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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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Arcana Coelestia # 10441

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10441. 'And repent [of the evil] against Your people' means having mercy on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'repenting', when it has reference to Jehovah, as having mercy. The reason why 'repenting' means having mercy is that Jehovah does not ever repent, since He foresees and makes provision for all things from eternity. Repentance is a reaction that can take place only in someone who has no knowledge of the future and who sees, as events unfold, that he has made a mistake. Nevertheless the Word speaks of Jehovah's reacting in that kind of way because the sense of the letter consists of ideas of things as man sees them. For it is intended for very simple people and for young children, who at first go no further than that sense. Also young children and very simple people's interests lie in the most external things, from which they start out and in which after this their inner thoughts and feelings terminate. For this reason the Word in the letter must be understood differently by those who have become wiser.

[2] The situation with the Word is similar to that with the human being. Everything within him terminates in flesh and bones; these are the container of everything there. Unless they existed in place of a foundation or support a person could not remain in being; for he would have no final level in which all things within him could terminate and on which they could rest. The situation is similar with the Word. This must have a final level in which everything within it terminates; that final level is the sense of the letter, and the inner things are the heavenly matters belonging to the internal sense. From all this it is now evident that the way things appear to man is the reason why Jehovah is said to repent, when in fact He does not repent.

[3] The fact that Jehovah is said to repent is clear from a large number of places in the Word, such as the following: In Jeremiah,

If [a nation] does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit it. Jeremiah 18:10.

In the same prophet,

It may be that they will listen and every man turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil which I am thinking to do to them on account of the wickedness of their doings. Jeremiah 26:3.

In Ezekiel,

When My anger is accomplished and I make My wrath rest on them, I will repent. Ezekiel 5:13.

In Amos,

Jehovah repented. It shall not happen, He said. Amos 7:3, 6.

In Moses,

Jehovah will judge His people, and repent over 1 His servants. Deuteronomy 32:36.

In Jonah,

The king of Nineveh said, Who knows, God may turn and be moved to repentance 2 , and turn from the heat of His anger, and we may not perish! And they turned from their evil way; therefore God repented of the evil which He had said He would do to them, so that He did not do it. Jonah 3:9-10.

In the Book of Genesis,

Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6.

In the first Book of Samuel,

I have repented that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me. 1 Samuel 15:11, 35.

[4] From these places which speak of Jehovah's having repented, when in fact He cannot repent since He knows all things before He does them, it is evident that 'repenting' means having mercy. The fact that Jehovah never repents is also clear from the Word, as in Moses,

Jehovah 3 is not a man (vir), that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will not act? Or has He spoken, and will not carry it out? Numbers 23:19.

And in the first Book of Samuel,

The Invincible One of Israel does not lie, nor does He repent, for He is not a man (homo), that He should repent. 1 Samuel 15:29.

The fact that when Jehovah is said to repent His mercy is meant is clear in Joel,

Jehovah is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in compassion, and One who is accustomed to repent of evil. Joel 2:13.

And in Jonah,

God is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in kindness, and One who repents of evil. Jonah 4:2.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. has compassion on

2. literally, be led by repentance

3. The Hebrew at this point uses the word meaning God.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.