Watch out! For in just a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay.² Suddenly and unexpectedly, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.³ Yes, our God is coming, and will not be silent. A raging fire is in front of him; a furious storm around him.⁴ The storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a swirling wind coming down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has accomplished everything he intends to do.⁵ The Lord will cause everyone to hear his majestic voice and to see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.⁶ Look! He is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the nations of the earth will mourn over him.⁷

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in blazing fire, he will take vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, shut out from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, when he comes on that day.⁸ The Lord is coming with tens of thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.⁹ The Lord will come in fire, and his chariots will be like a stormy wind. He will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment with fire and with his sword upon all people, and many will be put to death by the Lord.¹⁰

Like a mighty warrior, the Lord will march out. He will stir up his zeal, and with the shout of a battle cry he will triumph over his enemies. God says, For a long time I have kept silent, I have kept still and restrained myself. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.¹¹ Now the end is upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I am judging you for what you have done. I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. I will not look on you with pity or spare you. I will surely repay you for your detestable practices. Then you will know that I am the Lord.¹² When I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my enemies and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword will devour all who oppose me.¹³ I will bring such distress on mankind that they will stagger around like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord.¹⁴

The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying 'We have peace and security', then sudden destruction will come upon them in the same way that labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they certainly will not escape.¹⁵ Tremble, everyone, for the awesome day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring! There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again.¹⁶ Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter. Even the bravest men will cry out in despair! That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.¹⁷ See, the Lord is going to devastate the earth and make it a wasteland. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. Everyone will meet the same fate - the priests and the people, the servants and the masters, the buyers and the sellers, the lenders and the borrowers, the creditor and the debtor. The earth will be completely laid waste and totally ruined. The Lord has spoken and it will be done.¹⁸

Scream and wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all hands will hang limp, and every man's heart will melt. They will be terrified; pain and anguish will grip them. They will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at each other in astonishment, their faces aflame. Look! The day of the Lord is coming - that cruel day of his fierce anger and raging fury - to make the whole earth a desolation and exterminate the sinners in it. Every star and every constellation will stop shining. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light. I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud and will humble the defiance of the cruel. I will make man more rare than pure gold. Therefore I will make the universe tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.¹⁹ People will hide in caves and holes in the ground from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth. On that day, human arrogance and pride will be crushed, and the Lord alone will be exalted.²⁰ On that day, the bodies of those whom the Lord has killed will be everywhere - scattered from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will lie on the ground like piles of manure.²¹

This is what the Lord says: "Do you think you will go unpunished? No, you will be punished, for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the earth." The Lord will roar from on high and raise his voice from his holy dwelling; he will roar mightily against his people. He will shout against all who live on the earth. The commotion will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges against the nations. He will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword. The Lord has spoken.²²

Jesus says, "Yes, I am coming soon.²³ Perhaps when the people hear about every disaster I plan to inflict upon them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.²⁴ But even now," says the Lord, "return to me with all your heart." Open your heart to the Lord, for he is kind and full of mercy.²⁵ He is patient, always ready to forgive and not punish. He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.²⁶