Joel 3

1 For, behold, in those days and in that time, when I will have converted the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

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

2 I will gather all the Gentiles, and will lead them into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And there I will dispute with them over my people, and over Israel, my inheritance, for they have scattered them among the nations and have divided my land.

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.

3 And they have cast lots over my people; and the boy they have placed in the brothel, and the girl they have sold for wine, so that they might drink.

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.

4 Truly, what is there between you and me, Tyre and Sidon and all the distant places of the Philistines? How will you take vengeance on me? And if you were to revenge yourselves against me, I would deliver a repayment to you, quickly and soon, upon your head.

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,

5 For you have carried away my silver and gold. And my desirable and most beautiful, you have taken into your shrines.

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

6 And you, sons of Judah and sons of Jerusalem, you have sold the sons of the Greeks, so that you might drive them far from their own territory.

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:

7 Behold, I will raise them up from the place into which you have sold them, and I will turn back your retribution on your own head.

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;

8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken.

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.

9 Proclaim this among the Gentiles: “Sanctify a war, raise up the strong. Approach, ascend, all men of war.

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.

10 Cut your ploughs into swords and your hoes into spears. Let the weak say, ‘For I am strong.’

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

11 Break out and advance, all nations of the world, and gather together. There the Lord will cause all your strong ones to meet death.”

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

12 Let them arise and ascend to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit, so as to judge all the nations of the world.

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.

13 Send forth the sickles, because the harvest has matured. Advance and descend, for the press is full, the pressing room is overflowing. For their malice has been increasing.

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.

14 Nations, nations in the valley of being cut to pieces: for the day of the Lord fittingly takes place in the valley of being cut to pieces.

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

15 The sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their splendor.

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

16 And the Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the sons of Israel.

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.

17 And you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will not cross through it anymore.

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.

18 And it will happen, in that day, that the mountains will drip sweetness, and the hills will flow with milk. And the waters will pass through all the rivers of Judah. And a fountain will go forth from the house of the Lord, and it will irrigate the desert of thorns.

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.

19 Egypt will be in desolation, and Edom will be a wilderness destroyed, because of what they have unfairly done to the sons of Judah, and because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

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.

20 And Judea will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for generation upon generation.

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

21 And I will cleanse their blood, which I had not cleansed. And the Lord will remain in Zion.

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