Joel 3

1 For, behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall have turned 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 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 among the Gentiles; and [these Gentiles] have divided 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 cast lots over my people, and have given [their] boys to harlots, and sold [their] girls for wine, and have drunk.

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

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:

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 because you have taken my silver and my gold, and you have brought my choice ornaments into your temples;

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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, who dwell in Sion my holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall not pass through her anymore.

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 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.

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

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

But Judah will be 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.

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