Joel 2:1-2

English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord

2 ^(A)Blow a trumpet in ^(B)Zion;
    sound an alarm on ^(C)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for ^(D)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
²^(E)a day of darkness and gloom,
    ^(F)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    ^(G)a great and powerful people;
^(H)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

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Joel 2:12-17

English Standard Version

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    ^(A)“return to me with all your heart,
^(B)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and ^(C)rend your hearts and not ^(D)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    ^(E)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    ^(F)and he relents over disaster.
¹⁴^(G)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and ^(H)leave a blessing behind him,
^(I)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(J)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(K)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶    gather the people.
^(L)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(M)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(N)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷^(O)Between the ^(P)vestibule and the ^(Q)altar
    ^(R)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.^[a]
^(S)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”