Joel 1:15–2:11

¹⁵Alas for the day!

For the day of the Lord is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty^a it comes.^*

¹⁶Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

joy and gladness

from the house of our God?^*

¹⁷The seed shrivels under the clods;^b

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are ruined

because the grain has withered.

¹⁸How the animals groan!

The herds of cattle wander about

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep are perishing.^*

¹⁹To you, O Lord, I cry,

for fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

and flames have burned

all the trees of the field.^*

²⁰Even the wild animals cry to you

because the watercourses are dried up,

and fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.^*

²Blow the trumpet in Zion;

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—^*

²a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness spread upon the mountains,

a great and powerful army comes;

their like has never been from of old,

nor will be again after them

in ages to come.^*

³Fire devours in front of them,

and behind them a flame burns.

Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,

but after them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.^*

⁴They have the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they charge.^*

⁵As with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of a flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

like a powerful army

drawn up for battle.^*

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;

all faces grow pale.^c*

⁷Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

Each keeps to its own course;

they do not swerve from their paths.

⁸They do not jostle one another;

each keeps to its own track;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

⁹They leap upon the city;

they run upon the walls;

they climb up into the houses;

they enter through the windows like a thief.^*

¹⁰The earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

The sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.^*

¹¹The Lord utters his voice

at the head of his army;

how vast is his host!

Numberless are those who obey his command.

Truly the day of the Lord is great,

terrible indeed—who can endure it?^*