Chapter 2

1Blow a horn in Zion,Sound an alarm on My holy mount!Let all dwellers on earth tremble,For the day of the LORD has come!It is close—

2A day of darkness and gloom,A day of densest cloudSpread like soot over the hills.A vast, enormous horde—Nothing like it has ever happened,And it shall never happen againThrough the years and ages.

3Their vanguard is a consuming fire,Their rear guard a devouring flame.Before them the land was like the Garden of Eden,Behind them, a desolate waste:Nothing has escaped them.

4They have the appearance of horses,They gallop just like steeds.

5With a clatter as of chariotsThey bound on the hilltops,With a noise like a blazing fireConsuming straw;Like an enormous hordeArrayed for battle.

6Peoples tremble before them,All faces aturn ashen.

7They rush like warriors,They scale a wall like fighters.And each keeps to his own track.Their paths never cross;b

8No one jostles another,Each keeps to his own course.bAnd should they fall through a loophole,They do not get hurt.

9They rush up the wall,They dash about in the city;They climb into the houses,They enter like thievesBy way of the windows.

10Before them earth trembles,Heaven shakes,Sun and moon are darkened,And stars withdraw their brightness.

11And the LORD roars aloudAt the head of His army;For vast indeed is His host,Numberless are those that do His bidding.For great is the day of the LORD,Most terrible—who can endure it?

12“Yet even now”—says the LORD—“Turn back to Me with all your hearts,And with fasting, weeping, and lamenting.”

13Rend your heartsRather than your garments,And turn back to the LORD your God.For He is gracious and compassionate,Slow to anger, abounding in kindness,And renouncing punishment.

14Who knows but He may turn and relent,And leave a blessing behindFor meal offering and drink offeringTo the LORD your God?c

15Blow a horn in Zion,Solemnize a fast,Proclaim an assembly!

16Gather the people,Bid the congregation purify themselves.dBring together the old,Gather the babesAnd the sucklings at the breast;Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber,The bride from her canopied couch.

17Between the portico and the altar,Let the priests, the LORD’s ministers, weepAnd say:“Oh, spare Your people, LORD!Let not Your possession become a mockery,To be taunted by nations!Let not the peoples say,‘Where is their God?’”

18Then the LORD was rousedOn behalf of His landAnd had compassionUpon His people.

19In response to His peopleThe LORD declared:“I will grant you the new grain,The new wine, and the new oil,And you shall have them in abundance.Nevermore will I let you beA mockery among the nations.

20I will drive the northernere far from you,I will thrust it into a parched and desolate land—Its van to the Eastern SeafAnd its rear to the Western Sea;gAnd the stench of it shall go up,And the foul smell rise.”For [the LORD] shall work great deeds.

21Fear not, O soil, rejoice and be glad;For the LORD has wrought great deeds.

22Fear not, O beasts of the field,For the pastures in the wildernessAre clothed with grass.The trees have borne their fruit;Fig tree and vineHave yielded their strength.

23O children of Zion, be glad,Rejoice in the LORD your God.For He has given you the early rain in [His] kindness,Now He makes the rain fall [as] formerly—The early rain and the late—

24And threshing floors shall be piled with grain,And vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25“I will repay you hfor the yearsConsumed by swarms and hoppers,By grubs and locusts,The great army I let loose against you.

26And you shall eat your fillAnd praise the name of the LORD your GodWho dealt so wondrously with you—My people shall be shamed no more.

27And you shall knowThat I am in the midst of Israel:That I the LORD am your GodAnd there is no other.And My people shall be shamed no more.”