Joel 3

1 For in those days and in that time, when I let the fate of Judah and Jerusalem be changed,

For lo! in those days, and at that time, —when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will get together all the nations, and make them come down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and there I will take up with them the cause of my people and of my heritage Israel, whom they have sent wandering among the nations, and of my land which has been parted by them.

Then will I gather all the nations, and bring them down into the Vale of Jehoshaphat, —and will enter into judgment with them there, concerning my people, and mine inheritance Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and, my land, they apportioned;

3 And they have put the fate of my people to the decision of chance: giving a boy for the price of a loose woman and a girl for a drink of wine.

And, for my people, they cast lots, —and gave a boy for a harlot, and a girl sold they for wine—and drank.

4 And further, what are you to me, O Tyre and Zidon and all the circle of Philistia? will you give me back any payment? and if you do, quickly and suddenly I will send it back on your head,

Moreover also, what have, ye, to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the circuit of Palestine? A recompense, are ye paying back unto me? But, though ye should make a recompense unto me, swiftly, speedily, would I return your recompense upon your own head.

5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, putting in the houses of your gods my beautiful and pleasing things.

Because, my silver and my gold, ye took away, —and, my richly beautiful things, carried ye into your temples;

6 And the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem you have given for a price to the sons of the Greeks, to send them far away from their land:

And, the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem, ye sold to the sons of Greece, —that they might be far removed from their own boundary.

7 See, I will have them moved from the place where you have sent them, and will let what you have done come back on your head;

Behold me! rousing them up out of the place whither ye sold them, —So will I bring back your dealing upon your own head.

8 I will give your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah for a price, and they will give them for a price to the men of Sheba, a nation far off: for the Lord has said it.

And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to Sabeans, unto a nation afar off, —for, Yahweh, hath spoken.

9 Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up.

Proclaim ye this, among the nations, Hallow a war, rouse the mighty ones, let them draw near, come up, all the men of war!

10 Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong.

Beat your plough-shares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears, —as for the weak, let him say, mighty, I am.

11 Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord.

Give help—and come in, all ye nations on every side, and gather yourselves together, —Thither, bring down, O Yahweh, thy mighty ones!

12 Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.

Let the nations, be roused, and come up, into the Vale of Jehoshaphat, —for, there, will I sit to judge all the nations, on every side.

13 Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing.

Thrust ye in the vintage knife, for, grown ripe, is the vintage, —Go in, tread down, for full is the winepress, flow over do the vats, for abundant is their wickedness.

14 Masses on masses in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

Multitudes, multitudes, in the vale of strict decision, —for near is the day of Yahweh, in the vale of strict decision.

15 The sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining.

The sun and the moon, have become dark, —and, the stars, have withdrawn their shining,

16 And the Lord will be thundering from Zion, and his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will be shaking: but the Lord will be a breastplate for his people and a strong place for the children of Israel.

And, Yahweh, out of Zion, will roar, and, out of Jerusalem, will utter his voice, and the heavens and the earth, shall tremble, —but, Yahweh, shall be a shelter to his people, and a refuge to the sons of Israel.

17 And you will be certain that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion, my holy mountain: and Jerusalem will be holy, and no strange person will ever again go through her.

So shall ye know that, I, Yahweh, am your God, making my habitation in Zion my holy mountain, —So shall, Jerusalem, be, holy, and, foreigners, shall pass through her no more.

18 And it will come about in that day that the mountains will be dropping sweet wine, and the hills will be flowing with milk, and all the streams of Judah will be flowing with water; and a fountain will come out from the house of the Lord, watering the valley of acacia-trees.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow down with milk, and, all the channels of Judah, shall flow down with waters, —and, a spring, out of the house of Yahweh, shall come forth, and shall water the torrent-valley of the acacias.

19 Egypt will be a waste and Edom a land of destruction, because of the evil done to the children of Judah, because they have let blood be drained out in their land without cause.

Egypt, to a desolation, shall be turned, and, Edom, to a desert most desolate, shall be changed, —because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in that they shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah will be peopled for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

But, Judah, age-abidingly, shall remain, and, Jerusalem, to generation after generation.

21 And I will send punishment for their blood, for which punishment has not been sent, for the Lord is living in Zion.

And I will free from their blood-guiltiness them whom I had not freed, —for, Yahweh, is about to make his habitation in Zion.