Blow a horn in Zion,Sound an alarm on My holy mount!Let all dwellers on earth tremble,For the day of GOD has come!It is close—

A day of darkness and gloom,A day of densest cloudSpread like soot over the hills.A vast, enormous horde—Nothing like it has ever happened,And it shall never happen againThrough the years and ages.

Their vanguard is a consuming fire,Their rear guard a devouring flame.Before them the land was like the Garden of Eden,Behind them, a desolate waste:Nothing has escaped them.

They have the appearance of horses,They gallop just like steeds.

With a clatter as of chariotsThey bound on the hilltops,With a noise like a blazing fireConsuming straw;Like an enormous hordeArrayed for battle.

Peoples tremble before them,All faces turn ashen.aturn ashen Meaning of Heb. uncertain; cf. Nah. 2.11.

They rush like warriors,They scale a wall like fighters.And each keeps to its own track.Their paths never cross;bcross Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

No one jostles another,Each keeps to its own course.And should they fall through a loophole,They do not get hurt.cAnd should they fall … not get hurt Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

They rush up the wall,They dash about in the city;They climb into the houses,They enter like thievesBy way of the windows.

Before them earth trembles,Heaven shakes,Sun and moon are darkened,And stars withdraw their brightness.

And GOD roars aloudAt the head of the divine army;For vast indeed is this host,Numberless are those that do God’s bidding.For great is the day of GOD,Most terrible—who can endure it?

“Yet even now”—says GOD—“Turn back to Me with all your hearts,And with fasting, weeping, and lamenting.”

Rend your heartsRather than your garments,And turn back to the ETERNAL your God.For [God] is gracious and compassionate,Slow to anger, abounding in kindness,And renouncing punishment.

Who knows but [God] may turn and relent,And leave a blessing behindFor grain offering and drink offeringTo the ETERNAL your God?dWhen the locusts depart, there will again be yield enough for offerings; see 1.9.

Blow a horn in Zion,Solemnize a fast,Proclaim an assembly!

Gather the people,Bid the congregation purify themselves.epurify themselves Cf. Exod. 19.10; Zeph. 1.7. Bring together the old,Gather the babesAnd the sucklings at the breast;Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber,The bride from her canopied couch.

Between the portico and the altar,Let the priests, GOD’s ministers, weepAnd say:“Oh, spare Your people, ETERNAL One!Let not Your possession become a mockery,To be taunted by nations!Let not the peoples say,‘Where is their God?’”

Then GOD was rousedIn behalf of this landAnd had compassionUpon this people.

In response to this covenanted people GOD declared:“I will grant you the new grain,The new wine, and the new oil,And you shall have them in abundance.Nevermore will I let you beA mockery among the nations.

I will drive the northernerfthe northerner I.e., the locusts. Emendation yields “My multitude”; cf. “nation” (1.6), “horde,” “army,” and “host” (2.2, 5, 11, 25). far from you,I will thrust it into a parched and desolate land—Its van to the Eastern Seagthe Eastern Sea The Dead Sea. And its rear to the Western Sea;hthe Western Sea The Mediterranean Sea. And the stench of it shall go up,And the foul smell rise.”For [GOD] shall work great deeds.

Fear not, O soil, rejoice and be glad;For GOD has wrought great deeds.

Fear not, O beasts of the field,For the pastures in the wildernessAre clothed with grass.The trees have borne their fruit;Fig tree and vineHave yielded their strength.

O children of Zion, be glad,Rejoice in the ETERNAL your God.For you have been given the early rain out of kindness,Now the rain is made to fall [as] formerly—The early rain and the late—

And threshing floors shall be piled with grain,And vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

“I will repay you for the yearsifor the years Emendation yields “double what was.” Consumed by swarms and hoppers,By grubs and locusts,The great army I let loose against you.

And you shall eat your fillAnd praise the name of the ETERNAL your GodWho dealt so wondrously with you—My people shall be shamed no more.

And you shall knowThat I am in the midst of Israel:That I the ETERNAL One am your GodAnd there is no other.And My people shall be shamed no more.”

After that,I will pour out My spirit on all flesh;Your sons and daughters shall prophesy;Your elders shall dream dreams,And your youths shall see visions.

I will even pour out My spiritUpon male and female slaves in those days.

Before the great and terrible day of GOD comes,aBefore the great and terrible day of GOD comes Moved up from v. 4 for clarity. I will set portents in the sky and on earth:Blood and fire and pillars of smoke;

The sun shall turn into darknessAnd the moon into blood.

But everyone who invokes GOD’s name shall escape; for there shall be a remnant on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as GOD promised. Anyone who invokes GOD will be among the survivors.bAnyone who invokes GOD will be among the survivors Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

For lo! in those daysAnd in that time,When I restore the fortunesOf Judah and Jerusalem,

I will gather all the nationsAnd bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.aJehoshaphat Here understood as “GOD contends”; contrast v. 12. There I will contend with themOver My very own people, Israel,Which they scattered among the nations.For they divided My land among themselves

And cast lots over My people;And they bartered a boy for a whore,And sold a girl for wine, which they drank.

What is this you are doing to Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the districts of Philistia? Are you requiting Me for something I have done, or are you doing something for My benefit? Quick as a flash, I will pay you back;

for you have taken My gold and My silver, and have carried off My precious treasures to your palaces;

and you have sold the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem to the Ionians, so that you have removed them far away from their homeland.

Behold, I will rouse them to leave the place you have sold them to, and I will pay you back:

I will deliver your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them into captivity to a distant nation—for GOD has spoken.

Proclaim this among the nations:Prepare for battle!Arouse the warriors,Let all the fighters come and draw near!

Beat your plowsharesbplowshares See note at Isa. 2.4. into swords,And your pruning hooks into spears.Let even the weakling say, “I am strong.”

Rouse yourselvescRouse yourselves Meaning of Heb. uncertain. and come,All you nations;Come togetherFrom round about.There bring downdbring down Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Your warriors, O ETERNAL One!

Let the nations rouse themselves and march upTo the Valley of Jehoshaphat;eJehoshaphat Here understood as “GOD judges”; contrast v. 2. For there I will sit in judgmentOver all the nations round about.

Swing the sickle,For the crop is ripe;Come and tread,For the winepress is full,The vats are overflowing!For great is their wickedness.

Multitudes upon multitudesIn the Valley of Decision!For the day of GOD is at handIn the Valley of Decision.

Sun and moon are darkened,And stars withdraw their brightness.

And GOD will roar from Zion,And shout aloud from Jerusalem,So that heaven and earth tremble.But GOD will be a shelter to this covenanted people,A refuge to the children of Israel.

And you shall know that I the ETERNAL your GodDwell in Zion, My holy mount.And Jerusalem shall be holy;Nevermore shall strangers pass through it.

And in that day,The mountains shall drip with wine,The hills shall flow with milk,And all the watercourses of Judah shall flow with water;A spring shall issue from the House of GOD And shall water the Wadi of the Acacias.

Egypt shall be a desolation,And Edom a desolate waste,Because of the outrage to the people of Judah,In whose land they shed the blood of the innocent.

But Judah shall be inhabited forever,And Jerusalem throughout the ages.

Thus I will treat as innocent their bloodThat I have not treated as innocent;fI will treat as innocent their blood / That I have not treated as innocent Emendation yields “their unavenged blood shall be avenged.” And GOD shall dwell in Zion.