Giô-ên 2

The day of the LORD and its army

¹Blow the ram’s horn in Zion! \q Sound the battle alarm on my holy mountain! \q Let everyone who lives in the land tremble, \q for the day of the LORD is on its way; it is close at hand. ²It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and deep darkness. \q Like the dawn spreading across the mountains \q comes a great and mighty people. \q Nothing like it has ever been before, \q and nothing like it will ever be again \q through all the generations to come. ³Fire devours in front of them, \q and behind them a flame blazes. \q Ahead of them the land is like the garden of Eden; behind them it is a desolate wilderness; \q nothing escapes them. ⁴They look like horses; \q like war horses they charge. ⁵With a noise like chariots they leap over the mountaintops, \q like the crackling of a blazing fire that burns up stubble, \q like a mighty army lined up for battle. ⁶At the sight of them nations writhe in anguish; \q every face turns pale.^{a 7}They charge like warriors; \q they scale the wall like soldiers. \q Each one marches straight ahead; \q none of them breaks rank. ⁸They do not push one another; \q each marches in its own track. \q They plunge through the weapons and do not stop. ⁹They swarm over the city; they run along the wall; \q they climb into the houses; \q they come in through the windows like a thief. ¹⁰Before them the earth quakes \q and the sky shakes; \q the sun and moon go dark, \q and the stars lose their brightness. ¹¹The LORD thunders at the head of his army; \q his forces are vast, \q and mighty is the one who carries out his command. \q The day of the LORD is great and very terrible. Who can endure it? ¹²Yet even now, declares the LORD, \q turn back to me with all your heart, \q with fasting and weeping and mourning. ¹³Tear your hearts, not your clothes, \q and turn back to the LORD your God, \q for he is gracious and full of tender compassion, \q slow to grow angry and rich in loyal love, \q and he relents from sending disaster. ¹⁴Who knows? He may turn back and relent, \q and leave behind him a blessing: \q grain offerings and drink offerings \q for the LORD your God.

The people gather, and the LORD answers

¹⁵Blow the ram’s horn in Zion! \q Proclaim a holy fast; call a solemn assembly. ¹⁶Gather the people; make the assembly holy; bring together the elders; \q gather the children, \q even babies nursing at the breast. \q Let the bridegroom leave his own room \q and the bride her wedding chamber. ¹⁷Between the porch and the altar \q let the priests weep, \q those who serve the LORD. \q Let them pray, “Have pity on your people, LORD! Do not let your inheritance become a disgrace, a byword among the nations. \q Why should the peoples be allowed to say, \q ‘Where is their God?’”^{b 18}Then the LORD became jealous for his land \q and took pity on his people.^{c 19}The LORD answered his people and said: I am sending you grain, new wine, and olive oil, \q and you will have all you want. \q Never again will I make you a disgrace among the nations. ²⁰I will drive the northern army far away from you, into a dry and desolate land, \q its vanguard into the eastern sea, \q and its rear into the western sea. \q Its stench will rise; its rotting smell will go up, \q for it has done great harm.^{de 21}Do not be afraid, O land! \q Be glad and rejoice, \q for the LORD has done great things! ²²Do not be afraid, you wild animals, \q for the pastures in the wilderness are turning green. \q The trees are bearing their fruit; \q the fig tree and the vine give their full yield. ²³People of Zion, be glad; rejoice in the LORD your God! \q He has given you the autumn rain in his faithfulness. \q He has poured down rain for you, the autumn rain and the spring rain, as before.^{f 24}The threshing floors will be heaped with grain; \q the vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil. ²⁵I will make up to you for the years \q that the swarming locust has eaten, \q the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the cutting locust, \q my great army \q that I sent against you. ²⁶You will eat your fill and be satisfied, \q and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, \q the one who has worked wonders for you. \q Never again will my people be put to shame. ²⁷Then you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, \q that I, the LORD, am your God, and there is no other. \q Never again will my people be put to shame.