Joel 1:15-2:11

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁵ Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty^[a] it comes.^(A)
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?^(B)

¹⁷ The seed shrivels under the clods;^[b]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are ruined
    because the grain has withered.
¹⁸ How the animals groan!
    The herds of cattle wander about
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep are perishing.^(C)

¹⁹ To you, O Lord, I cry,
for fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
and flames have burned
    all the trees of the field.^(D)
20 Even the wild animals cry to you
    because the watercourses are dried up,
and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.^(E)

2 Blow 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—^(F)
2 a 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.^(G)

³ Fire 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.^(H)

⁴ They have the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they charge.^(I)
5 As 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.^(J)

⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish;
    all faces grow pale.^[c](K)
7 Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
Each keeps to its own course;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸ They do not jostle one another;
    each keeps to its own track;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
⁹ They leap upon the city;
    they run upon the walls;
they climb up into the houses;
    they enter through the windows like a thief.^(L)

¹⁰ The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.^(M)
11 The 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?^(N)