| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem ! Raise the alarm on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the LORD is upon us. | 1Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the LORD is about to come. Indeed, it is near! |
| 2It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears. Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again. | 2It will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army--there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! |
| 3Fire 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. | 3Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness--for nothing escapes them! |
| 4They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses. | 4They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. |
| 5Look 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. | 5They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle. |
| 6Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror. | 6People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright. |
| 7The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank. | 7They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path. |
| 8They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step. | 8They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks. |
| 9They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows. | 9They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief. |
| 10The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. | 10The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. |
| 11The 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? A Call to Repentance | 11The voice of the LORD thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the LORD is awesome and very terrifying--who can survive it? |
| 12That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. | 12"Yet even now," the LORD says, "return to me with all your heart--with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments!" |
| 13Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. | 13Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love--often relenting from calamitous punishment. |
| 14Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the LORD your God as before. | 14Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake--a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the LORD your God! |
| 15Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. | 15Blow the trumpet in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly! |
| 16Gather all the people— the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room. | 16Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters. |
| 17Let 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?’” The LORD’s Promise of Restoration | 17Let the priests, those who serve the LORD, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. Let them say, "Have pity, O LORD, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, "Where is their God?" |
| 18Then the LORD will pity his people and jealously guard the honor of his land. | 18Then the LORD became zealous for his land; he had compassion on his people. |
| 19The LORD will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations. | 19The LORD responded to his people, "Look! I am about to restore your grain as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied. I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations. |
| 20I will drive away these armies from the north. I will send them into the parched wastelands. Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea, and those at the rear into the Mediterranean. The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.” Surely the LORD has done great things! | 20I will remove the one from the north far from you. I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place. Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. His stench will rise up as a foul smell." Indeed, the LORD has accomplished great things. |
| 21Don’t be afraid, O land. Be glad now and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things. | 21Do not fear, my land! Rejoice and be glad, because the LORD has accomplished great things! |
| 22Don’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. | 22Do not fear, wild animals! For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass. Indeed, the trees bear their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. |
| 23Rejoice, 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. | 23Citizens of Zion, rejoice! Be glad because of what the LORD your God has done! For he has given to you the early rains as vindication. He has sent to you the rains--both the early and the late rains as formerly. |
| 24The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil. | 24The threshing floors are full of grain; the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil. |
| 25The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. | 25I will make up for the years that the 'arbeh -locust consumed your crops--the yeleq -locust, the hasil -locust, and the gazam -locust--my great army that I sent against you. |
| 26Once 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. | 26You will have plenty to eat, and your hunger will be fully satisfied; you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has acted wondrously in your behalf. My people will never again be put to shame. |
| 27Then 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. The LORD’s Promise of His Spirit | 27You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the LORD your God; there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame. |
| 28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. | 28After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; your young men will see prophetic visions. |
| 29In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. | 29Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. |
| 30And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. | 30I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth--blood, fire, and columns of smoke. |
| 31The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. | 31The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the LORD comes--that great and terrible day! |
| 32But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called. | 32It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the LORD has promised; the remnant will be those whom the LORD will call. |
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