Joe 1:15-2:11 | ESV | STEP | Alas for the day ! For the day of the Lord is near , and as destruction from the Almighty it comes .

15 Alas for the day!
^aFor the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty ^{▼▼ Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty} it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
^cjoy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 ^dThe seed shrivels under the clods; ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain}
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because ^fthe grain has dried up.
18 How ^gthe beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer. ^{▼▼Or are made desolate}
19 To you, ⁱO Lord, I call.
^jFor fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
^kand flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field ^lpant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
^mand fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.

Joel 2:1-11

The Day of the Lord

1 ⁿBlow a trumpet in ^oZion;
sound an alarm on ^pmy holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for ^qthe day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2 ^ra day of darkness and gloom,
^sa day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
^ta great and powerful people;
^utheir like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
3 ^vFire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^wthe garden of Eden before them,
but ^xbehind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
4 ^yTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
5 ^zAs with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^aaa flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
^ablike a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish;
^acall faces grow pale.
7 Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
^adeach marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
9 ^aeThey leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
^afthey climb up into the houses,
^agthey enter through the windows ^ahlike a thief.
10 ^aiThe earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
^ajThe sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 ^akThe Lord utters his voice
before ^alhis army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
^amhe who executes his word is powerful.
^anFor the day of the Lord is ^aogreat and very awesome;
^apwho can endure it?