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1 Sound the trumpet in Sion, make a proclamation in my holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the land be confounded: for the day of the Lord is near; 2 for a day of darkness and gloominess is near, 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 shall they pursue. 5 As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, 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 shall the people be crushed: every face shall be as the blackness of a §caldron. 7 As warriors shall they run, and as men of war shall they mount 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 shall they in no wise 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, and who shall be ††able to resist it?
12 Now therefore, saith the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation: 13 and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repents of evils. 14 Who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord your God?
15 Sound the trumpet in Sion, 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 of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Between the §§porch and the altar let the priests that minister to the Lord weep, and say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, lest they should say among the heathen, 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, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye 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 †††ill savour shall come up, and his ‡‡‡stink shall come up, because he has §§§wrought great things.
21 Be of good courage, O land; rejoice and be glad: for the Lord has done great things. 22 Be of good courage, ye 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, ye children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food *fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before. 24 And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, even my great army, which I sent against you. 26 And ye shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the things which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever. 27 And ye 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 my people shall no more be ashamed for ever.
* 2:2 Gr. age. † 2:3 Gr. it, sc. the people. ‡ 2:3 Lit. to him, sc. the people. § 2:6 Or, pot. ** 2:11 Gr. works. †† 2:11 Gr. sufficient for it? ‡‡ 2:15 See ch 1. 14. §§ 2:17 Gr. base. *** 2:20 Gr. cause to disappear. ††† 2:20 Gr. corruption. ‡‡‡ 2:20 See Job 6. 7. §§§ 2:20 Gr. magnified his works. * 2:23 Gr. to exactness.