MSB JOEL Chapter 3

The LORD Judges the Nations

3 [ “] Yes, in those days and at that time,

when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,[fn]

2 I will gather all the nations

and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[fn]

There I will enter into judgment against them

concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel,

whom they have scattered among the nations

as they divided up My land.

3 They cast lots for My people;

they bartered a boy for a prostitute

and sold a girl for wine to drink.

4 Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads. 5 For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.[fn] 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,[fn] to send them far from their homeland.

7 Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.”

Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

9 Proclaim this among the nations:

“Prepare for war;

rouse the mighty men;

let all the men of war

advance and attack!

10 Beat your plowshares into swords

and your pruning hooks into spears.

Let the weak say, ‘I [am] strong!’

11 Come quickly, all {you} surrounding nations,

and gather yourselves.

Bring down Your mighty ones,

O LORD.

12 Let the nations be roused

and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit down

to judge all the nations on every side.

13 Swing the sickle,

for the harvest is ripe.[fn]

Come, trample the grapes,

for the winepress is full;

the wine vats overflow

because their wickedness is great.

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 grow dark,

and the stars {will} no longer shine.

16 The LORD will roar from Zion

and raise His voice from Jerusalem;

heaven and earth 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 am the LORD your God,

who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.

Jerusalem will be holy,

never again to be overrun by foreigners

18 And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and the hills will flow with milk.

All the streams of Judah will run with water,

and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD

to water the Valley of Acacias.[fn]

19 Egypt will become desolate,

and Edom a desert wasteland

because of the violence done to the people of Judah,

in whose land they shed innocent blood.

20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,

and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 For I will avenge their blood,

which I have not yet avenged.[fn]” For the LORD dwells in Zion.