2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let
all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is
close at hand:
2:2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and
thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong
people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after
them, even to the years of many generations.
2:3 A fire devours before
them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before
them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
2:4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen,
so do they run.
2:5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains
do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a
strong people set in battle array.
2:6 At their presence the peoples are
in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
2:7 They run like mighty men. They
climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don't swerve
off course.
2:8 Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his
path, and they burst through the defenses, and don't break ranks.
2:9
They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They
enter in at the windows like thieves.
2:10 The earth quakes before them. The
heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their
shining.
2:11 Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces
are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is
great and very awesome, and who can endure it ?
2:12 "Yet even now," says Yahweh, "turn to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."
2:13 Tear your
heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from
sending calamity.
2:14 Who knows ? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing
behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion ! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
2:16 Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders.
Gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth
from his room, and the bride out of her chamber.
2:17 Let the priests, the
ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say,
"Spare your people, Yahweh, and don't give your heritage to reproach, that the
nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is
their God ?'"
2:18 Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on
his people.
2:19 Yahweh answered his people, "Behold, I will send you grain,
new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make
you a reproach among the nations.
2:20 But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and
will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea,
and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad
smell will rise." Surely he has done great things.
2:21 Land, don't be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has
done great things.
2:22 Don't be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of
the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the
vine yield their strength.
2:23 "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and
rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure,
and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter
rain, as before.
2:24 The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the
vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
2:25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has
eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army,
which I sent among you.
2:26 You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied,
and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you;
and my people will never again be disappointed.
2:27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am
Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be
disappointed.
2:28 "It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on
all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will
dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
2:29 And also on the servants
and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
2:30 I
will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of
smoke.
2:31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
2:32 It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be
saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as
Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.