約珥書 第 2 章

Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim on my holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the land be thrown into confusion, for the day of the Lord is at hand, for it is near.

A day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and mist. Like dawn a people numerous and strong shall be spread over the mountains; there has been none like it from of old, and after it there shall be no other for years, to generations of generations.

Before it a devouring fire, and behind it a blazing flame. The land before its face is like a paradise of delight, and behind it a plain of desolation; and nothing shall escape it.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like horsemen so shall they pursue.

Like the sound of chariots they shall leap on the mountaintops, and like the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble, and like a numerous and strong people drawn up for battle.

Before its face the peoples shall be crushed; every face is like the scorching of a pot.

They shall run like warriors, and like men of war they shall climb the walls; each shall go on his own way, and they shall not swerve from their paths.

And no one shall keep away from his brother; weighed down with their weapons they shall go, and though they fall among their missiles, they shall not be wiped out.

They shall seize the city and run upon the walls; they shall climb up on the houses and enter through the windows like thieves.

Before their face the earth shall be thrown into confusion and the sky shall be shaken; the sun and the moon shall grow dark, and the stars shall withdraw their brightness.

And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host, for his camp is exceedingly great, for the works of his words are mighty. For the day of the Lord is great, great and exceedingly manifest; and who will be equal to it?

And now, says the Lord your God, turn back to me with your whole heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning.

Tear your hearts and not your garments, and turn back to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, patient and abounding in mercy, and one who relents over evils.

Who knows whether he will turn and relent and leave behind him a blessing, a sacrifice and drink offering for the Lord our God?

Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn service.

Gather the people, consecrate an assembly, choose out elders, gather the infants who nurse at the breast. Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber and the bride out of her bridal room.

Between the base of the altar the priests who minister to the Lord shall weep and say: Spare your people, Lord, and do not give your inheritance over to reproach, for nations to rule over them, so that they may not say among the nations, Where is their God?

And the Lord was zealous for his land, and he spared his people.

And the Lord answered and said to his people: Behold, I am sending you the grain and the wine and the oil, and you shall be filled with them; and I will no longer give you over to reproach among the nations.

And I will drive the one from the north far from you and thrust him into a waterless land; I will blot out his front into the first sea and his rear into the last sea. His rottenness shall rise up and his stench shall rise up, because he magnified his own deeds.

Take courage, O land; rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things.

Take courage, beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have sprouted, for the tree has borne its fruit; the vine and the fig tree have given their strength.

And you children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, because he has given you food for righteousness, and he will send you rain, the early and the late, as before.

And the threshing floors shall be filled with grain, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil.

And I will repay you for the years which the locust and the young locust and the blight and the caterpillar devoured, my great force that I sent against you.

And you shall eat your fill and be satisfied, and you shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the wonders he has done among you; and my people shall never be put to shame.

And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other besides me; and all my people shall never again be put to shame.