Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Parallel translations
- WEB Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- BSB Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- 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 13:6–9Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
- Jer 30:7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
- Zeph 1:14–18The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
- Ezek 7:2–12Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
- Joel 2:11And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
- Joel 2:31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
- Jas 5:9Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
- Rev 6:17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
- Joel 2:1–2Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
- Luke 19:41–44And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
- Amos 5:16–18Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
- Ps 37:13The LORD shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
- Ezek 12:22–28Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.