Joel 3

1 Behold, in those days and at that time, when I return the exiles of Judah and Jerusalem,

For in those days and in that time, when I let the fate of Judah and Jerusalem be changed,

2 I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will judge them there, because of my people and my inheritance Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and because they divided up my land.

I will get together all the nations, and make them come down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and there I will take up with them the cause of my people and of my heritage Israel, whom they have sent wandering among the nations, and of my land which has been parted by them.

3 They cast lots for my people, traded a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine so they could drink.

And they have put the fate of my people to the decision of chance: giving a boy for the price of a loose woman and a girl for a drink of wine.

4 Now, why are you angry at me, Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? Even if you do repay me, I will immediately return your retribution on your own head.

And further, what are you to me, O Tyre and Zidon and all the circle of Philistia? will you give me back any payment? and if you do, quickly and suddenly I will send it back on your head,

5 For you took my silver and my gold, and you brought my precious treasures into your temples.

For you have taken my silver and my gold, putting in the houses of your gods my beautiful and pleasing things.

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their territory.

And the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem you have given for a price to the sons of the Greeks, to send them far away from their land:

7 Look, I am about to stir them up, out of the place where you sold them, and will return payment on your own head.

See, I will have them moved from the place where you have sent them, and will let what you have done come back on your head;

8 I will sell your sons and your daughters, by the hand of the people of Judah. They will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off, for Yahweh has spoken.”

I will give your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah for a price, and they will give them for a price to the men of Sheba, a nation far off: for the Lord has said it.

9 Proclaim this among the nations, “Prepare yourselves for war, rouse the mighty men, let them come near, let all the men of battle come up.

Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'

Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong.

11 Hurry and come, all you nearby nations, gather yourselves together there. Yahweh, bring down your mighty warriors.

Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord.

12 Let the nations wake themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.

13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, crush the grapes, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is enormous.”

Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing.

14 There is a tumult, a tumult in the Valley of Judgment. For the day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Judgment.

Masses on masses in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon become dark, the stars keep back their brightness.

The sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining.

16 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and raise his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but Yahweh will be a shelter for his people, and a fortress for the people of Israel.

And the Lord will be thundering from Zion, and his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will be shaking: but the Lord will be a breastplate for his people and a strong place for the children of Israel.

17 “So you will know that I am Yahweh your God who lives in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no army will march through her again.

And you will be certain that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion, my holy mountain: and Jerusalem will be holy, and no strange person will ever again go through her.

18 It will come about on that day that the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, and a fountain will come from the house of Yahweh and water the Valley of Shittim.

And it will come about in that day that the mountains will be dropping sweet wine, and the hills will be flowing with milk, and all the streams of Judah will be flowing with water; and a fountain will come out from the house of the Lord, watering the valley of acacia-trees.

19 Egypt will become an abandoned devastation, and Edom will become an abandoned wilderness, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land.

Egypt will be a waste and Edom a land of destruction, because of the evil done to the children of Judah, because they have let blood be drained out in their land without cause.

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

But Judah will be peopled for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 I will avenge their blood that I have not yet avenged, for Yahweh lives in Zion.”

And I will send punishment for their blood, for which punishment has not been sent, for the Lord is living in Zion.