Joel
Chapter 3
1 For, look, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the people of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There, I will argue for my people and my land, Israel, because they have been scattered among the nations and my land has been divided.
3 They have drawn lots for my people, traded a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine to drink.
4 Yes, and what do you have to do with me, O Tyre, Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? Will you pay me back? If you pay me back, I will quickly return your payment on your own head.
5 Because you took my silver and gold, and brought my precious things into your temples:
6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so you could send them far from their land.
7 I will lift them from the place where you sold them and bring the consequences back on you.
8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation, because God has said so.
9 Tell this to the nations: Get ready for battle, wake up the strong fighters, let all the soldiers come close; let them move forward.
10 Turn your farming tools into swords and your cutting tools into spears; let those who feel weak say, I am strong.
11 Come together and join, all you nations, and gather around: call your strong ones to come down, God.
12 Let the nations wake up and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Use the sickle, the crops are ready: come, gather them; the vat is full, it’s overflowing because there is so much evil.
14 Many people, many people in the valley of choice: for God’s day is close in the valley of choice.
15 The sun and the moon will become dark, and the stars will stop shining.
16 God will roar from Zion and shout from Jerusalem; the sky and land will tremble. But God will be a safe place for his people, and a stronghold for the people of Israel.
17 You will know that I am God living in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be a holy city, and no strangers will pass through it anymore.
18 On that day, the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will overflow with milk, all of Judah’s streams will run with water, and a spring will come out of God’s house and water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become ruined, and Edom will turn into a barren wasteland because of the harm done to the people of Judah, since they have spilled the blood of the innocent in their country.
20 Judah will live forever, and Jerusalem will last from one generation to the next.
21 I will purify their blood that I haven’t purified before, because God lives in Zion.