Joel 3

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

Behold, in those days and at that time, when I return the exiles of Judah and Jerusalem,

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 gather all the nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will judge them there, because of my people and my inheritance Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and because they divided up my land.

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.

They cast lots for my people, traded a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine so they could drink.

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.

Now, why are you angry at me, Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? Even if you do repay me, I will immediately return your retribution on your own 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 took my silver and my gold, and you brought my precious treasures into your temples.

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.

You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their territory.

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.

Look, I am about to stir them up, out of the place where you sold them, and will return payment on your own 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 sell your sons and your daughters, by the hand of the people of Judah. They will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off, for Yahweh has spoken.”

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

Proclaim this among the nations, “Prepare yourselves for war, rouse the mighty men, let them come near, let all the men of battle come up.

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

Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Let the weak 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.”

Hurry and come, all you nearby nations, gather yourselves together there. Yahweh, bring down your mighty warriors.

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 wake themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

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 sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, crush the grapes, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is enormous.”

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.

There is a tumult, a tumult in the Valley of Judgment. For the day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Judgment.

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

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

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.

Yahweh will roar from Zion, and raise his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but Yahweh will be a shelter for his people, and a fortress for the people 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.

“So you will know that I am Yahweh your God who lives in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no army will march through her again.

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.

It will come about on that day that the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, and a fountain will come from the house of Yahweh and water the Valley of Shittim.

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 become an abandoned devastation, and Edom will become an abandoned wilderness, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land.

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

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

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

I will avenge their blood that I have not yet avenged, for Yahweh lives in Zion.”