Joel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ¹  as he leads his army. ² 

Indeed, his warriors ³  are innumerable; ⁴ 

Surely his command is carried out! ⁵ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁶ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ⁷  it?

Joel 2:13

2:13 Return to the Lord your God,

for he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ⁸  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ⁹ 

Joel 2:19

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.

Joel 3:18

3:18 On that day ¹³  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ¹⁴ 

and the hills will flow with milk. ¹⁵ 

All the dry stream beds ¹⁶  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ¹⁷  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ¹⁸ 

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ² tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ³ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”

[2:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”

[2:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[2:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.

[2:19]  ¹⁷ tc One of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) inserts “and you will eat” before “and you will be fully satisfied” (the reading of the MT, LXX).

[3:18]  ²² tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ²³ tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ²⁴ sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ²⁵ tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.