JOEL
CHAPTER 3

The Nations Judged
¹ "In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
² I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. ^[1]
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
³ They cast lots for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine
that they might drink.

⁴ "Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. ⁵ For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. ⁶ You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
⁷ "See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. ⁸ I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away." The LORD has spoken.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
"I am strong!"
¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemble there.

Bring down your warriors, O LORD !

¹² "Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
to judge all the nations on every side.
¹³ Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full
and the vats overflow-
so great is their wickedness!"

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision.
¹⁵ The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
¹⁶ The LORD will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the sky will tremble.
But the LORD will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.


Blessings for God's People
¹⁷ "Then you will know that I, the LORD your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
never again will foreigners invade her.

¹⁸ "In that day the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills will flow with milk;
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the LORD's house
and will water the valley of acacias. ^[2]
19 But Egypt will be desolate,
Edom a desert waste,
because of violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
²⁰ Judah will be inhabited forever
and Jerusalem through all generations.
²¹ Their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned,
I will pardon."

The LORD dwells in Zion!

Footnotes

1. 3:2 Jehoshaphat means the LORD judges ; also in verse 12.
2. 3:18 Or Valley of Shittim

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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