Dogs have been much admired and even loved by people of most cultures going back to prehistoric times.

This admiration of dogs is not, however, universal. At least one ancient culture detested dogs. That was one of the peculiar characteristics of ancient Hebrew culture in both the Old and New Testaments. But many modern Jews are quite fond of their dogs. In ancient Judah and Israel, dogs were wild inhabitants of the streets. Hiding by day, they roamed in the open at night, running through the streets of every town seeking food and howling to one another. Although not admired, they were tolerated as scavengers.

This lack of admiration, or even understanding for dogs is quite evident in the bible. The scriptures contain a total of 41 references to dogs. Not one is favorable to dogs at all in any way. (Cats are not even mentioned in the bible)

When the Old Testament lists animals that the Jews must not eat because they are unclean, it does not specifically mention dogs. But we are included among the unclean animals as follows: "And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even" (Leviticus 11:27). Of course, I am glad the Jews were forbidden to eat my kind, but I resent being called unclean. We dogs are much cleaner than cows, sheep, or goats.

The ultimate sign of disrespect was to allow a dead body to lie out at night and be eaten by dogs. "And the dogs shall eat Jezebel . . . and there shall be none to bury her." These were the words of the prophet Elisha in II Kings 9:10. To see what contempt the bible god had for dogs, read Deuteronomy 23:18: "Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both of these are abomination unto the Lord thy God."

Not only did this incompetent god detest dogs, he also completely misunderstood them. "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly" (Proverbs 26:11). This proverb of the Old Testament is repeated in the second epistle of Peter 2:22. Anyone who knows anything about dogs knows they can easily regurgitate their food. A puppy will lick you in the face, as he would do to an older dog. That is a signal for the older dog to regurgitate some food for the puppy. A poor dog that is not well fed will gorge himself when food is available, then regurgitate and hide some of it to eat later. That makes sense.

How strange, then, that the bible says the clean animals are those that have cloven hooves and "cheweth the cud." (Leviticus 11:3). What this god did not know is that the cud is food the animal has previously eaten. It is regurgitated and chewed as a step in the process of digestion. All of the so-called clean animals do this, including cows, sheep, and goats. Understand that I have nothing personal against cows, sheep, or goats. However, those animals are so stupid that many dogs are employed just to herd them around. Someone who herds sheep is called a pastor. I understand that some humans also have to be herded by a pastor who fleeces them whenever possible.

The most disturbing of the dog references in the bible are those in which humans are called "dogs" as a term of contempt or scorn, and also those in which a person humbles himself by calling himself a dead dog. "His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, . . . Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough . . ." (Isaiah 56: 10-11). "What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" (II Samuel 9:8).

The New Testament references to people as dogs are even more outrageous. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:2: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers . . ." Revelation 22:14-15 includes dogs among the wicked to be kept out of heaven: "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers . . ." So what? What thinking mortal would want to be near a god who would throw any sentient creature into flames for eternal torment?

Jesus freely refers to people he doesn't like as dogs, as well as referring to them as swine and as vipers. In the Sermon on the Mount he does this by saying: "Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine. . ." (Matthew 7:6).

Most disgusting of all is his conversation with the Syrophenician woman who came to him pleading for him to heal her daughter. He said to her, "It is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs." (Matthew 15:26). He was, in effect, calling her little daughter a dog right to the mother's face. This cruel and immoral pronouncement is repeated, with only slightly softer wording, in Mark 7:27. There is no rational way for a thoughtful person to read these wicked words and think of Jesus as a moral teacher.

Before ending this little doggie essay, I must note that someone might object to the statement that the bible is entirely negative about dogs because of Proverbs 30:29-31. That passage starts, "There are three things which go well, yea four are comely in going." The next two verses tell of those four things whose gait the writer admires. One of them is a greyhound, according to the King James and also in the revised versions. Along with other doggie scholars, I disagree with this translation of the ancient Hebrew which is zar-zir-mathnaim. This literally means "one who is slender in the loins" or "one who has his loins girded." This almost certainly refers to trained human runners who ran ahead of the chariots of kings. These runners were selected for endurance and speed, and they did have their slender loins girded. The greyhounds are wonderful dogs, but actually the bible does not compliment even them.

I don't understand how any human can think that a book which doesn't like dogs is sacred.

Foundation member Bob Truett, a former director of a municipal zoo, lives in Alabama with his wife, Lisa, and their five dogs, including Odyssey.

FROM: http://www.ffrf.org/fttoday/2006/janfeb/truett.php

 

The name Joel means, “The Lord is God.” Nothing is known about his personal life. Twelve other men in the Old Testament have this name, none of whom can be identified with the author of this book. His father, Pethuel, is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible.

From this book, we can see that he was acquainted with the land, the farming and the geography. Also, it is clear that he lived and prophesied in Judah since he mentions Judah and Jerusalem, and he is thoroughly familiar with the temple and its ministry.

Date

Joel must have lived during the early Eighth Century B.C., and prophesied in Judah during the days of King Uzziah (792-740 B.C.), because he does not mention Assyria, Babylon or Persia. Assyria was in severe decline from 782-745 B.C., and Babylon and Persia had not yet come on the forefront of history. Also, the events, the general attitude of the people, and the literary themes he presents in this book reflect the early Eighth Century B.C. atmosphere.

Background

When you think of King Uzziah, you remember the prophet Isaiah’s call, “The year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted” (Isaiah 6:1). What Isaiah indirectly was saying is that with the death of King Uzziah, Judah lost the king, lost the golden period of the monarchy, and there was no real king left in Judah after Uzziah. At that time, Isaiah saw the real King, seated on a throne, high and exalted.

This means that the prophet Joel lived during the golden period of King Uzziah’s 52 years extended rule. His was the time of great expansion in every aspect: militarily, administratively, commercially, and economically. It was a period of great expansion and solidification. It is noted about him that, “His fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful,” and “His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful” (2 Chronicles 26:8, 15). It was a period of peace and prosperity second only to Solomon’s time.

Joel indirectly talks about their prosperity. Their vine vats were overflowing, the fig trees and the pomegranates and apples, all the fruit trees were loaded down; their land was fertile, and barns were filled to the brim and olive oil was flowing like a river (1:10, 17). Their cattle never failed, their herds were multiplying, and flocks were plentiful (1:18).

The Spiritual Condition

What does material prosperity bring? Spiritual poverty and religious formalism. Moses had already warned them long time ago:

When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you – a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).

This is exactly what had happened during Joel’s time. Much of their time was spent in merrymaking and drinking orgies as Joel tells them, “Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips” (1:5).

There is nothing wrong in enjoying life and the material blessing as a gift from God. But when that becomes the goal in life, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless,” and “Nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:1; 2:11).

Of course, people do want to keep God happy and appeased lest all the material benefits are taken away. Remember Satan’s accusation about Job?

Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face (Job 1:9-11).

Of course, that was not right in Job’s case. But only God knows how many times that is just what it is in many who are called by His name.

The people in Joel’s time were bringing their grain offerings and drink offerings as required by the law (1:9). They did rend their garments and had extended sessions of fasting and weeping and mourning (2:12-13). But their heart was not in that. This is exactly what the Lord indicted them for through the prophet Isaiah, who came right after Joel,

The multitudes of your sacrifices – “what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them” (Isaiah 2:11-14).

So, like in Isaiah’s case, it took the death of the king to be able to see who the real King was, in the same way for Joel’s time it took a natural disaster of epic proportion to wake people up. God has His ways to bring His people around. He cannot let them go, because He loves them so much.

The Locusts and Drought

Joel provides very vivid and poetic descriptions of the locusts. First, he describes them in the form of the agricultural devastation:

A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has lain waste my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. … The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up, the oil fails. Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree – all the trees of the field – are dried up” (1:6-7, 10-12).

Second, he describes them as a marching army:

They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course (2:3-7).

The description of the locusts is very vivid and poetic, but not unrealistic. This is a very common phenomenon in that part of the world, even today. I grew up in a small farming community in a remote village in India, and I have seen with my own eyes the devastation that the locusts can make. When the people in my area heard the news of locusts coming, they all would come out of their homes and beat pots and pans with sticks, making a loud noise to scare them away. At least once we saw the widespread devastation by the locusts. For a few days, we heard rumors of locusts eating away the flesh of young babies who were laid out on coats under the open sky. That would give a chill to anyone.

As if that is not enough, Joel describes the drought, “The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins. The granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up” (1:17).

The Results

1. All the material blessings are taken away (1:7, 10-12).

2. All the religious sacrifices are taken away. “Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord” (1:9).

For a Hebrew, cutting off the religious sacrifices was far more serious than the loss of the material blessings, because the religious sacrifices guaranteed them the covenant relationship with the Lord. As long as they were able to offer the sacrifices, they thought that the Lord was bound by His covenant to keep His part and continue to take care of them in every way. But, when the sacrifices are taken away, there is no guarantee of any blessings from the Lord.

3. The joy is taken away. “Surely the joy of mankind is withered away” (1:12). That is how it is with the joy that is based on material blessing and religious formalities.

When man trusts in other things and turns away from the Lord, even the very ground is taken away from under his feet to make him realize how shaky the ground is upon which he stands.

The Day of the Lord

Joel’s concern, however, is not limited to these disasters. He sees them as symbols of deeper significance – the Day of the Lord. It may be that the hordes of locusts that covered the sky and blotted out the sun and the moon and the stars (2:10) caused the prophet to reflect upon the Day of the Lord (2:2). The locusts’ plagues were just a sign of future judgment.

The locusts are described in terms of the Day of the Lord, “Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty” (1:15). “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming” (2:1). Verse 2:11 is transitional; it indicates more the future day of the Lord than the locust army:

The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

What Joel is saying is that you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Five of the 19 explicit references to the “day of the Lord” in the Old Testament are found in this short book (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14).

The Prophet’s Call for Genuine Repentance

First, the call for repentance is given after the invasion of the locusts, “Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar … .” And, “Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly, summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord” (1:13, 14).

Second, the call for repentance is given after the more intensive description, “Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning” (2:12). Not just an outward show, but genuine repentance: “Rend your heart and not your garments” (2:13).

Priority of repentance is given to the priests and the religious leaders, “Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar.” And, “Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar” (1:13; 2:17). Then, they called the rest of the people, from the oldest to the youngest, “Bring together elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber” (2:16).

The prophet’s call is, “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill” (2:1), where Zion is a symbol of the people of God who take the lead. The spiritual condition of the nation at any given time in history was the barometer of the spiritual condition of Zion.

It is the same with the church today. Does the spiritual condition of the nation reflect the spiritual condition of the church? As Paul writes,

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew (Christian); if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth – you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples (or, God as in the sense of Malachi's statements)? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written, 'God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (non-Christians) because of you (Romans 2:17-24; italics added)

The Scripture puts the responsibility on the people of God,

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

If the land is in broken condition, it is not because the heathen are acting as heathen, but because the church is not acting as the church.

The Fourfold Blessings

Verse 2:18 begins with “Then,” just like 2 Chronicles 7:14 above. If the people, the people of God, will turn to Him in true repentance, “Then the Lord will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people” (2:18). The prophet describes fourfold blessing as a result of their genuine repentance.

1. God will heal their land for their material abundance (2:18-27). The blessings are described in the same agricultural terms as the devastation because of the locusts described earlier. “I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully” (2:19). And, “The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil … . You will have plenty to eat, until you are full … ” (2:24-26).

However, the emphasis is not on the material blessing; it is on the Lord Who provides the material blessings, on the relationship with and the knowledge of God, that provides the full satisfaction. It is the Lord Who is sending the grain and new wine (2:19): “Surely the Lord has done great things” (2:21). “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God for he has given you autumn rains in righteousness” (2:23), and “You will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be ashamed” (2:26).

The ultimate purpose of God for blessing His people is that they would want to know Him and grow in their relationships with Him. God says, I will bless you: “Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed” (2:27). The purpose of blessing and meeting all our needs overabundantly is not that we get into enjoying the gifts and forget the Giver, but that we would find our joy, our fulfillment, our satisfaction in Him alone, because, as David said, “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).

Repentance, as defined in the English dictionary, usually means “to feel sorry or self-reproachful for what one has done or failed to do,” or “to feel sorry, contrite, or self-reproachful over an error, sin, etc.”²⁸² However, when the prophets preached repentance, it was not always repentance of a particular sin in a person or community’s life. Repentance in the Old Testament does not always mean being sorry for a particular sin, because that word is used for God Himself (e.g., Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14; Psalm 106:45; Jeremiah 18:8, 10; etc.). The basic idea in repentance is to turn about, changing the course, making a U-turn, changing life goals and priorities. This is what the people of God, people who call themselves Christians, need to do today. Instead of running after the material things, they need to seek after the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Instead of finding happiness in the things of the world, they need to seek the true joy, fulfillment, and contentment in relationship with the Lord. The ultimate purpose of God for blessing us is that we seek Him and desire to know Him more and more and love and serve Him more and more.

2. God will pour out His Spirit for their universal spiritual restoration (2:28-32). After speaking about their material blessing because of their turning back to God, Joel speaks of their spiritual blessing. In the New Testament, Peter applied this to the outpouring of the Spirit at the beginning of the church (Acts 2:16-21). Paul applied 2:32 for the salvation available to all,

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:12).

Although the ultimate fulfillment of this will be at the Second Coming of Christ, it already has been partially fulfilled, as all believers have the indwelling Spirit and can experience the fullness of the Spirit as they are filled with the Spirit in the sense that Paul speaks (Ephesians 5:17-20).

3. God will judge the wicked and establish His eternal Kingdom (3:1-21). Joel speaks of God’s wrath and ultimate punishment of all the nations that oppressed God’s people. They will be judged and ultimately destroyed, e.g., Edom. The wrath of God on the unbelieving nations is described as God’s trampling of the grapes in the winepress (3:13). As the Apostle John describes in the Book of Revelation,

The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia (180 miles) (Revelation 14: 19-20).

Then, the Kingdom of God will be established, and God’s unlimited blessings will flow to His people,

In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord's house and will water the valley of acacias (3:18).

4. The ultimate blessing. The book ends with a note of the ultimate blessing, “The Lord dwells in Zion,” the Lord’s eternal presence with His people as described in Revelation:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

However, for a Christian, a partial fulfillment of this blessing has already taken place, because “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). We can enjoy the presence of the Lord in our life right now. We can experience His guidance, His provision, His abundant blessing in the sense that David talks in Psalm 23 right now. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).

So, Joel begins with the devastation of the locusts and ends with the eternal blessing of the presence of the Lord with His people forever. Those who have trusted the Lord and committed their lives for His glory, and those who long to fellowship with Him and seek to know Him more and more, enjoy all these blessings right now.

Two of the oldest writing prophets, Obadiah and Joel, speak about the Second Coming and the millennial Kingdom without speaking about the first coming. Why? One of the reasons is that they did not have the full revelation, and they did not have the clear picture and the distinction between the two comings.

However, the more important reason is that, as Peter tells us, “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you” (1 Peter 1:12). And, as Paul writes, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). With the Cross and more than the Cross behind us, the Christian now needs the exhortation of the Second Coming of Christ and to be prepared to meet Him, which the Old Testament prophets provide more than anything else.

We look back to the cross with gratefulness for what God has done for us, and live a life that expresses that gratefulness, and look forward with boldness and great expectation to His Second Coming. Like Paul, every believer should be able to say near the end of his life,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day--and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

---

²⁸¹ This is the edited manuscript of a message delivered by Imanuel Christian, guest speaker at Community Bible Chapel, on August 5, 2001.

²⁸² Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition.

 

 

v1 This is the *Lord’s message that came to Joel, Pethuel’s son.

v2 You older men, listen to this! Listen, all people that live in this country.

Nothing like this has happened while you have been alive.

Nothing like this happened while your fathers were alive.

v3 Tell this to your children,

and let them tell it to their children.

And let their children tell it to their own children.

v4 The older *locusts have eaten what the young *locusts left.

The oldest *locusts have eaten what the older *locusts left.

Other *locusts have eaten what the oldest *locusts left.

v5 Wake up, you drunks.

Weep, all people who drink *wine!

Weep, because you will have no new *wine.

Someone has taken it away from you.

v6 *Locusts have come to fill my country.

They are powerful and they are very many.

They have teeth like strong animals’ teeth.

Their teeth are long and dangerous.

v7 They have broken my *vines

and they have destroyed my *fig trees.

They bit off all the skin from the stems.

Then they threw the bare stems away.

They have left the branches white.

v8 Weep like a girl that no man ever had sex with.

The man who promised to be her husband is dead. That is why she is weeping.

v9 Nobody can give food or drink for the *Lord’s house.

The *priests, the *Lord’s servants,

are very, very sad.

v10 The fields are no good.

They are all dry.

The new *wine has dried up.

The oil has all gone.

v11 Weep, you farmers! Yes, weep!

You who grow *vines, weep!

Be sad about the seeds that have not become food.

Be sad because the fields are dry. And the plants have died.

v12 The *vine has dried up

and the *fig tree is dead.

The apple trees and the other fruit trees have dried up.

All the trees have dried up.

Men have no more joy.

It has all gone.

v13 You *priests and servants of God, wear special clothes to show that you are sad.

Even sleep in those clothes.

Cry, you *priests!

Cry, you who serve God at his *altar.

Cry about the food and drink that came as gifts.

Cry, because they do not come to the house of your God any more.

v14 Tell everyone to eat no food.

Instead, call all the people together to hear the *Lord.

Call the older leaders.

And call all the people who live in this country.

They must come to the house of the *Lord, your God.

They must cry out to the *Lord there.

v15 Be afraid of that day,

because the Day of the *Lord is near.

It will be as if the great God wants to destroy all things.

v16 No food has come to his special house.

We saw this with our own eyes.

So the house of our God cannot make us happy any more.

v17 The seeds under the earth are dry.

The places where people stored seeds have fallen down.

Someone has broken those places up

because the seed does not grow.

v18 The cows make a sad noise.

They all move about

because they cannot find any grass.

Even groups of sheep are hungry.

v19 I call to you, my *Lord.

Fire has destroyed the grass in the fields

and it has burned up all the trees.

v20 Even the wild animals are *thirsty.

They want you to help them.

The rivers that had water have dried up.

Fire has destroyed the grass, even in the wild places.

v1 Blow the *trumpet in *Zion.

Tell the people on the *Lord’s hill to watch for trouble.

All the people who live in this country will be afraid.

They will be afraid because the Day of the *Lord is coming.

It is very near.

v2 That day will be sad and dark.

It will be cloudy and black.

A very big army is coming.

It comes across the sky as light comes in the morning.

A great army like this has never come before.

It will never come again in future.

v3 Fire goes in front of the army.

It burns everything behind them.

The land in front of them is like the garden in Eden.

Behind them, it is like a desert.

They leave nothing behind them.

v4 They behave like horses.

They run fast to the war.

v5 Their noise is like the noise that many feet make.

They jump over the mountains

as fast as a fire burns dry grass.

They are like a great army that is ready for a fight.

v6 Nations that see them are very afraid.

Every face shows their fear.

v7 *Locusts run together as an army runs into a fight.

They climb up walls like soldiers.

They march forward in a straight line.

They do not turn away.

v8 They do not push each other away.

Each one goes straight ahead.

People can put defences in their path

but they go straight ahead.

v9 They run towards the city.

They run along the wall.

They climb into houses.

They go through the windows like thieves.

v10 The earth in front of them moves.

The sky itself moves.

The sun and moon are dark

and the stars do not shine.

v11 The *Lord shouts aloud

as he leads his army.

We cannot count his soldiers.

Those who obey him are very strong.

The Day of the *Lord is powerful.

It makes us afraid.

Nobody can manage to live through it.

v12 ‘Even now’, the *Lord says,

‘return to me and respect me.

Eat no food. Weep and be very sad.

v13 Show to me that you are really sorry.

It does not help if you tear your clothes into pieces. That does not help if you are not really sorry.’

Return to the *Lord, your God.

He is kind and he is full of *grace.

He does not get angry quickly and he is full of love.

He is sad that he had to send troubles to you.

v14 Perhaps he will decide to act differently.

He may send to you food and drink as blessings (good gifts).

Then you can offer gifts to the *Lord, your God.

v15 Blow the *trumpet in *Zion.

Tell the people to eat no food.

Call them to *worship him.

v16 Call the people together.

Make them all ready to serve the *Lord.

Bring the old people together.

Bring the children, even the smallest ones.

Let the new husband leave his wife.

Let the wife leave her room.

v17 There are *priests who go in front of the *Lord.

Let them weep between the porch (doorway with a roof) of the *temple and the *altar.

Let them say to the *Lord, ‘Do not hurt your people.

Do not let people in other nations laugh at your own people.

They will laugh. And they will say that your own people are no good.

They will say, “Your God is no help to you now.” ’

v18 Then the *Lord will pity his country.

He will be kind to his people.

v19 He will answer them.

‘I am giving to you new *wine and food and oil.

You will have enough to fill you.

I will never again let people from other nations laugh at you.

v20 I will send away the army that comes from the north. I will send it far from you.

I will push it into an empty country where nothing grows.

I will send the front of that army one way.

It will go into the sea on the east.

The back of that army will go the other way. It will go into the sea on the west.

There will be a strong smell from dead bodies.

This will happen because that army has done great things.’

v21 Do not be afraid, you people in this country called *Israel.

Be very happy.

Be sure that the *Lord has done great things.

v22 Do not be afraid, wild animals.

The fields are becoming green.

Fruit is growing on the trees.

The *fig tree and the *vine are producing their riches.

v23 Be happy, people in *Zion!

*Rejoice in the *Lord your God.

He has given to you just enough autumn rain.

He has given to you the winter rain.

The rain has come, as it did before.

v24 He will fill your baskets with bread

and he will fill your jars with *wine and oil.

v25 ‘I will give back to you the years that the *locusts have eaten.

I will give back to you everything that the older *locusts and the young *locusts have eaten.

And I will give back to you everything that the oldest *locusts and their groups have eaten.

I will give to you as much as my great army has eaten.

v26 You will have plenty to eat. You will be full.

You will say good things about the name of the *Lord, your God.

He has done great things for you.

My people will never again be ashamed.

v27 Then you will know that I am in *Israel.

You will know that I am your God.

And you will know that there is no other God.

My people will never again be ashamed.’

v28 ‘After that, I will send out my *Holy Spirit onto all people.

Your sons and daughters will be *prophets.

Your old men will dream and

your young men will see pictures in their minds.

v29 Then I will send out my Spirit onto all my servants.’

v30 ‘I will do strange things in the sky and on the earth.

I will send blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

v31 The sun will become dark and the moon will become red.

Then the great Day of the *Lord will come. That day will make people very afraid.

v32 Some people will call to the *Lord and they will believe in his name.

Everyone who does those things will be safe.

The *Lord will call people on the mountain called *Zion and in Jerusalem.

Everyone there that the *Lord has called

will be safe.’

He has promised this.

v1 ‘One day, at that time, I will make *Judah and Jerusalem great again.

v2 Then I will bring all the nations together.

I will bring them down to the valley called Jehoshaphat.

There I will *judge against them.

I am angry for my children, my people from *Israel.

Those other people pushed my people out into other countries.

They broke up my country and each took pieces.

v3 They played games against each other.

In that way, they discovered which one would win my people.

(The people who won those games would own God’s people.)

They gave boys to buy women. They bought those women to have sex with them.

They sold girls so that they could get *wine to drink.

v4 Tell me something, you people in Tyre, Sidon and all the country where the *Philistines live. Tell me if I have done anything wrong to you. You want to punish me. If you do that, I will soon do the same to you. v5 You took my *silver and my gold, and you put all my riches in your *temples. v6 You sold the people who were in *Judah and Jerusalem. You sold them to the people from Greece. You wanted to send them a long way from their own country.

v7 Now I will bring them back from the places to which you sold them. I will do to you what you have done to them. v8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people from *Judah. And they will sell them to the people from Sheba, who live far away. I, the *Lord, have spoken.’

v9 Tell this news to all the countries.

Get ready for war!

Shout to the soldiers.

Tell all the men that fight. Make them get ready to attack.

v10 Get the tools that you dig with. Make them into sharp knives.

Get the tools that you use on the farm. Make them into long sticks that have points on the end. These sticks are to fight with.

Let the weak man say, ‘I am strong!’

v11 Come quickly, you people who live round *Israel.

Get together in the valley.

*Lord, send your army down to attack them.

v12 Wake up the people in all the countries!

Bring them into the valley called Jehoshaphat.

I will sit there to *judge the people from every country.

v13 Now is the time to cut down the fruits.

They are ready for you to bring them in.

Walk all over the *grapes.

The *winepress is full of them.

The *grapes come out over the top.

The nations have done so many bad things.

v14 Many, many people are in the Valley of Decision.

It is there that the Day of the *Lord will soon come.

v15 The sun and moon will grow dark

and the stars will not shine.

v16 The *Lord will shout from *Zion.

He will make a great noise from *Jerusalem.

The earth and the sky will move about.

But the *Lord will keep his people safe.

v17 ‘Then you will know that I am your God.

You will know that I live in *Zion, my *holy hill.

*Jerusalem will be *holy.

Strangers will never again come in to control it.’

v18 ‘At that time, new *wine will flow from the mountains

and milk will flow from the hills.

All the valleys in *Judah will have rivers of water.

Water will come from the *Lord’s house.

And it will water the Valley of Acacias (special trees).

v19 Egypt’s people and *Edom’s people hurt people who lived in *Judah.

And they killed innocent people there.

So Egypt will be an empty place and *Edom will become an empty desert.’

v20 ‘My people will always live in *Jerusalem and in *Judah.

v21 I will forgive all the wrong things that they have done.

The *Lord lives in *Zion!’