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Joel 2

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1 Sound ye the shophar* in Zion, and blast on it in the mountain of My holiness; let all those who dwell in the land tremble, for the day of Jehovah comes, for it is near:

2 a day of darkness and of thick·​·darkness, a day of cloud and of dense·​·darkness, as the dawn spread on the mountains; a people, many and numerous; there has not been from eternity as this, and it shall not again be after it, even·​·to the years of generation and generation.

3 A fire devours before him, and behind him a flame sets·​·flame; for the land is as the garden of Eden before him, and behind him a desolate wilderness; and there shall not even be to him deliverance.

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so shall they run.

5 As the voice of chariots on the heads of mountains shall they skip, as the voice of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a numerous people set·​·in· battle ·array.

6 Before their face peoples shall travail; all faces shall bring·​·together a blackening.

7 They shall run as heroes; they shall go·​·up the wall as men of war; and they shall walk, as a man in his ways, and they shall not take their paths;

8 and a man shall not thrust·​·out his brother; as a mighty·​·man on his highway shall they walk; and against the sword they shall fall, and they shall not gain anything.

9 They shall jostle in the city; they shall run on the wall, they shall go·​·up on the houses; they shall come·​·in through the windows as a thief.

10 The earth shall tremble before them; the heavens shall quake; the sun and the moon shall be blackened, and the stars shall gather·​·in their brightness.

11 and Jehovah shall give forth His voice before His host, for His camp is very many, for they are numerous who do His word; for great is the day of Jehovah, and very fearful, and who will sustain it?

12 And even now, says Jehovah, return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with wailing,

13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and return to Jehovah your God; for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and of much mercy, and repents of the evil.

14 Who knows if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him, a gift·​·offering and a poured·​·offering to Jehovah your God?

15 Sound the shophar in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a day of restraint*.

16 gather the people, sanctify the assembly, bring·​·together the elders, gather the babes, and them who nurse at the breasts; let the bridegroom go·​·forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal·​·chamber.

17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Jehovah, and give not Thine inheritance for a reproach, that the nations should rule them; why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

18 And will Jehovah be·​·zealous for His land, and have·​·pity on His people.

19 And Jehovah will answer and say to His people, Behold, I will send you the grain, and the must*, and the olive·​·oil, and you shall be satisfied with it; and I will no more put you as a reproach among the nations.

20 And the northerner I will cause to be·​·far·​·away from against you, and will expel him into a land arid and desolate, with his face toward the eastern sea, and his back* toward the sea behind, and his stink shall come·​·up, and his stench shall come·​·up, for he has become·​·great to do.

21 Fear not, O ground; Rejoice and be·​·glad, for Jehovah will become·​·great to do.

22 Fear not, ye beasts of the field, for your homes of the wilderness bring forth the tender·​·herb, for the tree bears its fruit, the fig·​·tree and the vine give their force.

23 And rejoice, ye sons of Zion, and be·​·glad in Jehovah your God; for He has given you the earlier·​·rain for justice, and He will cause the shower to come·​·down for you, the earlier·​·rain, and the later·​·rain in the first month.

24 And the threshing·​·floors shall be·​·full of grain, and the winepresses shall spill·​·over with must and olive·​·oil.

25 And I will repay to you the years that the locust, the grub, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm have eaten; My great force which I sent among you.

26 And eating you shall eat, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, who has done wonders with you; and My people shall not be·​·ashamed to eternity.

27 And you shall know that I am in the midst·​·of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and there is none else; and My people shall not be·​·ashamed to eternity.

28 3:1 And it shall be so afterwards, that I will spill·​·out My spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your elders shall dream dreams, your young·​·men shall see visions;

29 3:2 and also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days will I spill·​·out My spirit.

30 3:3 And I will put miracles in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and columns of smoke.

31 3:4 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the fearsome day of Jehovah shall come.

32 3:5 And it shall be, that for everyone who shall call on the name of Jehovah there shall be deliverance; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be an escape, as Jehovah has said, and among the survivors whom Jehovah shall call.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Apocalypse Revealed # 898

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898. 21:12 It had a great and high wall. This symbolizes the Word in its literal sense from which the doctrine of the New Church comes.

Since the holy city Jerusalem means the Lord's New Church in respect to its doctrine, its wall can only mean the Word in its literal sense, from which its doctrine comes; for the literal sense protects the spiritual meaning that lies within, as a wall protects a city and its inhabitants.

That the literal sense is the foundation, containing vessel, and buttress of the Word's spiritual meaning may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 27-36; and that the literal sense serves as a safeguard to keep the Divine truths within from being injured - truths which constitute the Word's spiritual meaning - may be seen in no. 97 of the same work. Also, that the church's doctrine is to be drawn from the Word's literal sense and verified by it, in nos. 50-61 there.

The wall is said to be great and high because it means the Word in respect to its Divine goodness and Divine truth, for greatness is predicated of goodness, and height of truth, as in no. 896 above.

[2] A wall symbolizes something that protects, and when mentioned in reference to the church, it symbolizes the Word in its literal sense, as it does also in the following places:

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall not keep silent day or night, who make mention of Jehovah... (Isaiah 62:6)

They shall call you the City of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel... And you shall call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. (Isaiah 60:14, 18)

(Jehovah) will be a wall of fire all around her, and... the glory in her midst. (Zechariah 2:5)

Men of Arvad... were on your walls..., and the men of Gammad... hung their shields on your walls all around, and made your beauty perfect. (Ezekiel 27:11)

The last is said of Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth from the Word.

Run about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see... if there is anyone who... seeks the truth... Go up on her walls and cast them down. (Jeremiah 5:1, 10)

Jehovah has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion... ...He has caused the rampart and wall... to lament, to languish together... The Law and her prophets are no more... (Lamentations 2:8-9)

They will run about in the city, they will run on the wall; they will climb up into the houses, they will enter through the windows... (Joel 2:9)

These passages refer to falsifications of truth.

Day and night (the impious) go around (in the city) on its walls... Destructions are in their midst. (Psalms 55:10-11)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 22:5; 56:5; Jeremiah 1:15; Ezekiel 27:11; Lamentations 2:7.

That a wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense is clearly apparent from the following verses in the present chapter, which describe at some length the wall of the city and its gates, foundations and dimensions. That is because the doctrine of the New Church, which the city symbolizes, comes only from the Word's literal sense.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.