Joel 2:2-11

Good News Translation

²It will be a dark and gloomy day,
    a black and cloudy day.
The great army of locusts advances
    like darkness spreading over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it,
    and there never will be again.

³Like fire they eat up the plants.
    In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden,
    but behind them it is a barren desert.
    Nothing escapes them.
⁴^(A)They look like horses;
    they run like war-horses.
⁵As they leap on the tops of the mountains,
    they rattle like chariots;
    they crackle like dry grass on fire.
They are lined up like a great army ready for battle.
⁶As they approach, everyone is terrified;
    every face turns pale.
⁷They attack like warriors;
    they climb the walls like soldiers.
They all keep marching straight ahead
    and do not change direction
⁸    or get in each other's way.
They swarm through defenses,
    and nothing can stop them.
⁹They rush against the city;
    they run over the walls;
    they climb up the houses
    and go in through the windows like thieves.

¹⁰^(B)The earth shakes as they advance;
    the sky trembles.
The sun and the moon grow dark,
    and the stars no longer shine.
¹¹^(C)The Lord thunders commands to his army.
    The troops that obey him
    are many and mighty.
How terrible is the day of the Lord!
    Who will survive it?