Joel 3

¹For in those days and in that time, when I let the fate of Judah and Jerusalem be changed,

²I will get together all the nations, and make them come down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and there I will take up with them the cause of my people and of my heritage Israel, whom they have sent wandering among the nations, and of my land which has been parted by them.

³And they have put the fate of my people to the decision of chance: giving a boy for the price of a loose woman and a girl for a drink of wine.

⁴And further, what are you to me, O Tyre and Zidon and all the circle of Philistia? will you give me back any payment? and if you do, quickly and suddenly I will send it back on your head,

⁵For you have taken my silver and my gold, putting in the houses of your gods my beautiful and pleasing things.

⁶And the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem you have given for a price to the sons of the Greeks, to send them far away from their land:

⁷See, I will have them moved from the place where you have sent them, and will let what you have done come back on your head;

⁸I will give your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah for a price, and they will give them for a price to the men of Sheba, a nation far off: for the Lord has said it.

⁹Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up.

¹⁰Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong.

¹¹Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord.

¹²Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.

¹³Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing.

¹⁴Masses on masses in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

¹⁵The sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining.

¹⁶And the Lord will be thundering from Zion, and his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will be shaking: but the Lord will be a breastplate for his people and a strong place for the children of Israel.

¹⁷And you will be certain that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion, my holy mountain: and Jerusalem will be holy, and no strange person will ever again go through her.

¹⁸And it will come about in that day that the mountains will be dropping sweet wine, and the hills will be flowing with milk, and all the streams of Judah will be flowing with water; and a fountain will come out from the house of the Lord, watering the valley of acacia-trees.

¹⁹Egypt will be a waste and Edom a land of destruction, because of the evil done to the children of Judah, because they have let blood be drained out in their land without cause.

²⁰But Judah will be peopled for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹And I will send punishment for their blood, for which punishment has not been sent, for the Lord is living in Zion.

Joel 3

¹"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

²I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,

³and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

⁴"Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.

⁵Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,

⁶and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border.

⁷Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head;

⁸and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for the Lord has spoken it."

⁹Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.

¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'

¹¹Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together." Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Lord.

¹²"Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

¹³Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress 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 the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

¹⁶The Lord will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but the Lord will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.

¹⁷"So you will know that I am the Lord, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.

¹⁸It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house of the Lord, and will water the valley of Shittim.

¹⁹Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwells in Zion."