Joel 3

1 For behold in those days, and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem:

“Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,

2 I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat: and I will plead with them there for my people, and for my inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have parted my land.

I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.

3 And they have cast lots upon my people: and the boy they have put in the stews, and the girl they have sold for wine, that they might drink.

They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.

4 But what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the coast of the Philistines? will you revenge yourselves on me? and if you revenge yourselves on me, I will very soon return you a recompense upon your own head.

Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.

5 For you have taken away my silver and my gold: and my desirable and most beautiful things you have carried into your temples.

For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.

6 And the children of Juda, and the children of Jerusalem you have sold to the children of the Greeks, that you might remove them far off from their own country.

You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.

7 Behold, I will raise them up out of the place wherein you have sold them: and I will return your recompense upon your own heads.

Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.

8 And I will sell your sons, and your daughters by the hands of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far off, for the Lord hath spoken it.

I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

9 Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare war, rouse up the strong: let them come, let all the men of war come up.

Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!

10 Cut your ploughshares into swords, and your spades into spears. Let the weak say: I am strong.

Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’

11 Break forth, and come, all ye nations, from round about, and gather yourselves together: there will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to fall down.

Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.

12 Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the valley of Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about.

Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.

13 Put ye in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe: come and go down, for the press is full, the fats run over: for their wickedness is multiplied.

Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.

14 Nations, nations in the valley of destruction: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of destruction.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.

The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.

16 And the Lord shall roar out of Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the heavens and the earth shall be moved, and the Lord shall be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

17 And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Sion my holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall pass through it no more.

Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk: and waters shall flow through all the rivers of Juda: and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the torrent of thorns.

And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a wilderness destroyed: because they have done unjustly against the children of Juda, and have shed innocent blood in their land.

Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

20 And Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation.

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

21 And I will cleanse their blood which I had not cleansed: and the Lord will dwell in Sion.

For I will avenge their blood, which I have not yet avenged.”