2:2 It will be a day of dreadful darkness,
a day of foreboding storm clouds,
like blackness spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army –
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!
2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path;
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –
for nothing escapes them!
2:4 They look like horses;
they charge ahead like war horses.
2:5 They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops,
like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble,
like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.
2:6 People writhe in fear when they see them.
All of their faces turn pale with fright.
2:7 They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
Each one proceeds on his course;
they do not alter their path.
2:8 They do not jostle one another;
each of them marches straight ahead.
They burst through the city defenses
and do not break ranks.
2:9 They rush into the city;
they scale its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
2:10 The earth quakes before them;
the sky reverberates.
The sun and the moon grow dark;
the stars refuse to shine.
2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army.
Indeed, his warriors are innumerable;
Surely his command is carried out!
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome
and very terrifying – who can survive it?