Joel 3

1 At that time when this happens, when I bring back the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem,

For behold in those days, and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem:

2 I will gather together all the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat and I will judge them there over my people Israel, my inheritance, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have divided up my land.

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.

3 They cast lots for my people; they traded boys in payment for prostitutes and girls to buy wine to drink.

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.

4 Also, what have you got to do with me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you trying to get back at me? If you are trying to pay me back, I will quickly pay you back what you deserve for what you've done.

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.

5 You stole my silver and my gold and my best treasures, and you put them in your temples.

For you have taken away my silver and my gold: and my desirable and most beautiful things you have carried into your temples.

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks so they could be sent far away from their land.

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.

7 But watch out! I will get them moving from the places you sold them to, and bring them back, and I will pay you back what you deserve for what you've done.

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.

8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. I the Lord have spoken.

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.

9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Call up the mighty warriors! Let all the soldiers get ready and advance!

Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare war, rouse up the strong: let them come, let all the men of war come up.

10 Hammer your plough blades and turn them into swords. Turn your pruning hooks into spears. Even the weak should say ‘I am a strong fighter!’

Cut your ploughshares into swords, and your spades into spears. Let the weak say: I am strong.

11 Hurry up and come, all nations from everywhere, and gather there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!

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.

12 Let the nations get ready, let them come to the valley of Jehoshaphat for there I will sit in judgment on all the nations.

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.

13 Start swinging the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come and tread the grapes for the winepress is full and the vats are overflowing because their wickedness has become so great.

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.

14 Huge mobs are in the valley of the Lord's verdict. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of his verdict.

Nations, nations in the valley of destruction: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of destruction.

15 The sun and moon will become dark, and the stars will stop shining.

The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.

16 The Lord will roar from Zion, shouting in a loud voice from Jerusalem, shaking the heavens and the earth. But the Lord will shelter his people, protecting the people of Israel.

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.

17 Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain, and Jerusalem will be a holy place forever, and no foreigners will ever march through her again.

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.

18 At that time new wine will pour down the mountains, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the riverbeds of Judah will run with water. A spring will flow out of the Temple and will water the valley of Shittim.

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.

19 But Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence they did against Judah, for in their land they shed innocent blood.

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.

20 Judah will be lived in forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.

And Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation.

21 Will I pardon and leave unpunished the shedding of innocent blood? The Lord lives in Zion!”

And I will cleanse their blood which I had not cleansed: and the Lord will dwell in Sion.