1 Let the horn be sounded in Zion, and a war-cry in my holy mountain; let all the people of the land be troubled: for the day of the Lord is coming;

2 For a day of dark and deep shade is near, a day of cloud and black night: like a black cloud a great and strong people is covering the mountains; there has never been any like them and will not be after them again, from generation to generation.

3 Before them fire sends destruction, and after them flame is burning: the land is like the garden of Eden before them, and after them an unpeopled waste; truly, nothing has been kept safe from them.

4 Their form is like the form of horses, and they are running like war-horses.

5 Like the sound of war-carriages they go jumping on the tops of the mountains; like the noise of a flame of fire burning up the grain-stems, like a strong people lined up for the fight.

6 At their coming the people are bent with pain: all faces become red together.

7 They are running like strong men, they go over the wall like men of war; every man goes straight on his way, their lines are not broken.

8 No one is pushing against another; everyone goes straight on his way: bursting through the sword points, their order is not broken.

9 They make a rush on the town, running on the wall; they go up into the houses and in through the windows like a thief.

10 The earth is troubled before them and the heavens are shaking: the sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining:

11 And the Lord is thundering before his forces; for very great is his army; for he is strong who gives effect to his word: for the day of the Lord is great and greatly to be feared, and who has strength against it?