1  ^qBlow a trumpet in Zion;

sound an alarm on ^rmy holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming; ^sit is near,

2  a day of ^tdarkness and gloom,

^ua day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

a ^vgreat and powerful people;

^wtheir like has never been before,

nor will be again after them

through the years of all generations.

3  Fire devours before them,

and behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of ^xEden before them,

but behind them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.

4  ^yTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

5  ^zAs with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of a flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

like a powerful army

drawn up for battle.

6  Before them peoples are in anguish;

^aall faces grow pale.

7  ^bLike warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

8  They do not jostle one another;

each marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

9  They leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

they climb up into the houses,

they enter through the windows like a thief.

10  The earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

^cThe sun and the moon are ^ddarkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

11  The Lord utters his voice

before his army,

for his camp is exceedingly great;

he who executes his word is powerful.

For the day of the Lord is ^egreat and very awesome;

^fwho can endure it?