< Joel 3 >
1 For behold, in those days and at that time, When I shall bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will assemble all the nations, And will bring them down it to the valley of Jehoshaphat, And there will I contend with them for my people and inheritance, Israel; Because they scattered them among the nations, And divided my land among themselves.
3 Yea, they cast lots for my people, And gave a boy for a harlot, And sold a damsel for wine to drink.
4 What have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, And all the borders of Philistia? Will ye retaliate on me? Or will ye do anything against me? Swiftly and speedily will I bring back your doings upon your own head.
5 Ye have taken my silver and my gold, And have carried into your palaces my precious, goodly things;
6 The sons also of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem, Ye have sold to the Grecians, That ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, And I will return your injury upon your own head;
8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation afar off; For Jehovah hath spoken it.
9 Proclaim ye this among the nations: “Prepare war! Stir up the mighty ones! Let all the warriors draw near; let them come up!”
10 Beat your ploughshares into swords, And your pruning-hooks into spears; Let the weak say, I am strong!
11 Assemble yourselves and come, all ye nations round about; Gather yourselves together! Thither, O Jehovah, bring down thy mighty ones!
12 Let the nations rise and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat! For there will I sit to judge all the nations around.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; Come and tread, for the wine-press is full; The vats overflow; For their wickedness is great!
14 The multitudes, the multitudes in the valley of judgment! For the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of judgment.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining.
16 Jehovah also will roar from Zion, And utter his voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and the earth shall shake. But Jehovah will be a refuge to his people! A strong-hold to the sons of Israel.
17 Then shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, Dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain; And Jerusalem shall be holy; Strangers shall pass through her no more.
18 In that day shall the mountains drop down new wine, And the hills shall flow with milk. And all the streams of Judah shall flow with water. A fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, That shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a waste, And Edom a desolate wilderness, For their violence against the sons of Judah; For they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 And I will avenge their blood, which I have not avenged, And Jehovah will dwell upon Zion.
