Joel 2:1-11

Blow the shofar in Zion, sound the alarm on my mountain of holiness! Shake the people awake, for the day of YAHWEH is coming. Yes, it is almost here. It will be a day of darkness and gloom, a black and cloudy day. As the dawning light spreads across the mountains, so will a great and powerful people advance, an army such as has never been seen before and such as will never be seen again, not even in all the ages to come. Fire blazes before them, and behind them the flame consumes. Before their eyes, the earth is like the garden of Eden, and behind them they leave a devastated wilderness. Nothing escapes them unscathed. Their appearance is like horses prepared for battle; like war horses, they charge ahead. They rumble like war chariots; they leap over the mountaintops. They devour the land, with the sound of a wildfire devouring stubble. They are a mighty people who are prepared for the battle. At the sight of this army, nations panic, all their faces grow pale. They press forward like mighty warriors, and scale walls like elite soldiers, each marching straight ahead, not swerving from his path. They never jostle each other, for each one stays on his own path. They storm the city and burst through its defenses. Together they are unstoppable. They rush against the city and scale its walls. They climb up into the houses and enter through the windows like thieves. YAHWEH As that army advances, the earth shakes, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. YAHWEH’s voice thunders as he leads his valiant troops. Numberless are the mighty ones who obey his commands. Yes, the day of YAHWEH is great and astonishing! Who can withstand it?