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.

For, behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall have turned the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem,

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 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,

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.

and cast lots over my people, and have given [their] boys to harlots, and sold [their] girls for wine, and have drunk.

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.

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:

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

because you have taken my silver and my gold, and you have brought my choice ornaments into 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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].

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

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 sickles 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]!

Gather yourselves together, and go in, all you nations round about, and gather yourselves there; let the timid become a warrior.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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].”

And I will make inquisition for their blood, and will by no means leave it unavenged: and the Lord shall dwell in Sion.