Joel 3

Chapter 3

The Nations Will Be Judged

¹“¹For behold, ^ain those days and at that time,

When I ^brestore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

²I will ^agather all the nations

And bring them down to the ^bvalley of ¹Jehoshaphat.

Then I will ^center into judgment with them there

On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,

Whom they have ^dscattered among the nations;

And they have ^edivided up My land.

³“They have also ^acast lots for My people,

^1bTraded a boy for a harlot

And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

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

⁵“Since you have ^ataken My silver and My gold, brought My precious ¹treasures to your temples,

⁶and sold the ^asons of Judah and Jerusalem to the ¹Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,

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

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

^9aProclaim this among the nations:

^bPrepare a war; ^crouse the mighty men!

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

^10aBeat your plowshares into swords

And your pruning hooks into spears;

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

^111aHasten and come, all you surrounding nations,

And gather yourselves there.

Bring down, O Lord, Your ^bmighty ones.

¹²Let the nations be aroused

And come up to the ^avalley of ¹Jehoshaphat,

For there I will sit to ^bjudge

All the surrounding nations.

^13aPut in the sickle, for the ^bharvest is ripe.

Come, ^ctread, for the ^dwine press is full;

The vats overflow, for their ^ewickedness is great.

^14aMultitudes, multitudes in the ^bvalley of ¹decision!

For the ^cday of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

¹⁵The ^asun and moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

¹⁶The Lord ^aroars from Zion

And ^butters His voice from Jerusalem,

And the ^cheavens and the earth tremble.

But the Lord is a ^drefuge for His people

And a ^estronghold to the sons of Israel.

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

Dwelling in Zion, My ^bholy mountain.

So Jerusalem will be ^choly,

And ^dstrangers will pass through it no more.

Judah Will Be Blessed

¹⁸And in that day

The ^amountains will drip with ¹sweet wine,

And the hills will ^bflow with milk,

And all the ^cbrooks of Judah will flow with water;

And a ^dspring will go out from the house of the Lord

To water the valley of ²Shittim.

¹⁹Egypt will become a waste,

And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,

Because of the ^aviolence ¹done to the sons of Judah,

In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

²⁰But Judah will be ^ainhabited forever

And Jerusalem for all generations.

²¹And I will ^aavenge their blood which I have not avenged,

For the Lord dwells in Zion.