Joel 2:1-11
New King James Version
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow (A)the [a]trumpet in Zion,
And (B)sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For (C)the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 (D)A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
(E)A people come, great and strong,
(F)The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
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?
Joel 2:1-11
Lexham English Bible
The Day of Yahweh is Near
2 Blow the trumpet[a] in Zion,
and sound the alarm on my holy mountain![b]
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of Yahweh is coming
—it is indeed near.
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
a day of cloud and thick darkness,
like the dawn spreads on the mountains,
a great and strong army!
There has been nothing like it from old,
and after it nothing will be again for generations to come.[c]
3 Before them[d] a fire devours,
and behind them a flame burns.
Like the garden of Eden is the land before them,[e]
and after them it is like a desolate desert,
and nothing can escape them.
4 Like the appearance of horses is their appearance,
and like horsemen they run;
5 like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about;
like the sound of a flame of fire
devouring stubble;
like a strong army arranged
in rows for battle.
6 From before them[f] nations writhe,
all faces turn pale.[g]
7 They run like mighty warriors,[h]
they scale the wall like men of war;
each goes on its own way,
and they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;[i]
each goes on its own trail;
and through the falling weapons,[j]
they are not halted.
9 In the city they rush forth;
on the walls[k] they run.
Into the houses they climb up;
through the windows
they enter like a thief.
10 Before them[l] the earth quakes;
the heavens tremble;
the sun and the moon grow dark,
and the stars have withheld[m] their splendor
11 And Yahweh utters[n] his voice before his army,
because his encampment is very large;
strong is the one who carries out his decree,
for great is the day of Yahweh
and exceedingly fearful.
Who can endure it?
Footnotes
- Joel 2:1 Hebrew “shofar”
- Joel 2:1 Literally “mountain of my holiness”
- Joel 2:2 Literally “until years of generations”
- Joel 2:3 Literally “before the presence of it”
- Joel 2:3 Literally “before the presence of it”
- Joel 2:6 Or “From in front of it,” or “From the presence of it”
- Joel 2:6 Literally “gather paleness”
- Joel 2:7 That is, the “great and strong army” (see 2:2)
- Joel 2:8 Literally “each man his brother”
- Joel 2:8 Hebrew “weapon”
- Joel 2:9 Hebrew “wall”
- Joel 2:10 Literally “Before the presence of it”
- Joel 2:10 Literally “gathered”
- Joel 2:11 Literally “gives”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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