| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Tremble, all of you inhabitants of the land, because the Day of the LORD is coming. Oh, how near it is! | 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 doom and gloom, a day of clouds and shadows like the dawn spreads out to cover the mountains— a people strong and robust. Never has there been anything like it, neither will anything follow to compare with it, even through the lifetime of generation upon generation." | 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! |
| 3"A fire blazes in their presence, and behind them a conflagration rages. Before they come, the land is like the garden in Eden; after they leave, there is only a barren wasteland. Indeed, 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! |
| 4As to their form, they're like horses; and like chariot horses, how they can run! | 4They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. |
| 5They leap like the rumbling of chariots echoing from mountain tops, like the roar of wild fire that devours the chaff, as an army firmly established in battle array. | 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. |
| 6The people are terrified in their presence; every face grows pale. | 6People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright. |
| 7They run like elite soldiers, climbing ramparts like men trained for war. Each man advances in proper order, never breaking rank. | 7They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path. |
| 8Neither does a man crowd his fellow soldier; each one marches in his own path. When they fall by the sword they are not injured. | 8They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks. |
| 9They swarm through the city, running upon its ramparts. Climbing atop the houses, they enter through 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. |
| 10"The land quivers in their presence; even the heavens shake. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will stop shining. | 10The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. |
| 11The LORD will shout in the presence of his forces, because his encampment is very great; for powerful is he who carries out his message. Truly the Day of the LORD is great, and very terrifying. Who will be able to survive 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, "Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and 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!" |
| 13Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil. | 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? He will turn back and relent, will he not, leaving behind a blessing, even a grain offering and 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! |
| 15"Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Dedicate a fast and call for a solemn assembly! | 15Blow the trumpet in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly! |
| 16Gather the people! Dedicate the congregation! Bring in the elders. Gather the youngsters and even the nursing infants. Call the bridegroom from his wedding preparations, and the bride from her dressing room. | 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. |
| 17As they serve between the porch and the altar, let the priests and ministers of the LORD weep and pray: 'Spare your people, LORD, and do not make your heritage a disgrace so that nations ridicule them. Why should they say among the people, "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 will show great concern for his land, and will have compassion on his people. | 18Then the LORD became zealous for his land; he had compassion on his people. |
| 19The LORD will say to his people, "Look! I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be content with them. I will no longer cause you to be a disgrace 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 northerners from you, driving them to a barren and desolate land— the front toward the Dead Sea and the back toward the Mediterranean. Their stench will rise, and their stinking odor will ascend, because they have 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"Stop being afraid, land! Rejoice and be glad, because the LORD will do great things. | 21Do not fear, my land! Rejoice and be glad, because the LORD has accomplished great things! |
| 22Stop being afraid, beasts of the field, because the desert pastures will bloom, the trees will bear their fruit, and the fig tree and vine will deliver their wealth. | 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. |
| 23And so be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, because he has given you the right amount of early rain, and he will cause the rain to fall for you, both the early rain and the later 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. |
| 24The threshing floors will be smothered in grain, and the vats will overflow with wine and oil. | 24The threshing floors are full of grain; the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil. |
| 25"Then I will restore to you the years that the locust swarm devoured, as did the young locust, the other locusts, and the ravaging locust, that great army of mine that 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. |
| 26You will have plenty to eat, and will be fully satisfied. You will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has performed wonders specifically for you. And my people will never be ashamed. | 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. |
| 27As a result, you will know that I am in the midst of Israel; that I myself am the LORD your God— and there is none other! And my people will never be ashamed." | 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 "Then it will come about at a later time that I will pour out my Spirit on every person. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your elderly people will dream dreams, and your young people will 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. |
| 29Also at that time I will pour out my Spirit upon men and women servants. | 29Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. |
| 30I will display warnings in the heavens, and on the earth blood, 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 will be given over to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and terrifying Day of the LORD. | 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 everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be delivered. For as the LORD has said, 'In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, the survivors whom the LORD is calling.'" | 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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