Joel 3

JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS

3Yes, in those days and at that time,

when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,^aj

²I will gather all the nations^ak

and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.^Aal

I will enter into judgment with them there^am

because of my people, my inheritance Israel.

The nations have scattered the Israelites

in foreign countries^a

and divided up my land.^b

³They cast lots for my people;^c

they bartered a boy for a prostitute

and sold a girl for wine to drink.^d

⁴And also: Tyre,^e Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia^f—what are you to me? Are you paying me back or trying to get even with me? I will quickly bring retribution on your heads.^{g 5}For you took my silver and gold and carried my finest treasures^h to your temples. ⁶You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeksⁱ to remove them far from their own territory. ⁷Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them;^j I will bring retribution on your heads. ⁸I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah,^k and they will sell them to the Sabeans,^Bl to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken.

⁹Proclaim this among the nations:^m

Prepare for holy war;ⁿ

rouse the warriors;^o

let all the men of war advance and attack!

¹⁰Beat your plows into swords

and your pruning knives into spears.^p

Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.”

¹¹Come quickly,^C all you surrounding nations;

gather yourselves.^q

Bring down your warriors there, Lord.^r

¹²Let the nations be roused

and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit down

to judge all the surrounding nations.^s

¹³Swing the sickle

because the harvest is ripe.^t

Come and trample the grapes

because the winepress is full;^u

the wine vats overflow

because the wickedness of the nations is extreme.^v

¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes^w

in the valley of decision!

For the day of the Lord is near^x

in the valley of decision.

¹⁵The sun and moon will grow dark,

and the stars will cease their shining.^y

¹⁶The Lord will roar from Zion^z

and make his voice heard from Jerusalem;^aa

heaven and earth will shake.^ab

But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,^ac

a stronghold for the Israelites.^ad

ISRAEL BLESSED

¹⁷Then you will know

that I am the Lord your God,^ae

who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.^af

Jerusalem will be holy,^ag

and foreigners will never overrun it again.^ah

¹⁸In that day

the mountains will drip with sweet wine,^ai

and the hills will flow with milk.^aj

All the streams of Judah will flow with water,^ak

and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house,^al

watering the Valley of Acacias.^Aam

¹⁹Egypt will become desolate,

and Edom a desert wasteland,

because of the violence done to the people of Judah^an

in whose land they shed innocent blood.

²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever,^ao

and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹I will pardon their bloodguilt,^Bap

which I have not pardoned,

for the Lord dwells in Zion.