2 Blow the shofar in Tsiyon (Zion),

≈ and shout on the mountain of my holiness.

Let all of the country’s residents tremble,

because Yahweh’s day is coming,

yes, it’s close.

2 It’ll be a day of darkness and gloom—

a day of clouds and thick darkness

like the dawn being spread out on the mountains.

There hasn’t been a great and mighty army like that since the beginning of time,

and after it there won’t be again for many generations.

3 A devouring fire goes ahead of it,

and behind it a flame is burning.

Ahead of it, the land is like the garden of Eden,

but behind it is a wilderness of desolation,

and indeed, there’s no escape from it.

4 At first, it appears like horses,

and they run like war horses.[ref]

5 Like the sound of chariots, they leap along the tops of the hills—

like the sound of flames devouring stubble,

like a mighty people organised for war.

6 People flinch in horror when they see them coming.

All of their faces turn dark.[fn]

7 They run like warriors.

Like men of war, they climb the wall.

Then they walk, each man choosing his own way forward,

and they don’t veer off their paths.

8 There’s no jostling each other—

each man marches straight forward.

They handle those who present weapons against them

and their progress isn’t interrupted.

9 They rush on the city.

They run along the wall.

They climb through the windows into the houses like thieves.

10 The earth shakes as they approach.

≈ The heavens tremble.

The sun and the moon become dark,

≈ and the stars cease their shining.[ref]

11 Yahweh speaks in front of his army,

because there’s a huge number of them,

because those executing his commands are very powerful.

Yes, Yahweh’s day is really terrible,

and who could possibly survive it?[ref]