Joel 1:15-2:11

Common English Bible

¹⁵ What a terrible day!
    The day of the Lord is near;
        it comes like chaos from the Almighty.^[a]
16 Isn’t the food cut off
    right before our eyes?
    Aren’t joy and gladness also gone from our God’s house?
¹⁷ The grain shrivels under the shovels;^[b]
    the barns are empty.
The granaries are in ruin
    because the grain has dried up.
¹⁸ How the animals groan!
    Herds of cattle are in distress
        because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep pant.

¹⁹ To you, Lord, I cry,
    for fire has completely destroyed
        the pastures of the wilderness;
    and flames have burned
        all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the field’s wild animals cry to you
        because the streams have dried up;
    the fire has completely destroyed
        the meadows of the wilderness.

2 Blow the horn in Zion;
    give a shout on my holy mountain!
Let all the people of the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is near—
²     a day of darkness and no light,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread out upon the mountains,
    a great and powerful army^[c] comes,
        unlike any that has ever come before them,
        or will come after them in centuries ahead.
³ In front of them a fire consumes;
    and behind them a flame burns.
Land ahead of them is like Eden’s garden,
    but they leave behind them a barren wasteland;
        nothing escapes them.
⁴ They resemble horses,
    and like warhorses they charge,
⁵         like the rumbling of chariots.
They leap on the mountaintops—
    like the crackling of a fire’s flame,
        devouring the stubble;
    like a powerful army
        ready for battle.
⁶ In their presence, peoples shake with fear;
    all faces turn red with worry.
⁷ Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they climb the wall.
Each keeps to their own path;
    they didn’t change their course.
⁸ They don’t crowd each other;
    each keeps to their own path.
Even if they fall among the weapons,
    they won’t stop.
⁹ They rush upon the city;
    they run upon the walls.
They climb into the houses;
    they enter through the windows like thieves.
¹⁰ The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens shake.
The sun and the moon are darkened;
    the stars have stopped shining,
¹¹     because the Lord utters his voice
        at the head of his army.
How numerous are his troops!
    Mighty are those who obey his word.
The day of the Lord is great;
    it stirs up great fear—who can endure it?