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 in that time, When I turn back [to] 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 I have gathered all the nations, And caused them to go down unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, And I have been judged with them there, Concerning My people and Mine inheritance — Israel, Whom they scattered among nations, And My land they have 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 do cast a lot, And they give the young man for an harlot, And the young woman have sold for wine, That they may 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.

And also, what [are] ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon, And all circuits of Philistia? Recompence are ye rendering unto Me? And if ye are giving recompence to Me, Swiftly, hastily, I turn back your recompence on your head.

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

In that My silver and My gold ye took, And My desirable things that are good, Ye have brought in 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.

And sons of Judah, and sons of Jerusalem, Ye have sold to the sons of Javan, To put them far off 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.

Lo, I am stirring them up out of the place Whither ye have sold them, And I have turned back your recompence on your 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 have sold your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the sons of Judah, And they have sold them to Shabeans, Unto a nation far off, for Jehovah 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 nations, Sanctify a war, stir up the mighty ones, Come nigh, come up, let 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 ploughshares to swords, And your pruning-hooks to javelins, Let the weak say, 'I [am] mighty.'

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]!

Haste, and come in, all ye nations round, And be gathered together, Thither cause to come down, O Jehovah, 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.

Wake and come up let the nations unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there 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.

Send ye forth a sickle, For ripened hath harvest, Come in, come down, for filled hath been the press, Overflowed hath wine-presses, For great [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 [are] in the valley of decision, For near [is] the day of Jehovah 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.

Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up 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 Jehovah from Zion doth roar, And from Jerusalem giveth forth His voice, And shaken have the heavens and earth, And Jehovah [is] a refuge to his people, And a stronghold to 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.

And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain, And Jerusalem hath been holy, And strangers do not pass over into it again.

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 hath come to pass, in that day, Drop down do the mountains juice, And the hills do flow [with] milk, And all streams of Judah do go [with] water, And a fountain from the house of Jehovah goeth forth, And hath watered 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 a desolation becometh, And Edom a desolation, a wilderness, becometh, For violence [to] sons of Judah, Whose innocent blood they shed in their land.

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

And Judah to the age doth dwell, And Jerusalem to generation and 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 have declared their blood innocent, [That] I did not declare innocent, And Jehovah is dwelling in Zion!