1 Sound the trumpet in Zion, make a proclamation in my holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the land be confounded: for the day of the Lord is at hand, for it is near; 2 a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of cloud and mist: a numerous and strong people shall be spread upon the mountains as the morning; there has not been from the beginning one like it, and after it there shall not be again even to the years of many generations. 3 Before them is a consuming fire, and behind them is a flame kindled: the land before them is as a paradise of delight, and behind them a desolate plain: and there shall none of them escape. 4 Their appearance is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so they will pursue. 5 They shall leap like the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains, and as the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble, and as a numerous and strong people setting themselves in array for battle. 6 Before them the peoples will be crushed: every face shall be as the blackness of a cauldron.⁠a 7 They shall run like warriors, and they shall mount like men of war on the walls; and each shall move in his right path, and they shall not turn aside from their tracks: 8 and not one shall stand aloof from his brother: they shall go on weighed down with their arms, and they fall upon their weapons, yet they will by no means be destroyed. 9 They shall seize upon the city, and run upon the walls, and go up upon the houses, and enter in through the windows as thieves. 10 Before them the earth shall be confounded, and the sky shall be shaken: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light. 11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host: for his camp is very great: for the execution of his words is mighty: for the day of the Lord is great, very glorious,⁠b and who shall be able to resist it? 12 Now therefore, says the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation: 13 and tear your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, patient, and abundant in mercy, and repents of evils. 14 Who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a grain-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord our God? 15 Sound the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn service: 16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast: let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 By the base of the altar the priests that minister to the Lord shall weep, and say, Spare your people, Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them, so that they do not say among the nations, Where is their God? 18 But the Lord was jealous of his land, and spared his people. 19 And the Lord answered and said to his people, Look, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied with them: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles. 20 And I will chase away from you the northern adversary, and will drive him away into a dry land, and I will sink his face in the former sea, and his back parts in the latter sea, and his foul smell shall come up, and his stink come up, because he has done great things. 21 Be of good courage, land; rejoice and be glad: for the Lord has done great things. 22 Be of good courage, you beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded their strength. 23 Rejoice then and be glad, you children of Zion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food for righteousness,⁠c and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before. 24 And the floors shall be filled with grain, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will repay you for the years which the locust, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm, and the caterpillar have eaten, even my great army, which I sent against you. 26 And you shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the things which he has done wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever. 27 And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and that there is none else beside me; and all my people shall no more be ashamed for ever.