Joel 2:1-9 ▼

1 Blow the shofar in Zion, and give a shout on the mountain of My holiness! Let all those dwelling in the land tremble, for the day of YHWH is coming; indeed, it is near—

2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like dawn spreading over the mountains, a people great and strong, the like has not been from of old, and after them will not be again, even to years of generation and generation.

3 Before its face a fire devours, and behind them burns a flame; like the garden of Eden is the land before its face, and behind it a wilderness of desolation—and surely nothing shall escape from them.

4 Like the appearance of horses is its appearance, and like steeds so they run.

5 As with the sound of chariots over the tops of mountains, they leap; like the sound of a flaming fire devouring the stubble, like a strong people arrayed for battle.

6 Before its face the peoples writhe; all faces gather paleness.

7 Like mighty men they run, like men of war they climb the wall, and a man in his ways marches, and they do not swerve from their paths.

8 A man and his brother do not jostle, each man marches in his path; between the weapon they lunge; they are not cut down.

9 Into the city they rush, on the wall they run; into the houses they come up, and at the windows they come in like a thief.