Joel 2:1-11

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 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!

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 ahead like war horses.

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.

6People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright.

7They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path.

8They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks.

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 before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine.

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?