Joel 3

1 “Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,

“For behold, in those days, and in that time, When I turn back [to] the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.

Then I have gathered all the nations, And caused them to go down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, And I have been in judgment with them there, Concerning My people and My inheritance—Israel, Whom they scattered among nations, And My land they have apportioned.

3 They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.

And for My people they cast a lot, And they give the young man for a harlot, And have sold the young woman for wine, That they may drink.

4 Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.

And also, what [are] you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon, And all circuits of Philistia? Are you rendering repayment to Me? And if you are giving repayment to Me, Swiftly, quickly, I return your repayment on your head.

5 For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.

In that My silver and My gold you took, And My desirable things that are good, You have brought into your temples.

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.

And sons of Judah, and sons of Jerusalem, You have sold to the sons of Javan, To put them far off from their border.

7 Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.

Behold, I am stirring them up out of the place To where you have sold them, And I have turned back your repayment on your head,

8 I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

And have sold your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the sons of Judah, And they have sold them to Sabeans, To a nation far off, for YHWH has spoken.”

9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!

Proclaim this among nations, Sanctify a war, stir up the mighty ones, Come near, come up, let all the men of war.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’

Beat your plowshares to swords, And your pruning-hooks to javelins, Let the weak say, “I [am] mighty.”

11 Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.

Hurry, and come in, all you nations around, And be gathered together, There cause to come down, O YHWH, Your mighty ones.

12 Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.

“Let the nations wake and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I sit to judge all the nations around.

13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.

Send forth a sickle, For harvest has ripened, Come in, come down, for the press has been filled, Winepresses have overflowed, For great [is] their wickedness.”

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Multitudes, multitudes [are] in the Valley of Decision, For near [is] the Day of YHWH in the Valley of Decision.

15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.

Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining.

16 The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

And YHWH roars from Zion, And gives forth His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and earth have shaken, And YHWH [is] a refuge to His people, And a stronghold to sons of Israel.

17 Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.

“And you have known that I [am] your God YHWH, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain, And Jerusalem has been holy, And strangers do not pass over into it again.”

18 And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.

And it has come to pass in that day, The mountains drop down juice, And the hills flow [with] milk, And all streams of Judah go [with] water, And a fountain from the house of YHWH goes forth, And has watered the Valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

“Egypt becomes a desolation, And Edom becomes a desolation, a wilderness, For violence [to] sons of Judah, Whose innocent blood they shed in their land.

20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

And Judah dwells for all time, And Jerusalem to generation and generation.

21 For I will avenge their blood, which I have not yet avenged.”

And I have declared their blood innocent, [That] I did not declare innocent, And YHWH is dwelling in Zion!”