Joel 3

1 At that time when this happens, when I bring back the exiles to 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 together all the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat and I will judge them there over my people Israel, my inheritance, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have divided up 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 They cast lots for my people; they traded boys in payment for prostitutes and girls to buy wine to 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 Also, what have you got to do with me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you trying to get back at me? If you are trying to pay me back, I will quickly pay you back what you deserve for what you've done.

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 You stole my silver and my gold and my best treasures, and you put them in your temples.

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

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks so they could be sent far away from their land.

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 But watch out! I will get them moving from the places you sold them to, and bring them back, and I will pay you back what you deserve for what you've done.

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 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. I the Lord have 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 nations: “Prepare for war! Call up the mighty warriors! Let all the soldiers get ready and advance!

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 Hammer your plough blades and turn them into swords. Turn your pruning hooks into spears. Even the weak should say ‘I am a strong fighter!’

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

11 Hurry up and come, all nations from everywhere, and gather there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!

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

12 Let the nations get ready, let them come to the valley of Jehoshaphat for there I will sit in judgment on all the nations.

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 Start swinging the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come and tread the grapes for the winepress is full and the vats are overflowing because their wickedness has become so great.

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 Huge mobs are in the valley of the Lord's verdict. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of his verdict.

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 moon will become dark, and the stars will stop shining.

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

16 The Lord will roar from Zion, shouting in a loud voice from Jerusalem, shaking the heavens and the earth. But the Lord will shelter his people, protecting the people 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 Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain, and Jerusalem will be a holy place forever, and no foreigners will ever march through her again.

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 At that time new wine will pour down the mountains, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the riverbeds of Judah will run with water. A spring will flow out of the Temple and will water the valley of Shittim.

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 But Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence they did against Judah, for in their land they shed innocent blood.

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 Judah will be lived in forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.

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

21 Will I pardon and leave unpunished the shedding of innocent blood? The Lord lives in Zion!”

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