Blow the trumpet on Zion. Shout a warning on my holy mountain. Let all the people who live in the land shake with fear. The Lord's special day is coming; it is near.
It will be a dark, gloomy day. It will be a dark and cloudy day. At sunrise you will see the army spread over the mountains. It will be a great and powerful army. There has never been anything like it before, and there will never be anything like it again.
The army will destroy the land like a burning fire. In front of them the land will be like the Garden of Eden. Behind them the land will be like an empty desert. Nothing will escape them.
Listen to them. It is like the noise of chariots riding over the mountains. It is like the noise of flames burning the chaff. They are a powerful people who are ready for war.
The Lord calls loudly to his army. His camp is very large. The army obeys his commands. His army is very powerful. The Lord's special day is a great and terrible day. No one can stop it.
Tear your hearts, not your clothes. " Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and merciful. He does not become angry quickly. He has great love. Maybe he will change his mind about the bad punishment he planned.
Bring the people together. Call for a special meeting. Bring together the old men, the children, and the small babies still at their mother's breasts. Let the bride and her new husband come from their bedroom.
Let the priests, the Lord's servants, cry between the porch and the altar. All of them should say this: "Lord, have mercy on your people. Don't let your people be put to shame. Don't let other people tell jokes about your people. Don't let the other nations laugh at us and say, 'Where is their God?'"
No, I will force the people from the north to leave your land and make them go into a dry, empty land. Some of them will go to the eastern sea and some to the western sea. They did such terrible things, but they will be like a dead and rotting body. There will be such a terrible smell!"
Animals of the field, don't be afraid. The desert pastures will grow grass. The trees will grow fruit. The fig trees and the vines will grow plenty of fruit.
So be happy, people of Zion. Be joyful in the Lord your God. He will be good and give you rain. He will send you the early rains and the late rains like before.
"I, the Lord, sent my army against you. The swarming locusts and the hopping locusts and the destroying locusts and the cutting locusts ate everything you had. But I, the Lord, will pay you back for those years of trouble.
Then you will have plenty to eat. You will be full. You will praise the name of the Lord your God. He has done wonderful things for you. My people will never again be ashamed.
"After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.
And everyone who trusts in the Lord will be saved. There will be survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, just as the Lord said. Yes, those left alive will be the ones the Lord has called.