2:15 Blow the trumpet 1 in Zion.
Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a sacred assembly!
3:9 Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for a holy war!
Call out the warriors!
Let all these fighting men approach and attack! 2
1:14 Announce a holy fast; 3
proclaim a sacred assembly.
Gather the elders and 4 all the inhabitants of the land
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
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
1 tn See the note on this term in 2:1.
2 tn Heb “draw near and go up.”
3 tn Heb “consecrate a fast” (so NASB).
4 tc The conjunction “and” does not appear in MT or LXX, but does appear in some Qumran texts (4QXIIc and 4QXIIg).
4 sn Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.