younger ones will have clear visions.

2:29. During these times, I will also share my spirit with those who work for others and the ones working under them.

2:30. And I'll display astonishing sights in the sky and on earth involving blood, fires, and plumes of smoke.

2:31. The sun will grow dark and the moon appear like blood before that imposing day when God brings judgment arrives.

2:32. Everyone who asks for help from God during this time shall be saved; as predicted there'll be survivors in Zion and Jerusalem—whom God has chosen especially.

3:1. Look, there's a time coming when I'll restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem.

3:2. I'll bring all nations together and judge them in Jehoshaphat Valley because they scattered my people worldwide and divided up my land.

3:3. They treated my people as possessions, trading a young boy for sex and a girl for wine so they could party.

3:4. What's your problem with me, cities of Tyre and Sidon, and all you areas of Palestine? Are you trying to get back at me? If you try anything, I'll quickly make sure it backfires on you.

3:5. You took my silver and gold and put the precious things from my temple in your own temples.

3:6. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, sending them far from their homeland.

3:7. Get ready—I'm going to free them from the places where you sold them, and you'll end up having to deal with what you did.

3:8. I will make your boys and girls be taken by the people of Judah, who will then sell them to a distant nation, the Sabeans, because God has decided this.

3:9. Tell this to other nations; get ready for battle, wake up your strongest warriors, let all your soldiers come close and gather together.

3:10. Turn your farming tools into weapons and your gardening tools into weapons for battle: even those who are not usually strong should say, "I am powerful."

3:11. Come together and join forces, all you nations from far away; circle around for the showdown: bring forth your strongest ones, God.

3:12. Let those nations stir and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: because that is where I will be sitting in judgment over all the surrounding nations.

3:13. Start working because the time is right for harvesting; get to work because there's so much that the containers are overflowing; there’s a lot of wrongdoing out there.

3:14. There are huge crowds in the decision-making valley: because God's moment of judgment in that valley is soon to come.

3:15. The sun and the moon will turn dark, and the stars will no longer shine.

3:16. God will make a powerful sound from Zion and speak from Jerusalem; the sky and the earth will tremble, but God will bring hope to God's people and be a source of strength for the people of Israel.

3:17. You will know then that I am indeed your God, living in Zion, my sacred hill; Jerusalem will be a holy place, and outsiders won't invade it anymore.

3:18. On that day, mountains will drip with sweet wine, hills will stream with milk, all the rivers in Judana flow with water,, and a spring will come forth from God's house to water the valley of Shittim.

3:19. Egypt will become empty ruins, and Edom turned into a barren desert due to their brutal acts against the people of Judah for having killed innocents in their country.

3:20. But Judah shall live forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.

3:21. I will purify their past wrongs that haven't been addressed before: because God resides in Zion.