Joel 1:15–2:11

^15aAlas for the day!

For the ^bday of the Lord 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 torn 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 Lord, I cry;

For ^bfire has devoured 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 devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Chapter 2

The Terrible Visitation

^1aBlow 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,

²A 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.

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 consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

⁶Before them the people are in ^aanguish;

All ^bfaces ¹turn pale.

⁷They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each ^amarch ¹in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

⁸They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they ¹burst through the ²defenses,

They do not break ranks.

⁹They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the ^ahouses,

They ^benter through the windows like a thief.

¹⁰Before them the earth ^aquakes,

The heavens tremble,

The ^bsun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

¹¹The 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?