Tell your children about it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.

Blow the horn in Zion;
sound the alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the residents of the land tremble,
for the Day of the Lord is coming;
in fact, it is near—

Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even those nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.

Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say:
“Have pity on Your people, Lord,
and do not make Your inheritance a disgrace,
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for holy war;
rouse the warriors;
let all the men of war advance and attack!

Beat your plows into swords
and your pruning knives into spears.
Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.”

Let the nations be roused
and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit down
to judge all the surrounding nations.