Joel 3

The Nations Gather for Judgment

1For look, in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes
of Judah and Jerusalem, 2I will gather all the nations
and bring them down
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will enter into judgment with them there
concerning my people and my inheritance, Israel,
whom they scattered among the nations,
and they divided my land. 3They cast lots for my people;
they traded a boy for a prostitute,
and sold a girl for wine
and drank it.

Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia

4And what are you to me,
Tyre and Sidon
and all the regions of Philistia?
Are you repaying me for something?
If you are repaying me,
swiftly and quickly
I will return your repayment
upon your own heads. 5For you took my silver and my gold
and carried my precious good things
into your temples. 6You sold the children of Judah
and the children of Jerusalem
to the children of the Greeks
in order to remove them
far from their territory. 7Look, I am stirring them up
from the place where you sold them,
and I will return your repayment
upon your own heads. 8I will sell your sons and your daughters
into the hand of the children of Judah,
and they will sell them to the Sabeans,
to a nation far away,
for the LORD has spoken.

Prepare for War

9Proclaim this among the nations:

Consecrate war!
Stir up the warriors!
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up! 10Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say,
“I am a warrior!” 11Hurry and come,
all you surrounding nations;
gather yourselves there.

Bring down your warriors, O LORD! 12Let the nations stir themselves
and come up
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
to judge all the surrounding nations.

The Harvest Is Ripe

13Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great. 14Multitudes, multitudes
in the Valley of Decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
in the Valley of Decision. 15Sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars withdraw their brightness. 16The LORD roars from Zion
and gives his voice from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth shake.
But the LORD is a refuge for his people
and a stronghold
for the children of Israel.

The LORD Dwells in Zion

17Then you will know
that I am the LORD your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
and strangers will pass through her no more. 18And on that day
the mountains will drip sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and all the channels of Judah
will flow with water.
A spring will go out
from the house of the LORD
and water the Valley of Shittim. 19Egypt will become a desolation,
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
because of violence against the children of Judah,
because they shed innocent blood
in their land. 20But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem
from generation to generation. 21I will hold innocent their blood
that I had not held innocent,
and the LORD dwells in Zion.