This ¹  is the Lord’s message ²  that was given ³  to Joel ⁴  the son of Pethuel:

The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, ¹  before the day of the Lord comes – that great and terrible day!

Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ¹  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ² 

I will sell your sons and daughters to ¹  the people of Judah. ²  They will sell them to the Sabeans, ³  a nation far away. Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks, removing them far from their own country. ¹ 

But Judah will reside securely forever, and Jerusalem will be secure ¹  from one generation to the next.

Announce a holy fast; ¹  proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and ²  all the inhabitants of the land to the temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

The Lord responded ¹  to his people, “Look! I am about to restore your grain ²  as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied. ³  I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

Let the nations be roused and let them go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.

You will have plenty to eat, and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ¹  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.

Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ¹  Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ²  I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ³ 

“Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart – with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, ¹  not just your garments!”

For you took my silver and my gold and brought my precious valuables to your own palaces. ¹ 

Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ¹  Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb ²  among the nations. Why should it be said ³  among the peoples, “Where is their God?”

To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ¹  for fire ²  has burned up ³  the grassy pastures, ⁴  flames have razed ⁵  all the trees in the fields.

Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them. I will repay you for what you have done! ¹ 

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 

Even the wild animals ¹  cry out to you; ²  for the river beds ³  have dried up; fire has destroyed ⁴  the grassy pastures. ⁵ 

Wail ¹  like a young virgin ²  clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of ³  her husband-to-be. ⁴ 

The earth quakes ¹  before them; ²  the sky reverberates. ³  The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. ⁴