Joel 2:2–11

²It will be a dark and gloomy day,

a black and cloudy day.

The great army of locusts advances

like darkness spreading over the mountains.

There has never been anything like it,

and there never will be again.

³Like fire they eat up the plants.

In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden,

but behind them it is a barren desert.

Nothing escapes them.

^4*They look like horses;

they run like war horses.

^5*As they leap on the tops of the mountains,

they rattle like chariots;

they crackle like dry grass on fire.

They are lined up like a great army ready for battle.

⁶As they approach, everyone is terrified;

every face turns pale.

⁷They attack like warriors;

they climb the walls like soldiers.

They all keep marching straight ahead

and do not change direction

⁸or get in each other’s way.

They swarm through defences,

and nothing can stop them.

⁹They rush against the city;

they run over the walls;

they climb up the houses

and go in through the windows like thieves.

^10*The earth shakes as they advance;

the sky trembles.

The sun and the moon grow dark,

and the stars no longer shine.

^11*The Lord thunders commands to his army.

The troops that obey him

are many and mighty.

How terrible is the day of the Lord!

Who will survive it?