Bible Strands
Joel 3:16
The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joel addresses Israel at the climax of the Day of the LORD, immediately after the cosmic signs of 3:15 and before the closing declaration of 3:17. The verse pivots from judgment on the nations to God's protective presence over His own.
The words — יִשְׁאָג (yish'ag), "he will roar," is the verb of a lion's attack cry; the same word appears in Amos 1:2 and Jeremiah 25:30 for the LORD's voice. The double origin—Zion and Jerusalem—anchors the roar to a specific place rather than an abstract heaven.
The thread — Amos 1:2 repeats the formula nearly verbatim ("the LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem") and attaches it to the mourning of shepherds' pastures. Jeremiah 25:30 shifts the vantage to "from on high" but keeps the roar; Joel 2:10 supplies the same quaking-heavens imagery within the locust invasion.
Why it lands — The verse yokes cosmic terror and personal shelter into a single sentence: the same voice that shakes the earth is the one that becomes a stronghold. It asks the reader to stop treating God's power and God's protection as separate categories.
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
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Cross-references
- Joel 2:10 Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
- Amos 1:2 He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
- Jeremiah 25:30 So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ‘The LORD will roar from on high; He will raise His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar loudly over His pasture; like those who tread the grapes, He will call out with a shout against all the inhabitants of the earth.
- Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Isaiah 42:13 The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:
- Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
- Haggai 2:6 For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
- Psalms 61:3 For You have been my refuge, a tower of strength against the enemy.
- Isaiah 51:16 I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Ezekiel 38:19 In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.