Joel 3

New American Standard Bible

The Nations Will Be Judged

3 “^[a]For behold, ^(A)in those days and at that time,
When I ^(B)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
²I will ^(C)gather all the nations
And bring them down to the ^(D)Valley of ^[b]Jehoshaphat.
Then I will ^(E)enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have ^(F)scattered among the nations;
And they have ^(G)divided up My land.
³They have also ^(H)cast lots for My people,
^[c]^(I)Traded a boy for a prostitute,
And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.

⁴Moreover, what are you to Me, ^(J)Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of ^(K)Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will ^(L)return your retribution on your head! ⁵Since you have ^(M)taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious ^[d]treasures to your temples, ⁶and sold the ^(N)sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the ^[e]Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, ⁷behold, I am going to ^(O)stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. ⁸I will also ^(P)sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the ^(Q)Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.

⁹^(R)Proclaim this among the nations:
^(S)Prepare for holy war; ^(T)stir up the warriors!
Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
¹⁰^(U)Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruning hooks into spears;
^(V)Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
¹¹^[f]^(W)Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, Lord, Your ^(X)warriors.
¹²Let the nations be awakened
And come up to the ^(Y)Valley of ^[g]Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to ^(Z)judge
All the surrounding nations.
¹³^(AA)Put in the sickle, for the ^(AB)harvest is ripe.
Come, ^(AC)tread the grapes, for the ^(AD)wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their ^(AE)wickedness is great.
¹⁴^(AF)Multitudes, multitudes in the ^(AG)valley of ^[h]decision!
For the ^(AH)day of the Lord is near in the valley of ^[i]decision.
¹⁵The ^(AI)sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.
¹⁶The Lord ^(AJ)roars from Zion
And ^(AK)utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the ^(AL)heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a ^(AM)refuge for His people,
And a ^(AN)stronghold for the sons of Israel.
¹⁷Then you will ^(AO)know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling on Zion, My ^(AP)holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be ^(AQ)holy,
And ^(AR)strangers will no longer pass through it.

Judah Will Be Blessed

¹⁸And on that day
The ^(AS)mountains will drip with ^[j]sweet wine,
And the hills will ^(AT)flow with milk,
And all the ^(AU)brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a ^(AV)spring will go out from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of ^[k]Shittim.
¹⁹Egypt will become a wasteland,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the ^(AW)violence ^[l]done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
²⁰But Judah will be ^(AX)inhabited forever,
And Jerusalem for all generations.
²¹And I will ^(AY)avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the Lord dwells in Zion.