2:1 Blow the trumpet 1 in Zion;
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
Indeed, 2 it is near! 3
2:2 It will be 4 a day of dreadful darkness, 5
a day of foreboding storm clouds, 6
like blackness 7 spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army 8 –
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! 9
2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; 10
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden 11 before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –
for nothing escapes them! 12
2:4 They look like horses; 13
they charge ahead like war horses.
2:5 They sound like 14 chariots rumbling 15 over mountain tops,
like the crackling 16 of blazing fire consuming stubble,
like the noise of 17 a mighty army 18 being drawn up for battle. 19
2:6 People 20 writhe in fear when they see them. 21
All of their faces turn pale with fright. 22
2:7 They 23 charge 24 like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers. 25
Each one proceeds on his course;
they do not alter 26 their path.
2:8 They do not jostle one another; 27
each of them marches straight ahead. 28
They burst through 29 the city defenses 30
and do not break ranks.
2:9 They rush into 31 the city;
they scale 32 its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
2:10 The earth quakes 33 before them; 34
the sky reverberates. 35
The sun and the moon grow dark;
the stars refuse to shine. 36
2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders 37 as he leads his army. 38
Indeed, his warriors 39 are innumerable; 40
Surely his command is carried out! 41
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome 42
and very terrifying – who can survive 43 it?