New Living Translation (NLT)
Joel 1
14 Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there.
15 The day of the LORD is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be!
16 Our food disappears before our very eyes. No joyful celebrations are held in the house of our God.
17 The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned.
18 How the animals moan with hunger! The herds of cattle wander about confused, because they have no pasture. The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.
19 LORD, help us! The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures, and flames have burned up all the trees.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to you because the streams have dried up, and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures.
Joel 2
1 Sound the alarm in Jerusalem! Raise the battle cry on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the LORD is upon us.
2 It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears. Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again.
3 Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes.
4 They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses.
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