Joel 3

The nations brought to judgment

1“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.
There I will enter into judgment with them
for my people, my inheritance Israel,
whom they scattered among the nations.
They divided up my land. 3They cast lots for my people,
traded a boy for a prostitute,
and sold a girl for wine and drank it. 4And what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon
and all the regions of Philistia?
Are you repaying me for something?
If you are paying me back,
I will swiftly bring your repayment down on your own heads. 5You took my silver and gold
and carried my finest treasures into your temples. 6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks
to send them far from their own territory. 7Look, I will rouse them from the place where you sold them
and bring your repayment down on your own heads. 8I will sell your sons and daughters
into the hands of the people of Judah,
and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation.”
For the LORD has spoken.

The summons to battle

9Proclaim this among the nations:
“Consecrate a war! Rouse the warriors!
Let all the soldiers approach and advance. 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 there!”
Bring down your warriors, LORD! 12“Let the nations rouse themselves
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations. 13Swing 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!
The day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision. 15Sun and moon grow dark;
the stars withdraw their light.

A refuge in Zion

16The LORD roars from Zion
and raises his voice from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth shake.
But the LORD is a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel. 17“You will know that I am the LORD your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
and strangers will no longer pass through her. 18On that day the mountains will drip sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and all Judah’s streambeds will flow with water.
A spring will flow from the house of the LORD
and water the Valley of Acacias. 19Egypt will become a desolation,
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
for violence against the people of Judah,
whose innocent blood they shed in their land. 20But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem through every generation. 21I will clear their bloodguilt that I have not cleared.”
The LORD dwells in Zion.