Joel 3

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

For, in those days and in that time, when I bring back again 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 amongst the Gentiles; and [these Gentiles] have divided 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 and cast lots over my people, and have given [their] boys to harlots, and sold [their] girls for wine, and have drunk.

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

4 And what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles? do you render me a recompense? or do you bear malice against me? quickly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own 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 because you have taken my silver and my gold, and you have brought my choice ornaments into your temples;

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

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

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

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 these things amongst the Gentiles; declare war, arouse the warriors, draw near and go up, all you men of war.

Proclaim this among the nations, sanctify war. Arouse the warriors, let all the fighting men muster and go up.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Sun and moon have turned dark, and the stars 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.

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 And you 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.

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 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.

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

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

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