< Joel 3 >

1 For behold in those days, and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem:
For, behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall have turned the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat: and I will plead with them there for my people, and for my inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have parted my land.
I will also gather all the Gentiles, and bring them down to the valley of Josaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, who have been dispersed among the Gentiles; and [these Gentiles] have divided my land,
3 And they have cast lots upon my people: and the boy they have put in the stews, and the girl they have sold for wine, that they might drink.
and cast lots over my people, and have given [their] boys to harlots, and sold [their] girls for wine, and have drunk.
4 But what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the coast of the Philistines? will you revenge yourselves on me? and if you revenge yourselves on me, I will very soon return you a recompense upon your own head.
And what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles? do ye render me a recompense? or do ye bear malice against me? quickly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own heads:
5 For you have taken away my silver and my gold: and my desirable and most beautiful things you have carried into your temples.
because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and ye have brought my choice ornaments into your temples;
6 And the children of Juda, and the children of Jerusalem you have sold to the children of the Greeks, that you might remove them far off from their own country.
and ye have sold the children of Juda and the children of Jerusalem to the children of the Greeks, that ye might expel them from their coasts.
7 Behold, I will raise them up out of the place wherein you have sold them: and I will return your recompense upon your own heads.
Therefore, behold, I [will] raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and I will return your recompense on your own heads.
8 And I will sell your sons, and your daughters by the hands of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far off, for the Lord hath spoken it.
And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them into captivity to a far distant nation: for the Lord has spoken [it].
9 Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare war, rouse up the strong: let them come, let all the men of war come up.
Proclaim these things among the Gentiles; declare war, arouse the warriors, draw near and go up, all ye men of war.
10 Cut your ploughshares into swords, and your spades into spears. Let the weak say: I am strong.
Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your sickles into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Break forth, and come, all ye nations, from round about, and gather yourselves together: there will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to fall down.
Gather yourselves together, and go in, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves there; let the timid become a warrior.
12 Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the valley of Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about.
Let them be aroused, let all the nations go up to the valley of Josaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the Gentiles round about.
13 Put ye in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe: come and go down, for the press is full, the fats run over: for their wickedness is multiplied.
Bring forth the sickles, for the vintage is come: go in, tread [the grapes], for the press is full: cause the vats to overflow; for their wickedness is multiplied.
14 Nations, nations in the valley of destruction: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of destruction.
Noises have resounded in the valley of judgment: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.
16 And the Lord shall roar out of Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the heavens and the earth shall be moved, and the Lord shall be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
And the Lord shall cry out of Sion, and shall utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heaven and the earth shall be shaken, but the Lord shall spare his people, and shall strengthen the children of Israel.
17 And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Sion my holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall pass through it no more.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwell in Sion my holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall not pass through her anymore.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk: and waters shall flow through all the rivers of Juda: and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the torrent of thorns.
And it shall come to pass in that day [that] the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the fountains of Juda shall flow with water, and a fountain shall go forth of the house of the Lord, and water the valley of flags.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a wilderness destroyed: because they have done unjustly against the children of Juda, and have shed innocent blood in their land.
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Idumea shall be a desolate plain, because of the wrongs of the children of Juda, because they have shed righteous blood in their land.
20 And Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation.
But Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 And I will cleanse their blood which I had not cleansed: and the Lord will dwell in Sion.
And I will make inquisition for their blood, and will by no means leave it unavenged: and the Lord shall dwell in Sion.

< Joel 3 >