Isaiah 2:12

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ¹ 

for ²  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Isaiah 13:6

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ³  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ⁴ 

Isaiah 13:9

13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ⁵  is coming;

it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ⁶ 

destroying ⁷  the earth ⁸ 

and annihilating its sinners.

Joel 2:31

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ⁹ 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

Joel 3:14

3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! ¹⁰ 

Malachi 4:5

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ¹¹  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Acts 2:20

2:20 The sun will be changed to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the great and glorious ¹²  day of the Lord comes.

Revelation 16:14

16:14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth ¹³  to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. ¹⁴ 

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ² tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[13:6]  ³ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

[13:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[13:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “[with] cruelty, and fury, and rage of anger.” Three synonyms for “anger” are piled up at the end of the line to emphasize the extraordinary degree of divine anger that will be exhibited in this judgment.

[13:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “making desolate.”

[13:9]  ⁸ tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).

[2:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.

[3:14]  ¹⁰ sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.

[4:5]  ¹¹ sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

[2:20]  ¹² tn Or “and wonderful.”

[16:14]  ¹³ tn BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 1 states, “the inhabited earth, the world…ὅλη ἡ οἰκ. the whole inhabited earth…Mt 24:14; Ac 11:28; Rv 3:10; 16:14.”

[16:14]  ¹⁴ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”