Joel 3:1–14

God Will Judge the Nations

3The Lord says,

“At that time I will restore

the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem.

²I will gather all the nations

and bring them to the Valley of Judgement.

There I will judge them

for all they have done to my people.

They have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries

and divided up Israel, my land.

³They threw dice to decide

who would get the captives.

They sold boys and girls into slavery

to pay for prostitutes and wine.

^4*“What are you trying to do to me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you trying to pay me back for something? If you are, I will quickly pay you back! ^5*You have taken my silver and gold and carried my rich treasures into your temples. ^6*You have taken the people of Judah and Jerusalem far from their own country and sold them to the Greeks. ^7*Now I am going to bring them out of the places to which you have sold them. I will do to you what you have done to them. ^8*I will let your sons and daughters be sold to the people of Judah; they will sell them to the far-off Sabeans. I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁹“Make this announcement among the nations:

‘Prepare for war;

call your warriors;

gather all your soldiers and march!

^10*Hammer the points of your ploughs into swords and your

pruning knives into spears.

Even the weak must fight.

¹¹Hurry^c and come,

all you surrounding nations,

and gather in the valley.’ ”

Send down, O Lord, your army to attack them.

¹²“The nations must get ready

and come to the Valley of Judgement.

There I, the Lord, will sit to judge

all the surrounding nations. ^13*They are very wicked; cut them down like corn

at harvest time; crush them as grapes are crushed

in a full winepress

until the wine runs over.”

¹⁴Thousands and thousands

are in the Valley of Judgement.

It is there that the day of the Lord

will soon come.