Joel 2:5

2:5 They sound like ¹  chariots rumbling ²  over mountain tops,

like the crackling ³  of blazing fire consuming stubble,

like the noise of ⁴  a mighty army ⁵  being drawn up for battle. ⁶ 

Joel 3:16

3:16 The Lord roars from Zion;

from Jerusalem ⁷  his voice bellows out. ⁸ 

The heavens ⁹  and the earth shake.

But the Lord is a refuge for his people;

he is a stronghold for the citizens ¹⁰  of Israel.

Joel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ¹¹  as he leads his army. ¹² 

Indeed, his warriors ¹³  are innumerable; ¹⁴ 

Surely his command is carried out! ¹⁵ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ¹⁶ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ¹⁷  it?

[2:5]  ¹ tn Heb “like the sound of.”

[2:5]  ² tn Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16; 1 Chr 15:29; Nah 3:2) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד.

[2:5]  ³ tn Heb “sound.”

[2:5]  ⁴ tn The phrase “the noise of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the parallelism, so it has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “people.”

[2:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “being arrayed of battle.”

[3:16]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”

[3:16]  ⁹ tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sons.”

[2:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”