Joel 3

The Nations Will Be Judged

1“For behold, in those days and at that time,

When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2I will gather all the nations

And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

Then I will enter into judgment with them there

On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,

Whom they have scattered among the nations;

And they have divided up My land.

3“They have also cast lots for My people,

Traded a boy for a harlot

And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

4“Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head.

5“Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples,

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

7behold, I am going to arouse them from the place where you have sold them, and return your recompense on your head.

8“Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.

9Proclaim this among the nations:

Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men!

Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!

10Beat your plowshares into swords

And your pruning hooks into spears;

Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”

11Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,

And gather yourselves there.

Bring down, O Lord, Your mighty ones.

12Let the nations be aroused

And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,

For there I will sit to judge

All the surrounding nations.

13Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Come, tread, for the wine press is full;

The vats overflow, for 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 grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

16The Lord roars from Zion

And utters His voice from Jerusalem,

And the heavens and the earth tremble.

But the Lord is a refuge for His people

And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.

17Then you will know that I am the Lord your God,

Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.

So Jerusalem will be holy,

And strangers will pass through it no more.

Judah Will Be Blessed

18And in that day

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

And the hills will flow with milk,

And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;

And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord

To water the valley of Shittim.

19Egypt will become a waste,

And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,

Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah,

In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

20But Judah will be inhabited forever

And Jerusalem for all generations.

21And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,

For the Lord dwells in Zion.