Joel 2:1–10

The Day of the Lord

2 jBlow a trumpet in kZion;

sound an alarm on kmy holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for lthe day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

2  ma day of darkness and gloom,

ma day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

na great and powerful people;

otheir like has never been before,

nor will be again after them

through the years of all generations.

3  pFire devours before them,

and behind them a flame burns.

The land is like qthe garden of Eden before them,

but rbehind them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.

4  sTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

5  tAs with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of ua flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

nlike a powerful army

drawn up for battle.

6  Before them peoples are in anguish;

vall faces grow pale.

7  Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

8  They do not jostle one another;

weach marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

9  xThey leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

ythey climb up into the houses,

ythey enter through the windows zlike a thief.

10  aThe earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

bThe sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.