Joel 3
The LORD Judges the Nations
1“Yes, in those days and at that time,
when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,
2I will gather all the nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel,
whom they have scattered among the nations
as they divided up My land.
3They cast lots for My people;
they bartered a boy for a prostitute
and sold a girl for wine to drink.
4Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
5For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.
6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.
7Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.
8I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.
9Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war;
rouse the mighty men;
let all the men of war
advance and attack!
10Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’
11Come quickly, all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves.
Bring down Your mighty ones,
O LORD.
12Let the nations be roused
and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit down
to judge all the nations on every side.
13Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full;
the wine vats overflow
because their wickedness is great.
14Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the Day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision.
15The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.
16The LORD will roar from Zion
and raise His voice from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth will tremble.
But the LORD will be a refuge for His people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s People
17Then you will know that I am the LORD your God,
who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
never again to be overrun by foreigners.
18And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
All the streams of Judah will run with water,
and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD
to water the Valley of Acacias.
19Egypt will become desolate,
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21For I will avenge their blood,
which I have not yet avenged.”
For the LORD dwells in Zion.