Joel 2:2-11

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A day of ^(A)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a ^(B)great and mighty people;
There has ^(C)never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.

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A ^(D)fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is ^(E)like the garden of Eden before them
But a ^(F)desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.

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Their ^(G)appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.

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^(a)With a ^(H)noise as of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the ^(b)crackling of a ^(I)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

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Before them the people are in ^(J)anguish;
All ^(K)faces ^(c)turn pale.

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They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each ^(L)march ^(d)in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.

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They do not crowd each other,
They march everyone in his path;
When they ^(e)burst through the ^(f)defenses,
They do not break ranks.

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They rush on the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the ^(M)houses,
They ^(N)enter through the windows like a thief.

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Before them the earth ^(O)quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The ^(P)sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.

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The Lord ^(Q)utters His voice before ^(R)His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For ^(S)strong is he who carries out His word.
The ^(T)day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And ^(U)who can endure it?

Footnotes:

a. Joel 2:5: ['Lit ', Like the noise of chariots]

b. Joel 2:5: ['Lit ', noise]

c. Joel 2:6: ['Or ', become flushed]

d. Joel 2:7: ['Lit ', in his ways]

e. Joel 2:8: ['Lit ', fall]

f. Joel 2:8: ['Lit ', weapon, ', probably ', javelin]

Cross references:

A. Joel 2:2: Joel 2:10; Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:15

B. Joel 2:2: Joel 1:6; Joel 2:11; Joel 2:25

C. Joel 2:2: Lamentations 1:12; Daniel 9:12; Daniel 12:1; Joel 1:2

D. Joel 2:3: Psalm 97:3; Isaiah 9:18; Isaiah 9:19

E. Joel 2:3: Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 36:35

F. Joel 2:3: Exodus 10:5; Exodus 10:15; Psalm 105:34; Psalm 105:35; Zechariah 7:14

G. Joel 2:4: Revelation 9:7

H. Joel 2:5: Revelation 9:9

I. Joel 2:5: Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 30:30

J. Joel 2:6: Isaiah 13:8; Nahum 2:10

K. Joel 2:6: Jeremiah 30:6

L. Joel 2:7: Proverbs 30:27

M. Joel 2:9: Exodus 10:6

N. Joel 2:9: Jeremiah 9:21; John 10:1

O. Joel 2:10: Psalm 18:7; Joel 3:16; Nahum 1:5

P. Joel 2:10: Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 4:23; Ezekiel 32:7; Ezekiel 32:8; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Revelation 8:12

Q. Joel 2:11: Psalm 46:6; Isaiah 13:4; Jeremiah 25:30; Joel 3:16

R. Joel 2:11: Joel 2:25

S. Joel 2:11: Jeremiah 50:34; Revelation 18:8

T. Joel 2:11: Jeremiah 30:7; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:14; Zephaniah 1:14; Zephaniah 1:15; Revelation 6:17

U. Joel 2:11: Ezekiel 22:14; Malachi 3:2