< 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 bring back the captives of Judah 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 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 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.
Yea, they cast lots for my people, And gave a boy for a harlot, And sold a damsel 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.
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 You have taken the silver and gold and [other] things from my temple and put them in your temples.
Ye have taken my silver and my gold, And have carried into your palaces my precious, goodly things;
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.
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 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 raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, And I will return your injury upon your own head;
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 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 to the [people of all] nations, “Prepare for a war! Summon your soldiers, and tell them to stand in their battle positions.
Proclaim ye this among the nations: “Prepare war! Stir up the mighty ones! Let all the warriors draw near; let them come up!”
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 ploughshares 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]!
Assemble yourselves and come, all ye nations round about; Gather yourselves together! Thither, O Jehovah, bring down thy mighty ones!
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 rise and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat! For there will I sit to judge all the nations around.
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.
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 [There will be] huge crowds of people in that Valley of Judgment. It will soon be the time that Yahweh [will punish them].
The multitudes, the multitudes in the valley of judgment! For the day of Jehovah 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 are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining.
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.
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 [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 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 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].
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 [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 waste, And Edom a desolate wilderness, For their violence against the sons of Judah; For they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 but there will always be people living in Jerusalem and [in other places] in Judea.
But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, 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].”
And I will avenge their blood, which I have not avenged, And Jehovah will dwell upon Zion.