Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Yahweh will gather the nations and judge them on the Day of the Lord.

II. Photo
God will sustain Judah: “And in that day, the mountains shall drip with wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the watercourses of Judah shall flow with water.” (v. 18a)

III. Important Verses
1-3: For lo! in those days And in that time, When I restore the fortunes Of Judah and Jerusalem,  I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will contend with them Over My very own people, Israel, Which they scattered among the nations. For they divided My land among themselves And cast lots over My people; And they bartered a boy for a whore, And sold a girl for wine, which they drank.
8: I will deliver your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them into captivity to a distant nation — for the LORD has spoken.
9-12: Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for battle! Arouse the warriors, Let all the fighters come and draw near! Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears. Let even the weakling say, “I am strong.” Rouse yourselves and come, All you nations; Come together From roundabout. There bring down Your warriors, O LORD! Let the nations rouse themselves and march up To the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit in judgment Over all the nations roundabout.
14-16: Multitudes upon multitudes In the Valley of Decision! For the day of the LORD is at hand In the Valley of Decision. Sun and moon are darkened, And stars withdraw their brightness. And the LORD will roar from Zion, And shout aloud from Jerusalem, So that heaven and earth tremble. But the LORD will be a shelter to His people, A refuge to the children of Israel.
19-20: Egypt shall be a desolation, And Edom a desolate waste, Because of the outrage to the people of Judah, In whose land they shed the blood of the innocent. But Judah shall be inhabited forever, And Jerusalem throughout the ages.

IV. Outline
1-3. God will judge the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat
4-8. God promises to repay the nations for taking advantage of Judah
9-14. Call to gather the nations for the Day of the Lord
15-16. God will protect Israel on the Day of the Lord
17. Recognition formula: Jerusalem is God’s dwelling place
18-21. God will bring prosperity to Judah and misery to Egypt

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://thundafunda.com/393/?level=picture&id=3597

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Prophesy will be rampant, the laws of nature will be suspended, and those who call out to Yahweh will be saved on the Day of the Lord.

II. Photo
Yahweh will suspend the laws of nature: “The sun shall turn into darkness And the moon into blood before the great and terrible Day of the Lord comes.” (v. 4)

III. Important Verses
(The entire chapter)
1-2: After that, I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; Your old men shall dream dreams, And your young men shall see visions. I will even pour out My spirit Upon male and female slaves in those days.
3-4: Before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes, I will set portents in the sky and on earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke; The sun shall turn into darkness And the moon into blood.
5: But everyone who invokes the name of the LORD shall escape; for there shall be a remnant on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the LORD promised. Anyone who invokes the LORD will be among the survivors.

IV. Outline
1-2. Rampant prophesy
3-4. Supernatural wonders before the day of the Lord
5. Those who invoke God’s name will survive

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://photoshd.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/solar-eclipse.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The famine ends when Yahweh and Joel urge the people to repent.

II. Photo
The famine comes to an end: “Fig tree and vine have yielded their strength!” (v. 22b)

III. Important Verses
1-3: Blow a horn in Zion, Sound an alarm on My holy mount! Let all dwellers on earth tremble, For the day of the LORD has come! It is close — A day of darkness and gloom, A day of densest cloud Spread like soot over the hills. A vast, enormous horde — Nothing like it has ever happened, And it shall never happen again Through the years and ages. Their vanguard is a consuming fire, Their rear guard a devouring flame. Before them the land was like the Garden of Eden, Behind them, a desolate waste: Nothing has escaped them.
11-12: And the LORD roars aloud At the head of His army; For vast indeed is His host, Numberless are those that do His bidding. For great is the day of the LORD, Most terrible — who can endure it?  “Yet even now” — says the LORD — “Turn back to Me with all your hearts, And with fasting, weeping, and lamenting.”
23-24: O children of Zion, be glad, Rejoice in the LORD your God. For He has given you the early rain in [His] kindness, Now He makes the rain fall [as] formerly — The early rain and the late — And threshing floors shall be piled with grain, And vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
27: And you shall know That I am in the midst of Israel: That I the LORD am your God And there is no other. And My people shall be shamed no more.”

IV. Outline
1. Call to sound an alarm
2-10. A rhetorical description of the locust
11-13. God calls upon the people to fast, pray, and return to him
14-17. Joel urges the people to congregate, fast, and pray
18-26. God promises to restore the land to its glory
27. Recognition of God formula

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from  http://farm1.static.flickr.com/24/43319468_6122496818.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Joel urges the people to fast and pray when a famine strikes the land.

II. Photo
Famine strikes: “What the cutter has left, the locust has devoured; What the locust has left, the grub has devoured; And what the grub has left, the hopper has devoured!” (v. 4)

III. Important Verses
1: The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
10-12: The country is ravaged, The ground must mourn; For the new grain is ravaged, The new wine is dried up, The new oil has failed. Farmers are dismayed And vine dressers wail Over wheat and barley; For the crops of the field are lost.  The vine has dried up, The fig tree withers, Pomegranate, palm, and apple — All the trees of the field are sear. And joy has dried up Among men.
13-15: Gird yourselves and lament, O priests, Wail, O ministers of the altar; Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God. For offering and libation are withheld From the House of your God. Solemnize a fast, Proclaim an assembly; Gather the elders — all the inhabitants of the land — In the House of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near; It shall come like havoc from Shaddai.
19-20: To You, O LORD, I call. For fire has consumed The pastures in the wilderness, And flame has devoured All the trees of the countryside. The very beasts of the field Cry out to You; For the watercourses are dried up, And fire has consumed The pastures in the wilderness.

IV. Outline
1. Superscription
2-3. Introduction: exhortation to tell future generations
4. Famine
5-8. Call to lament the swarm
9-12. The people lament
13-15. Exhortation to fast and pray
16-18. Description of the havoc
19-20. Calling out to God

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from  http://i1.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/590/draft_lens6594562module53448262photo_1251105938Locust_-_swarm_-_Credit_iStockphotoRuvan_Boshoff.jpg