Joel 2

¹Blow a trumpet in Zion ; sound an 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 there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people ; their like has never been before , nor will be again after them through the years of all generations .

³Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns . The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness , and nothing escapes them.

⁴Their appearance is like the appearance of horses , and like war horses they run .

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 .

⁷Like warriors they charge ; like soldiers they scale the wall . They march each on his way ; they do not swerve from their paths .

⁸They do not jostle one another ; each marches in his path ; 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 before his army , for his camp is exceedingly great ; he who executes his word is powerful . For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome ; who can endure it?

¹²Yet even now , declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart , with fasting , with weeping , and with mourning ;

¹³and rend your hearts and not your garments . Return to the Lord your God , for he is gracious and merciful , slow to anger , and abounding in steadfast love ; and he relents over disaster .

¹⁴Who knows whether he will not turn and relent , and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God ?

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion ; consecrate a fast ; call a solemn assembly ;

¹⁶gather the people . Consecrate the congregation ; assemble the elders ; gather the children , even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room , and the bride her chamber .

¹⁷Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests , the ministers of the Lord, weep and say , Spare your people , O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach , a byword among the nations . Why should they say among the peoples , Where is their God ?

¹⁸Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people .

¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people , Behold , I am sending to you grain , wine , and oil , and you will be satisfied ; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations .

²⁰I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land , his vanguard into the eastern sea , and his rear guard into the western sea ; the stench and foul smell of him will rise , for he has done great things .

²¹Fear not , O land ; be glad and rejoice , for the Lord has done great things !

²²Fear not , you beasts of the field , for the pastures of the wilderness are green ; the tree bears its fruit ; the fig tree and vine give their full yield .

²³Be glad , O children of Zion , and rejoice in the Lord your God , for he has given the early rain for your vindication ; he has poured down for you abundant rain , the early and the latter rain, as before .

²⁴The threshing floors shall be full of grain ; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil .

²⁵I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten , the hopper , the destroyer , and the cutter , my great army , which I sent among you.

²⁶You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied , and praise the name of the Lord your God , who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame .

²⁷You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel , and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else . And my people shall never again be put to shame .

²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward , that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh ; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy , your old men shall dream dreams , and your young men shall see visions .

²⁹Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit .

³⁰And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth , blood and fire and columns of smoke .

³¹The sun shall be turned to darkness , and the moon to blood , before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes .

³²And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved . For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape , as the Lord has said , and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls .