Bible Strands
Joel 2:23
Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joel addresses the children of Zion after the locust judgment has been reversed, at the moment of announced restoration. The command to rejoice sits between the reassurance to the beasts (v. 22) and the promise of full threshing floors (v. 24).
The words — The two imperatives גילו (gilu, "be glad") and שמחו (simchu, "rejoice") are near-synonyms stacked for emphasis, a deliberate doubling that marks the command as urgent rather than optional.
The thread — The covenant formula of seasonal rains as a sign of divine faithfulness runs back to Leviticus 26:4; the "rejoice in the Lord" formula reappears in Philippians 4:4.
Why it lands — The verse ties joy to a specific act of God (giving rains) rather than to a general mood, and it names Yahweh as the object of that joy, not the rain itself. It asks the reader to locate their gladness in a concrete divine action they can point to.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
Cross-references
- James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
- Leviticus 26:4 I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
- Deuteronomy 11:14 then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
- Hosea 6:3 So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
- Isaiah 12:2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
- Psalms 149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
- Isaiah 41:16 You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Zechariah 10:1 Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.
- Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.