³ Fire burns in front of them,
    and flames follow after them.
Ahead of them the land lies
    as beautiful as the Garden of Eden.
Behind them is nothing but desolation;
    not one thing escapes.
⁴ They look like horses;
    they charge forward like warhorses.^[b]
5 Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops.
    Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots,
like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble,
    or like a mighty army moving into battle.

⁶ Fear grips all the people;
    every face grows pale with terror.
⁷ The attackers march like warriors
    and scale city walls like soldiers.
Straight forward they march,
    never breaking rank.
⁸ They never jostle each other;
    each moves in exactly the right position.
They break through defenses
    without missing a step.
⁹ They swarm over the city
    and run along its walls.
They enter all the houses,
    climbing like thieves through the windows.
¹⁰ The earth quakes as they advance,
    and the heavens tremble.
The sun and moon grow dark,
    and the stars no longer shine.

¹¹ The Lord is at the head of the column.
    He leads them with a shout.
This is his mighty army,
    and they follow his orders.
The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing.
    Who can possibly survive?

¹⁵ Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
    Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together
    for a solemn meeting.
¹⁶ Gather all the people—
    the elders, the children, and even the babies.
Call the bridegroom from his quarters
    and the bride from her private room.
¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
    stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
    Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
    ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

Surely the Lord has done great things!
²¹     Don’t be afraid, O land.
Be glad now and rejoice,
    for the Lord has done great things.
²² Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field,
    for the wilderness pastures will soon be green.
The trees will again be filled with fruit;
    fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.
²³ Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem!
    Rejoice in the Lord your God!
For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
    Once more the autumn rains will come,
    as well as the rains of spring.
²⁴ The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain,
    and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.

²⁵ The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
    to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.^[d]
    It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
²⁶ Once again you will have all the food you want,
    and you will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.
    Never again will my people be disgraced.
²⁷ Then you will know that I am among my people Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other.
    Never again will my people be disgraced.