Joel 3

1 For, behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall have turned the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem,

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

2 I will also gather all the Gentiles, and bring them down to the valley of Josaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, who have been dispersed among the Gentiles; and [these Gentiles] have divided my land,

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 cast lots over my people, and have given [their] boys to harlots, and sold [their] girls for wine, and have drunk.

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 what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles? do ye render me a recompense? or do ye bear malice against me? quickly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own heads:

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 because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and ye have brought my choice ornaments into your temples;

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

6 and ye have sold the children of Juda and the children of Jerusalem to the children of the Greeks, that ye might expel them from their coasts.

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 Therefore, behold, I [will] raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and I will return your recompense on your own heads.

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 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them into captivity to a far distant nation: for the Lord has spoken [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 Proclaim these things among the Gentiles; declare war, arouse the warriors, draw near and go up, all ye men of war.

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 Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your sickles into spears: let the weak 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 Gather yourselves together, and go in, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves there; let the timid become a warrior.

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 them be aroused, let all the nations go up to the valley of Josaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the Gentiles 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 Bring forth the sickles, for the vintage is come: go in, tread [the grapes], for the press is full: cause the vats to overflow; for their wickedness is multiplied.

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 Noises have resounded in the valley of judgment: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment.

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 shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.

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

16 And the Lord shall cry out of Sion, and shall utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heaven and the earth shall be shaken, but the Lord shall spare his people, and shall strengthen 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 ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwell in Sion my holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall not pass through her anymore.

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 shall come to pass in that day [that] the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the fountains of Juda shall flow with water, and a fountain shall go forth of the house of the Lord, and water the valley of flags.

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 shall be a desolation, and Idumea shall be a desolate plain, because of the wrongs of the children of Juda, because they have shed righteous blood in their land.

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 Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations.

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

21 And I will make inquisition for their blood, and will by no means leave it unavenged: and the Lord shall dwell in Sion.

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