Joel 3

1 [Yahweh says this]: “At that time [DOU], I will enable [the people of] Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah to prosper again.

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

2 [Then] in the Valley of Judgment I will gather together [the people of] all the [other] nations; I will judge [and punish] them because they scattered my Israeli people and forced them to go to other countries. They divided up 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 (threw marked stones/cast lots) to determine who would get [each of] my people. Then they sold [some of] the Israeli boys and girls [to get money to pay] for prostitutes and wine to drink.

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

4 You [people of] [APO] Tyre and Sidon [cities] and [you people of] the Philistia [region], I certainly have not [RHQ] done anything to harm you! [So] if you are trying to get revenge on me, I will very quickly get revenge on you.

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 You have taken the silver and gold and [other] things from my temple and put them in your temples.

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

6 [You dragged away] the people of Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah, and you took them far away and sold them to people in Greece.

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

7 But I will cause my people to want to return from the places to which you sold them, and I will do to you what you did to them.

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

8 Then I will cause [some of] your sons and your daughters to be sold to the people of Judah! And [some of] them will be sold to the Sabea people-group, who live far away. [That will certainly happen because I], Yahweh, have said 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 to the [people of all] nations, “Prepare for a war! Summon your soldiers, and tell them to stand in their battle positions.

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

10 [Take] your plows and make swords from them, and [take] your pruning knives and make spears from them. [Even] the weak people must [also] be like [MET] [strong] soldiers.

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

11 All you [people from the] nations that are near [Judah] must come quickly and gather [in the Valley of Judgment].” But Yahweh, [when that happens], send your army [of angels to attack them]!

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

12 The [people in] the nations near [Judah] must get ready and come to the Valley of Judgment. There Yahweh will sit and judge [and punish] them.

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 [They are like] [MET] crops that are ready to be harvested; so [strike them like] [MET] [a farmer] swings his sickle to cut the grain. They are like [MET] grapes that are piled high in the pits where they will be pressed; because they are very wicked, [punish them severely] [MET] now, like [MET] [a farmer] tramples on the grapes until the pits are full of juice.

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 [There will be] huge crowds of people in that Valley of Judgment. It will soon be the time that Yahweh [will punish them].

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

15 [At that time] there will be no light from the sun or moon, and the stars will not shine.

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

16 From Zion [Hill] in Jerusalem Yahweh will shout, and his voice will be like thunder, and his voice will cause the sky and the earth to shake. But Yahweh will protect [MET] his people; he will be like [MET] a strong wall behind which the people of Israel will be protected.

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 [Yahweh says], “At that time, you Israeli people will know that I am Yahweh, your God. I live on Zion, my sacred hill. Jerusalem will be a sacred [city], and [soldiers from] other countries will never conquer it again.

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 At that time, there will be vineyards covering [MTY] the hills, and [your cattle and goats on] those hills will produce plenty of milk. The streams in Judah will never dry up. And a stream will flow from my temple into the Acacia Valley [northeast of the Dead Sea].

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 [The armies of] Egypt and Edom attacked the people of Judah and killed [MTY] many people who had not done anything that was wrong. So [now] those countries will become deserts,

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 there will always be people living in Jerusalem and [in other places] in Judea.

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

21 [I], Yahweh, live on Zion [Hill in Jerusalem], and I will get revenge on the people [of Egypt and Edom] who killed [MTY] [many of my people].”

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