³ A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like ^(G)the Garden of Eden before them,
^(H)And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
^4 (I)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like ^[b]swift steeds, so they run.
^5 (J)With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.

⁶ Before them the people writhe in pain;
^(K)All faces ^[c]are drained of color.
⁷ They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break ^(L)ranks.
⁸ They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own ^[d]column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not ^[e]cut down.
⁹ They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They ^(M)enter at the windows ^(N)like a thief.

^10 (O)The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
^(P)The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
^11 (Q)The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
^(R)For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the ^(S)day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
^(T)Who can endure it?

^15 (AB)Blow the ^[f]trumpet in Zion,
^(AC)Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
¹⁶ Gather the people,
^(AD)Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
^(AE)Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
Weep ^(AF)between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, ^(AG)“Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should ^[g]rule over them.
^(AH)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”

²⁰ “But ^(AL)I will remove far from you ^(AM)the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back ^(AN)toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done ^[h]monstrous things.”

²¹ Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done ^[i]marvelous things!
²² Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For ^(AO)the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
²³ Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And ^(AP)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the ^[j]former rain faithfully,
And He ^(AQ)will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵ “So I will restore to you the years ^(AR)that the swarming ^[k]locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
²⁶ You shall ^(AS)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 be put to ^(AT)shame.
²⁷ Then you shall know that I am ^(AU)in the midst of Israel:
^(AV)I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.

³⁰ “And ^(BB)I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
^31 (BC)The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
^(BD)Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
³² And it shall come to pass
That ^(BE)whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be ^[l]saved.
For ^(BF)in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be ^[m]deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among ^(BG)the remnant whom the Lord calls.