Joel 1:15-2:11

English Standard Version

¹⁵Alas for the day!
^(A)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,
^(B)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

¹⁷^(C)The seed shrivels under the clods;^[b]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because ^(D)the grain has dried up.
¹⁸How ^(E)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.^[c]

¹⁹To you, ^(F)O Lord, I call.
^(G)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
^(H)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
²⁰Even the beasts of the field ^(I)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
^(J)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

The Day of the Lord

2 ^(K)Blow a trumpet in ^(L)Zion;
    sound an alarm on ^(M)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for ^(N)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
²^(O)a day of darkness and gloom,
    ^(P)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    ^(Q)a great and powerful people;
^(R)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

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

⁴^(V)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
⁵^(W)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(X)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(Y)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(Z)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;
    ^(AA)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
⁹^(AB)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(AC)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(AD)they enter through the windows ^(AE)like a thief.

¹⁰^(AF)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(AG)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
¹¹^(AH)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(AI)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(AJ)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(AK)For the day of the Lord is ^(AL)great and very awesome;
    ^(AM)who can endure it?