Joel 1:15–2:11

¹⁵Alas for the day!

^bFor the day of the Lord is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty³ it comes.

¹⁶Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

^cjoy and gladness

from the house of our God?

^17dThe seed shrivels under the clods;⁴

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are torn down

because ^ethe grain has dried up.

¹⁸How ^fthe beasts groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep suffer.⁵

¹⁹To you, ^gO Lord, I call.

^hFor fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

^hand flame has burned

all the trees of the field.

²⁰Even the beasts of the field ⁱpant for you

because the water brooks are dried up,

^hand fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.

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,

^2ma 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.

^3pFire 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.

^4sTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

^5tAs 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.

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;

^vall faces grow pale.

⁷Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

⁸They do not jostle one another;

^weach marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

^9xThey leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

^ythey climb up into the houses,

^ythey enter through the windows ^zlike a thief.

^10aThe earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

^bThe sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

^11cThe Lord utters his voice

before ^dhis army,

for his camp is exceedingly great;

^ehe who executes his word is powerful.

^fFor the day of the Lord is ^ggreat and very awesome;

^hwho can endure it?