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          DASV: Joel 2

1 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
          and sound an alarm on my holy mountain.
     Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
          for the day of the LORD comes, it is near.
2 It will be a day of darkness and gloominess,
          a day of clouds and thick darkness.
     Like blackness spreading over the mountains,
          a great and powerful army comes;
           there has never been anything like it,
          nor will there ever be again,
                for many generations.

3 A fire devours before them,
          and behind them a flame burns.
     The land is like the garden of Eden before them,
          but behind them it is like a desolate wilderness;
                nothings escapes them.
4 They look like horses;
     they charge forward like war horses.
5 With a sound like chariots,
     they leap over the mountains tops;
     like the crackling of a fire devouring stubble,
     like a powerful army prepared for battle.

6 At their presence the people writhe in terror;
     all faces grow pale.
7 They charge like warriors;
          they scale the wall like soldiers.
      They each march on their way,
          and they do not deviate from their path.
8 They do not jostle one another;
          each one marches in his own track.
     They burst through the defenses,
          without breaking ranks.
9 They rush into the city;
          they run along its wall.
      They climb up into the houses;
          they gain entrance through the windows like a thief.

10 The earth quakes before them;
          the heavens tremble.
     The sun and the moon are darkened,
          and the stars stop shining.
11 The LORD raises his voice before his army;
     for his forces are innumerable;
           for the one executing his command is strong.
      The day of the LORD is great and terrifying.
     Who is able to survive it?

12 "Yet even now," says the LORD,
     "turn to me with all your heart,
           with fasting, weeping, and mourning."
13 Tear your heart and not your clothes,
     and turn to the LORD your God;
      for he is gracious and merciful,
     slow to anger and abundant in loyal love;
           he may change his mind about punishing.
14 Who knows? Perhaps he will turn and relent,
          and leave a blessing behind him.
      Perhaps you will be able to offer a grain offering and a drink offering
          to the LORD your God again?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
     proclaim a fast,
           summon a solemn assembly.
16 Gather the people,
     sanctify the assembly,
           assemble the elders,
     gather the children,
           even infants who are nursing.
      Let the bridegroom come out of his bedroom,
          and the bride out of her chamber.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD,
     weep between the porch and the altar,
     and let them say,
     "Spare your people, O LORD,
           and do not permit your heritage to be ridiculed,
           a mocking proverb among the nations.
     Why should they say among the peoples,
           'Where is their God?'"

18 Then the LORD may become jealous for his land,
     and have pity on his people.
19 The LORD replied to his people,
     "Look, I will send you grain, new wine, and olive oil,
           and you will be satisfied with it;
      I will no more make you a mockery among the nations;
20 I will remove the northern army far away,
     and will drive it into a barren and desolate land,
      its vanguard to the east into the Dead Sea,
     and its rear guard into the western Mediterranean Sea.
      Its stench will come up,
          and its foul odor will rise up."

     Surely he has done great things.
21 Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice;
     for the LORD has done great things.
22 Do not be afraid, O animals of the field;
     for the pastures of the wilderness are green,
     for the tree bears its fruit,
     the fig tree and vine yield their produce.
23 Be glad, O children of Zion,
          and rejoice in the LORD your God;
     for he gives you the former rain as vindication,
          and he pours down rain for you,
           the former rain and the latter rain just like before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of wheat,
     and the vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil.
25 I will repay you the years that the swarming locust ate,
     the hopping, destroying and cutting locusts,
           my great army that I sent against you.
26 You will have plenty to eat and will be satisfied;
          you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
      who has done wondrously for you;
          my people will never be put to shame.
27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
     and that I am the LORD your God,
           there is no other.
      My people will never be put to shame.

28 It will come to pass afterward,
          that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
     Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
          your old men will dream dreams,
           your young men will see visions.
29 Also on male and female servants in those days
     will I pour out my Spirit.
30 I will display wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
     blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness
     and the moon into blood,
      before the great and terrible day of LORD comes.
32 Then whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered;
     for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
           there will be those who escape,
           as the LORD has said,
     among the survivors
           will be those whom the LORD calls.
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