| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, | 1Blow the trumpet 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, it is near! |
| 2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. | 2It will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army--there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! |
| 3Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. | 3Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness--for nothing escapes them! |
| 4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. | 4They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. |
| 5As 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. | 5They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle. |
| 6Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. | 6People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright. |
| 7Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. | 7They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path. |
| 8They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. | 8They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks. |
| 9They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. | 9They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief. |
| 10The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. | 10The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. |
| 11The 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 great and very awesome; who can endure it? | 11The voice of the LORD thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the LORD is awesome and very terrifying--who can survive it? |
| 12“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; | 12"Yet even now," the LORD says, "return to me with all your heart--with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments!" |
| 13and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. | 13Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love--often relenting from calamitous punishment. |
| 14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? | 14Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake--a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the LORD your God! |
| 15Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; | 15Blow the trumpet in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly! |
| 16gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. | 16Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters. |
| 17Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” | 17Let the priests, those who serve the LORD, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. Let them say, "Have pity, O LORD, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, "Where is their God?" |
| 18Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. | 18Then the LORD became zealous for his land; he had compassion on his people. |
| 19The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. | 19The LORD responded to his people, "Look! I am about to restore your grain as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied. I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations. |
| 20“I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things. | 20I will remove the one from the north far from you. I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place. Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. His stench will rise up as a foul smell." Indeed, the LORD has accomplished great things. |
| 21“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! | 21Do not fear, my land! Rejoice and be glad, because the LORD has accomplished great things! |
| 22Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. | 22Do not fear, wild animals! For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass. Indeed, the trees bear their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. |
| 23“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. | 23Citizens of Zion, rejoice! Be glad because of what the LORD your God has done! For he has given to you the early rains as vindication. He has sent to you the rains--both the early and the late rains as formerly. |
| 24“The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. | 24The threshing floors are full of grain; the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil. |
| 25I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. | 25I will make up for the years that the 'arbeh -locust consumed your crops--the yeleq -locust, the hasil -locust, and the gazam -locust--my great army that I sent against you. |
| 26“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. | 26You will have plenty to eat, and your hunger will be fully satisfied; you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has acted wondrously in your behalf. My people will never again be put to shame. |
| 27You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame. | 27You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the LORD your God; there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame. |
| 28“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. | 28After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; your young men will see prophetic visions. |
| 29Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. | 29Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. |
| 30“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. | 30I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth--blood, fire, and columns of smoke. |
| 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. | 31The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the LORD comes--that great and terrible day! |
| 32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. | 32It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the LORD has promised; the remnant will be those whom the LORD will call. |
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