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This file was generated by Descript 

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Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the
daily bible reading experience.

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day 200 and 82

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immersed in Joel.

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It's not clear when Joel
lived and prophesied and we

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know very little about him.

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However, there are some good
reasons to believe that he was

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one of the latest prophets.

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This is suggested by several
elements in his prophecies.

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For example, he makes reference
to the Greeks whose influence

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did not reach the land of Judah
until after the return from exile.

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Another indication is that he appears to
make allusions to many earlier prophets.

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He frequently echoes their phrases,
probably to show that the whole prophetic

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tradition stands behind his message.

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For example, in a combined illusion, Joel
echoes both Ezekiel's frequent statement.

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Then you will know that I am the Lord
and Isaiah's repeated insistence.

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I am the Lord and there is no other.

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Sometimes Joel ironically reverses
the images found in earlier prophets.

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Oracles Micah and Isaiah share an
oracle that says, They will hammer

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their swords into plow shares and
their spears into pruning hooks.

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But Joel says, hammer, your
plow shares into swords and

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your pruning hooks into spears.

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Such reversals are effective
only, of course, if the image is

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already known in its original form.

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A standard feature of God's covenant
with Israel was that the people's

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response to God would determine
whether they experienced blessings or

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curses in the land God had given them.

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This element can clearly be seen in the
presentations of God's instructions in

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books like Deuteronomy and Leviticus.

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Israel's prophets assume this structure in
Israel's covenant relationship with God.

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Announcing the consequences
both for the people's loyalty

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and for their unfaithfulness.

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The prophets frequently follow a
certain order in their writings.

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First, they address the wrongdoings
of God's covenant people, including

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promises of just punishment.

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Next, they typically present
oracles against other nations,

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followed by hope-filled visions of
ultimate restoration and renewal.

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Joel's.

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Oracles begin in the usual way
describing judgment against Israel,

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but then he changes the common pattern.

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Speaking of Israel's restoration, before
turning to announce judgment against other

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nations, Joel identifies the judgment
as the day of the Lord coming in the

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form of a devastating locust attack.

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Ahead of them.

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The land lies as beautiful
as the Garden of Eden.

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Behind them is nothing but desolation.

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Not one thing escapes.

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God calls the people to respond to this
plague With repentance, then in a stunning

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oracle revealing God's longing to bless
the land and make it flourish again.

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Joel presents an extended
vision of renewal and life.

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Surely the Lord has done great things.

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Don't be afraid Oland.

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Be glad now and rejoice for
the Lord has done great things.

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Don't be afraid you.

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Animals of the field for the wilderness.

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Pastors will soon be green.

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The trees will again be filled with fruit.

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Fig trees and grape vines
will be loaded down once more.

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Like many of the other prophets,
Joel looks forward to an era

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when God will do brand new things
in his dealings with humanity.

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Just as Jeremiah foresaw a new covenant
and Ezekiel envisioned a people

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with a new heart and new spirit,
God says through Joel, I will pour

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out my spirit on all people and.

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Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved.

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The prophets serve as God's covenant
messengers to the people of Israel in

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their own day, but Joel reveals that
God's purposes have always been to extend

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his covenant of love to all nations.

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The prophet Joel.

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The Lord gave this message to Joel,
son of Peto, hear this, you leaders

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of the people, listen, all who live
in the land, in all your history, has

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anything like this happened before.

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Tell your children about it in
the years to come and let your

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children tell their children.

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Pass the story down from
generation to generation.

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After the cutting locusts finished
eating the crops, the swarming

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locusts took what was left after
them came the hopping locusts, and

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then the stripping locusts too.

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Wake up, you drunkards and weep whale.

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All you wine drinkers, all the grapes are
ruined and all your sweet wine is gone.

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A vast army of locusts has invaded my
land, a terrible army to numerous account.

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Its teeth are like lion's, teeth.

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It's fangs like those of a lioness.

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It has destroyed my grapevines
and ruined my fig trees, stripping

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their bark and destroying it,
leaving the branches white and bare.

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Weep like a bride dressed in black,
mourning the death of her husband.

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For, there is no grain or wine to
offer at the temple of the Lord,

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so the priests are in mourning.

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The ministers of the Lord are weeping.

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The fields are ruined, the land is
stripped bare, the grain is destroyed.

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The grapes have shriveled,
and the olive oil is gone.

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Despair.

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All you farmers whale, all you
vine growers weep because the

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wheated and barley, all the
crops of the field are ruined.

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The grape vines have dried up
and the fig trees have withered.

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The pomegranate trees, palm
trees, and apple trees.

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All the fruit trees have dried up and
the people's joy has dried up with them.

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Dress yourselves in burlap
and weep you priests whale you

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who serve before the altar.

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Come spend the night in burlap.

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You ministers of my God, for
there is no grain or wine to

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offer at the temple of your God.

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Announce a time of fasting.

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Call the people together
for a solemn meeting.

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Bring the leaders and all the people
of the land into the temple of the Lord

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your God, and cry out to him there.

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The day of the Lord is near the day when
destruction comes from the Almighty.

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How terrible that day will be.

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Our food disappears before our very eyes.

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No joyful celebrations are
held in the house of our God.

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The seeds die in the parched
ground and the grain crops fail.

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The barns stand empty and
grainery are abandoned.

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How the animals moan with hunger.

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The herds of cattle wander about
confused because they have no pasture.

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The flocks of sheep and
goats ble in misery.

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Lord, help us.

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The fire has consumed the wilderness.

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Pastures and flames have burned up.

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All the trees, even the wild
animals cry out to you because the

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streams have dried up and fire has
consumed the wilderness pastures.

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Sound, the trumpet in Jerusalem.

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Raise the alarm on my holy mountain.

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Let everyone tremble in fear because
the day of the Lord is upon us.

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It is a day of darkness and gloom.

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A day of thick clouds and deep blackness.

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Suddenly like dawn spreading across
the mountains, a great and mighty army,

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appears nothing like it has been seen
before or will ever be seen again.

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Fire burns in front of them and flames
follow after them ahead of them.

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The land lies as beautiful
as the Garden of Eden.

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Behind them is nothing but desolation.

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Not one thing escapes.

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They look like horses.

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They charge forward like war horses.

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Look at them as they leap along the
mountaintops, listen to the noise they

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make, like the rumbling of chariots,
like the roar of fire sweeping across a

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field of stubble or like a mighty army.

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Moving into battle, fear
grips all the people.

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Every face grows pale with terror.

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The attackers march like warriors
and scale city walls like soldiers.

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Straightforward, they
march, never breaking rank.

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They never jostle each other.

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Each moves in exactly the right position.

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They break through defenses
without missing a step.

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They swarm over the city
and run along its walls.

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They enter all the houses climbing
like thieves through the windows.

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The earth quakes as they
advance, and the heavens tremble.

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The sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars no longer shine.

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The Lord is at the head of the column.

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He leads them with a shout.

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This is his mighty army
and they follow his orders.

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The day of the Lord is an awesome,
terrible thing Who can possibly survive?

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That is why the Lord says, turn to me.

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Now while there is time,
give me your hearts.

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Come with fasting, weeping and mourning.

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Don't tear your clothing and your
grief, but tear your hearts instead.

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Return to the Lord your God, for he's
merciful and compassionate, slow to get

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angry and filled with unfailing love.

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He's eager to relent and not punish.

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Who knows?

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Perhaps he will give you a
reprieve, sending you a blessing.

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Instead of this curse, perhaps you
will be able to offer grain and wine

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to the Lord your God, as before.

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Blow the Rams horn in Jerusalem.

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Announce a time of fasting.

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Call the people together
for a solemn meeting.

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Gather all the people, the elders,
the children, and even the babies.

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Call the bridegroom from his quarters
and the bride from her private room.

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Let the priests who minister in the
Lord's presence stand and weep between the

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entry room to the temple and the altar.

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Let them pray.

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Spare your people, Lord.

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Don't let your special possession
become an object of mockery.

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Don't let them become a joke for
unbelieving foreigners who say,

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has the God of Israel left them?

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Then the Lord will pity his people and
jealously guard the honor of his land.

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The Lord will reply, look, I'm sending
you grain and new wine and olive

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oil enough to satisfy your needs.

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You will no longer be an object of
mockery among the surrounding nations.

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I will drive away these
armies from the north.

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I will send them into
the parched wastelands.

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Those in the front will be driven
into the dead sea and those at

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the rear into the Mediterranean.

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The stench of their rotting
bodies will rise over the land.

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Surely.

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The Lord has done great things.

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Don't be afraid O land.

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Be glad now and rejoice for
the Lord has done great things.

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Don't be afraid you.

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Animals of the field for the
wilderness pastures will soon be green.

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The trees will again be filled with fruit.

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Fig trees and grapevines will
be loaded down once more.

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Rejoice you people of Jerusalem.

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Rejoice in the Lord your God for the rain
he sends, demonstrates his faithfulness.

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Once more, the autumn reigns will come.

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As well as the rains of spring, the
threshing floors will again be piled

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high with grain and the presses will
overflow with new wine and olive oil.

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The Lord says, I will give you back
what you lost to the swarming locusts,

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the hopping locusts, the stripping
locusts, and the cutting locusts.

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It was I who sent this great
destroying army against you.

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Once again, you will have
all the food you want.

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You will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.

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Never again will my people be disgraced.

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Then you will know that I am among
my people Israel, that I am the Lord

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your God, and there is no other.

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Never again will my people be disgraced.

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Then after doing all those things, I
will pour out my spirit upon all people.

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Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

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Your old men will dream dreams, and
your young men will see visions.

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In those days, I will pour out my
spirit, even on servants, men and

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women alike, and I will cause wonders
in the heavens and on the earth,

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blood and fire, and columns of smoke.

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The sun will become dark and
the moon will turn blood red.

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Before that great and terrible
day of the Lord arrives.

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But everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved.

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For some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem
will escape just as the Lord has said.

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These will be among the survivors
whom the Lord has called at the

00:14:23.738 --> 00:14:25.808
time of those events, says the Lord.

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When I restore the prosperity of Judah
and Jerusalem, I will gather the armies of

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the world into the valley of Jeh Shaphat.

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There.

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I will judge them for harming my
people, my special possession for

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scattering my people among the
nations and for dividing up my land.

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They threw dice to decide which of
my people would be their slaves.

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They traded boys to obtain prostitutes and
sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.

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What do you have against me?

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Tire and Sidon and EU Cities of Philistia.

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Are you trying to take
revenge on me if you are?

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Then watch out.

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I will strike swiftly and pay you
back for everything you have done.

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You have taken my silver and gold in
all my precious treasures and have

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carried them off to your pagan temples.

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You have sold the people of Judah and
Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could

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take them far from their homeland, but I
will bring them back from all the places

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to which you sold them, and I will pay
you back for everything you have done.

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I will sell your sons and daughters
to the people of Judah and they will

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sell them to the people of Arabia.

00:15:37.598 --> 00:15:39.128
A nation far away.

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I the Lord have spoken.

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Say to the nations far and wide.

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Get ready for war.

00:15:47.828 --> 00:15:49.448
Call out your best warriors.

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Let all your fighting men
advance for the attack.

00:15:52.718 --> 00:15:56.768
Hammer your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.

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Train even your weaklings to be warriors.

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Come quickly.

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All you nations everywhere,
gather together in the valley.

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And now, oh Lord.

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Call out your warriors.

00:16:09.338 --> 00:16:11.378
Let the nations be called to arms.

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Let them march to the
valley of Jehoshaphat.

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There I, the Lord will sit to
pronounce judgment on them all.

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Swing the sickle for the harvest is ripe.

00:16:22.628 --> 00:16:25.778
Come tread the grapes for
the wine presses full.

00:16:26.453 --> 00:16:30.563
The storage vats are overflowing
with the wickedness of these people.

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Thousands upon thousands are waiting
in the valley of decision there.

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The day of the Lord will soon arrive.

00:16:38.993 --> 00:16:42.923
The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.

00:16:43.463 --> 00:16:48.563
The Lord's voice will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem, and the

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heavens and the earth will shake, but
the Lord will be a refuge for his people.

00:16:54.368 --> 00:16:59.558
A strong fortress for the people
of Israel, then you will know that

00:16:59.678 --> 00:17:02.828
I the Lord your God, live in Zion.

00:17:03.038 --> 00:17:08.738
My holy mountain, Jerusalem will be
holy forever, and foreign armies will

00:17:08.738 --> 00:17:11.888
never conquer her again in that day.

00:17:12.098 --> 00:17:16.478
The mountains will drip with sweet
wine and the hills will flow with milk.

00:17:17.078 --> 00:17:20.888
Water will fill the stream beds
of Judah and a fountain will

00:17:20.888 --> 00:17:25.298
burst forth from the Lord's temple
watering the arid valley of Acacia.

00:17:26.318 --> 00:17:31.748
But Egypt will become a wasteland, and
edem will become a wilderness because

00:17:31.748 --> 00:17:35.858
they attacked the people of Judah and
killed innocent people in their land.

00:17:36.788 --> 00:17:41.228
But Judah will be filled with
people forever and Jerusalem will

00:17:41.228 --> 00:17:43.118
endure through all generations.

00:17:43.718 --> 00:17:47.078
I will pardon my people's crimes,
which I have not yet pardoned,

00:17:47.678 --> 00:17:53.108
and I, the Lord will make my
home in Jerusalem with my people.

00:17:57.758 --> 00:18:00.608
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.

00:18:00.758 --> 00:18:01.958
Thank you for joining us.