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 lo! in those days, and at that time, —when I shall bring back the captivity 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

Then will I gather all the nations, and bring them down into the Vale of Jehoshaphat, —and will enter into judgment with them there, concerning my people, and mine inheritance Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and, my land, they apportioned;

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, for my people, they cast lots, —and gave a boy for a harlot, and a girl sold they for wine—and drank.

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.

Moreover also, what have, ye, to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the circuit of Palestine? A recompense, are ye paying back unto me? But, though ye should make a recompense unto me, swiftly, speedily, would I return your recompense upon your own head.

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

Because, my silver and my gold, ye took away, —and, my richly beautiful things, carried ye 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, the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem, ye sold to the sons of Greece, —that they might be far removed from their own boundary.

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 me! rousing them up out of the place whither ye sold them, —So will I bring back your dealing 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.”

And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to Sabeans, unto a nation afar off, —for, Yahweh, hath 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 ye this, among the nations, Hallow a war, rouse the mighty ones, let them draw near, come up, all the 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 plough-shares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears, —as for the weak, let him say, mighty, I am.

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]!

Give help—and come in, all ye nations on every side, and gather yourselves together, —Thither, bring down, O Yahweh, 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, be roused, and come up, into the Vale of Jehoshaphat, —for, there, will I sit 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.

Thrust ye in the vintage knife, for, grown ripe, is the vintage, —Go in, tread down, for full is the winepress, flow over do the vats, for abundant is their wickedness.

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 vale of strict decision, —for near is the day of Yahweh, in the vale of strict decision.

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, have become dark, —and, the stars, have withdrawn 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.

And, Yahweh, out of Zion, will roar, and, out of Jerusalem, will utter his voice, and the heavens and the earth, shall tremble, —but, Yahweh, shall be a shelter to his people, and a refuge 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.

So shall ye know that, I, Yahweh, am your God, making my habitation in Zion my holy mountain, —So shall, Jerusalem, be, holy, and, foreigners, 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].

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow down with milk, and, all the channels of Judah, shall flow down with waters, —and, a spring, out of the house of Yahweh, shall come forth, and shall water the torrent-valley of the 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, to a desolation, shall be turned, and, Edom, to a desert most desolate, shall be changed, —because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in that 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, age-abidingly, shall remain, and, Jerusalem, to generation after 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 free from their blood-guiltiness them whom I had not freed, —for, Yahweh, is about to make his habitation in Zion.