Joel 3:1–14

The Lord Will Rescue His People

¹“In those days and at that time, 

I will bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. 

²I will gather all the nations. 

I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.^b

I will judge them there. 

They scattered the Israelites, the people who belong to me, 

among the nations. 

They divided my land. 

³They threw dice for my people. 

They traded boys for prostitutes. 

They sold girls so that they could buy wine to drink. 

⁴“Now what do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon 

and all the regions of Philistia? 

Are you paying me back for something I have done? 

If you are paying me back, 

I will quickly pay you back for what you have done. 

⁵You took my silver and my gold. 

You brought my finest treasures to your temples. 

⁶You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks. 

That way you could send them far away from their land. 

⁷I am going to make them leave the place where you sold them. 

I will pay you back for what you have done. 

⁸I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. 

They will sell them to the people of Sheba, 

a nation that is far away.” 

The Lord has spoken. 

⁹Announce this among the nations: 

Prepare yourselves for war. 

Wake up the warriors. 

Have all the warriors come near and attack. 

¹⁰Hammer your plowblades into swords 

and your pruning shears into spears. 

Weaklings should say that they are warriors. 

¹¹Hurry from every direction, and gather there, all you nations. 

O Lord, bring your soldiers. 

¹²Wake up, you nations. 

Come to the valley of Jehoshaphat. 

There I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 

¹³Cut them down like grain. 

The harvest is ripe. 

Stomp on them as you would stomp on grapes. 

The winepress is full. 

The vats overflow. 

The nations are very wicked. 

¹⁴There are many, many people in the valley of decision. 

The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.