Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Parallel translations
- WEB Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- KJV Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
- NKJV Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
- NASB Woe for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- NLT The day of the Lord is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joel cries out that the day of Yahweh is near, coming as destruction from the Almighty. The locust plague is a foretaste of God's larger day of judgment.
Overview
Here Joel names the central theme of his book, the day of Yahweh, the time when God decisively intervenes to judge. The present calamity is a sign and preview of that greater day. The word for 'destruction' echoes the name 'Almighty' (Shaddai), stressing God's overwhelming power. This day points forward to the final judgment, from which only those who turn to God in Christ will be delivered.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 13:6–9Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Jer 30:7How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
- Zeph 1:14–18The great Day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
- Ezek 7:2–12“O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
- Joel 2:11The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?
- Joel 2:31The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Jas 5:9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
- Rev 6:17For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
- Joel 2:1–2Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
- Luke 19:41–44As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Amos 5:16–18Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.
- Ps 37:13but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.
- Ezek 12:22–28“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 1:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.