2 Blow the trumpet in Zion;

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness spread upon the mountains

a great and powerful army comes;

their like has never been from of old,

nor will be again after them

in ages to come.

3 Fire devours in front of them,

and behind them a flame burns.

Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,

but after them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.

4 They have the appearance of horses,

and like war-horses they charge.

5 As with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of a flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

like a powerful army

drawn up for battle.

6 Before them peoples are in anguish,

all faces grow pale.a

7 Like warriors they charge,

like soldiers they scale the wall.

Each keeps to its own course,

they do not swerve fromb their paths.

8 They do not jostle one another,

each keeps to its own track;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

9 They leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls;

they climb up into the houses,

they enter through the windows like a thief.

10 The earth quakes before them,

the heavens tremble.

The sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

11 The Lord utters his voice

at the head of his army;

how vast is his host!

Numberless are those who obey his command.

Truly the day of the Lord is great;

terrible indeed—who can endure it?