1 Blow ^athe trumpet in Zion,
And ^bsound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For ^cthe day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand: ‡

2 ^aA day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
^bA people come, great and strong,
^cThe like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations. ‡

3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like ^athe Garden of Eden before them,
^bAnd behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them. ‡

4 ^aTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like¹ swift steeds, so they run. ‡

5 ^aWith a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array. ‡