Joel 2:2-11

2:2 It 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!

2:3 Like 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!

2:4 They look like horses;

they charge ahead like war horses.

2:5 They 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.

2:6 People writhe in fear when they see them.

All of their faces turn pale with fright.

2:7 They charge like warriors;

they scale walls like soldiers.

Each one proceeds on his course;

they do not alter their path.

2:8 They do not jostle one another;

each of them marches straight ahead.

They burst through the city defenses

and do not break ranks.

2:9 They rush into the city;

they scale its walls.

They climb up into the houses;

they go in through the windows like a thief.

2:10 The earth quakes before them;

the sky reverberates.

The sun and the moon grow dark;

the stars refuse to shine.

2:11 The 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?