Joel 1:15–2:11

^15aAlas for the day!

For the ^bday of Yahweh is near,

And it will come as ^cdestruction from the ¹Almighty.

¹⁶Has not ^afood been cut off before our eyes,

Gladness and ^bjoy from the house of our God?

¹⁷The ^1aseeds shrivel under their ²clods;

The storehouses are desolate;

The barns are pulled down,

For the grain is dried up.

¹⁸How ^athe beasts groan!

The herds of cattle wander aimlessly

Because there is no pasture for them;

Even the flocks of sheep ¹suffer.

^19aTo You, O Yahweh, I cry;

For ^bfire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness,

And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

²⁰Even the beasts of the field ^1apant for You;

For the ^bwater brooks are dried up,

And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.

CHAPTER 2

^1aBlow a trumpet in Zion,

And make a loud shout on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the ^bday of Yahweh is coming;

Surely it is near,

²A day of ^adarkness and thick darkness,

A day of clouds and dense gloom.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a ^bnumerous and mighty people;

There has ^cnever been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

For the years from generation to generation.

³A ^afire consumes before them,

And behind them a flame burns.

The land is ^blike the garden of Eden before them

But a ^cdesolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

⁴Their ^aappearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

⁵¹With a ^anoise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the ²crackling of a ^bflame of fire consumes the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

⁶Before them the peoples are ^awrithing;

All ^bfaces ¹turn pale.

⁷They run like mighty men;

They climb up the wall like men of war;

And they each ^amarch ¹in line,

And they do not deviate from their paths.

⁸They do not crowd each other;

They march everyone in his path;

When they fall against the defending weapons,

They do not break ranks.

⁹They rush on the city;

They run on the wall;

They climb up into the ^ahouses;

They ^benter through the windows like a thief.

¹⁰Before them the earth ^atrembles;

The heavens quake;

The ^bsun and the moon grow dark,

And the stars ¹lose their brightness.

¹¹But Yahweh ^agives forth His voice before ^bHis military force;

Surely His camp is very numerous,

For ^cmighty is he who does His word.

The ^dday of Yahweh is indeed great and very awesome,

And ^ewho can endure it?