Joel 3

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

For, in those days and in that time, when I bring back again 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.

I will also gather all the nations and bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there I will enter into judgment with them for my people and my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided my land.

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

They have cast lots for my people. They have traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it.

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.

What are you to me, Tyre and Sidon and all the districts of Philistia? Were you repaying any deed of mine, or were you doing something for me? Quickly will I return your deed upon your heads.

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

You who have taken my silver and my gold, and you have brought my goodly jewels into your palaces,

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

you have sold the people of Judah and of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so that you might remove them far from their own borders.

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

I am about to stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds upon your own 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.

I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off, for the Lord 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 the nations, sanctify war. Arouse the warriors, let all the fighting men muster and go up.

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

Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into lances; let the weak say, I, indeed, am strong.

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

Bestir yourselves and come, all you nations round about. Quickly gather yourselves together, ask the Lord to bring his warriors.

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 rouse themselves and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

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.

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, 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.

Noisy multitudes, noisy multitudes in the valley of decision. For near is the Lord’s day in the valley of decision!

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

Sun and moon have turned dark, and the stars withdrawn 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.

Whenever the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, earth and sky quake; but the Lord is a refuge to his people, and a fortress to the people 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 will know that I am the Lord your God, I who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain, and Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will not pass through her any more.

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.

In that day, the mountains will drop sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the channels of Judah will flow with water, a fountain will spring from the house of Judah, and will water 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 will become a desolation, and Edom a wilderness, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land,

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

Judah will remain inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

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

I will avenge their blood which I have not yet avenged. The Lord lives in Zion!