Joel 1:15–2:11

15 aAlas for the day!

For the bday of the Lord is near,

And it will come as cdestruction from the 1Almighty.

16 Has not afood been cut off before our eyes,

Gladness and bjoy from the house of our God?

17 The 1aseeds shrivel under their 2clods;

The storehouses are desolate,

The barns are torn down,

For the grain is dried up.

18 How athe beasts groan!

The herds of cattle wander aimlessly

Because there is no pasture for them;

Even the flocks of sheep 1suffer.

19 aTo You, O Lord, I cry;

For bfire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness

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

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

For the bwater brooks are dried up

And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Chapter 2

The Terrible Visitation

1 aBlow a trumpet in Zion,

And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the bday of the Lord is coming;

Surely it is near,

2 A day of adarkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a bgreat and mighty people;

There has cnever been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

3 A 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.

4 Their aappearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

5 1With a anoise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the 2crackling of a bflame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before them the people are in aanguish;

All bfaces 1turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each amarch 1in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

8 They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they 1burst through the 2defenses,

They do not break ranks.

9 They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the ahouses,

They benter through the windows like a thief.

10 Before them the earth aquakes,

The heavens tremble,

The bsun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

11 The Lord autters His voice before bHis army;

Surely His camp is very great,

For cstrong is he who carries out His word.

The dday of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,

And ewho can endure it?