Joel 2:1-9 ▼

1 Sound 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.

2 It 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.

3 Fire 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.

4 They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses.

5 Look 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.

6 Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror.

7 The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank.

8 They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step.

9 They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows.