The Day of the Lord
aBlow a trumpet in bZion;
sound an alarm on bmy holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for cthe day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2 aa day of darkness and gloom,
aa day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
ba great and powerful people;
ctheir like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
3 aFire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like bthe garden of Eden before them,
but cbehind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
4 aTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
5 aAs with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ba flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
clike a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish;
aall faces grow pale.
7 Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
aeach marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
9 aThey leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
bthey climb up into the houses,
bthey enter through the windows clike a thief.
10 aThe earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
bThe sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 aThe Lord utters his voice
before bhis army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
che who executes his word is powerful.
dFor the day of the Lord is egreat and very awesome;
fwho can endure it?
Return to the Lord
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
a“return to me with all your heart,
bwith fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and arend your hearts and not byour garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
cfor he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
dand he relents over disaster.
14 aWho knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and bleave a blessing behind him,
ca grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 aBlow the trumpet in Zion;
bconsecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
aConsecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
bgather the children,
even nursing infants.
cLet the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17 aBetween the bvestibule and the caltar
dlet the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
eWhy should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
The Lord Had Pity
18 aThen the Lord became jealous for his land
band had pity on his people.
19 The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, aI am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
aand you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
20 “I will remove the northerner far from you,
and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard into athe eastern sea,
and his rear guard into bthe western sea;
cthe stench and foul smell of him will rise,
for he has done great things.
21 “Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for athe Lord has done great things!
22 Fear not, ayou beasts of the field,
for bthe pastures of the wilderness are green;
cthe tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and cvine give their full yield.
23 a“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and arejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given bthe early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
bthe early and cthe latter rain, as before.
24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will restore to you the years
that athe swarming locust has eaten,
athe hopper, athe destroyer, and athe cutter,
bmy great army, which I sent among you.
26 a“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people bshall never again be put to shame.
27 aYou shall know that I am bin the midst of Israel,
and that cI am the Lord your God dand there is none else.
And my people eshall never again be put to shame.
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
28 a“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that bI will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
cyour sons and dyour daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 aEven on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30 “And I will show awonders in the heavens and aon the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 aThe sun shall be turned to darkness, band the moon to blood, cbefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that aeveryone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. bFor in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among cthe survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.