Day of the Lord
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh is coming—it is indeed near. 2 A day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and thick darkness, like the dawn spreads on the mountains, a great and strong army! There has been nothing like it from old, and after it nothing will be again for generations to come. 3 Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame burns. Like the garden of Eden is the land before them, and after them it is like a desolate desert, and nothing can escape them. 4 Like the appearance of horses is their appearance, and like horsemen they run; 5 like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about; like the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble; like a strong army arranged in rows for battle. 6 From before them nations writhe, all faces turn pale. 7 They run like mighty warriors, they scale the wall like men of war; each goes on its own way, and they do not swerve from their paths. 8 They do not jostle one another; each goes on its own trail; and through the falling weapons, they are not halted. 9 In the city they rush forth; on the walls they run. Into the houses they climb up; through the windows they enter like a thief. 10 Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars have withheld their splendor 11 And Yahweh utters his voice before his arm because his encampment is very large; strong is the one who carries out his decree, for great is the day of Yahweh and exceedingly fearful. Who can endure it?
5 “For thus says Yahweh: ‘We have heard a sound of trembling, terror, and there is no peace. 6 Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child. Why do I see every strong man with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? And why are all their faces changed to paleness? 7 Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it. And it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet from it he will be delivered.
6 Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from Shaddai! 7 Therefore all hands will grow slack, and every human heart will melt, 8 and they will be dismayed. Pangs and labor pains will seize them; they will tremble like a woman giving birth. They will stare at one another, their faces flushing. 9 Look! The day of Yahweh is coming, cruel and wrath and the burning of anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 And I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and I will bring the haughtiness of tyrants low.
21 For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen.
29 “And immediately after the tribulation of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken’”
3 Whenever they say “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of a pregnant woman, and they will not possibly escape.