Joel 1:15–2:11

¹⁵The day of the Lord is near.

How sad it will be on that day!

The Mighty One is coming to destroy you.

¹⁶Our food has been taken away

right in front of our eyes.

There isn’t any joy or gladness

in the house of our God.

¹⁷The seeds have dried up in the ground.

The grain is also gone.

The storerooms have been destroyed.

The barns are broken down.

¹⁸Listen to the cattle groan!

The herds wander around.

They don’t have any grass to eat.

The flocks of sheep are also suffering.

¹⁹Lord, I call out to you.

Fire has burned up the grasslands.

Flames have destroyed all of the trees in the fields.

²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to you for help.

The streams of water have dried up.

Fire has burned up the grasslands.

The Lord Sends an Army of Locusts

2Priests, blow the trumpets in Zion.

Give a warning on my holy mountain.

Let everyone who lives in the land tremble with fear.

The day of the Lord is coming.

It is very near.

²That day will be dark and sad.

It will be black and cloudy.

A huge army of locusts is coming.

They will spread across the mountains

like the sun when it rises.

There has never been an army like it.

And there will never be another

for all time to come.

³Like fire they eat up everything in their path.

Behind them it looks as if flames have burned the land.

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

Behind them it is a dry and empty desert.

Nothing escapes them.

⁴They look like horses.

Like war horses they charge ahead.

⁵They sound like chariots as they leap over the mountaintops.

They crackle like fire burning up dry weeds.

They are like a mighty army

that is ready for battle.

⁶When people see them, they tremble with fear.

All of their faces turn pale.

⁷The locusts charge ahead like warriors.

They climb over walls like soldiers.

All of them march in line.

They don’t turn to the right or the left.

⁸They don’t bump into one another.

Each of them marches straight ahead.

They charge through everything that tries to stop them.

But they still stay in line.

⁹They attack a city.

They run along its wall.

They climb into houses.

They enter through windows like robbers.

¹⁰As they march forward, the earth shakes.

The sky trembles as they approach.

The sun and moon grow dark.

And the stars stop shining.

¹¹The Lord thunders with his mighty voice

as he leads his army.

He has so many forces they can’t even be counted.

Those who obey his commands are great in number.

The day of the Lord is great and terrifying.

Who can live through it?