Joe 3 | LSB | STEP | “ For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

Joel 3

Yahweh Will Judge the Nations

1 “ ^{▼▼Ch 4:1 in Heb}For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations
And bring them down to the valley of ^{▼▼Lit Yahweh judges}Jehoshaphat.
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
And they have divided up My land.
3 “They have also cast lots for My people,
^{▼▼ Lit Given}Traded a boy for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.
4 Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head. 5 Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My desirable ^{▼▼Lit good things}treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the ^{▼▼Lit Javan}Greeks in order to remove them far from their borders, 7 behold, I am going to rouse them from the place where you have sold them and return your recompense on your head. 8 Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for Yahweh has spoken.

9 Call out this message among the nations:
Set yourselves apart for a war; rouse the mighty men!
Let all the men of war approach, let them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”
11 ^{▼▼ Or Lend aid}Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves.
There, bring down, O Yahweh, Your mighty ones.
12 Let the nations be roused up
And come up to the valley of ^{▼▼Lit Yahweh judges}Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations.
13 Send in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, ^{▼▼Or dominate}tread, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of ^{▼▼God’s verdict}decision!
For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of ^{▼▼God’s verdict}decision.
15 The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
16 And Yahweh roars from Zion
And gives forth His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth quake.
But Yahweh is a refuge for His people
And a strong defense to the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God,
Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be holy,
And strangers will pass through it no more.

Yahweh Dwells in Zion

18 And it will be in that day,
That the mountains will drip with ^{▼▼Lit freshly pressed out grape juice}sweet wine,
And the hills will flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a spring will go out from the house of Yahweh
To water the valley of ^{▼▼Or acacias}Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a desolation,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the violence ^{▼▼Lit of the sons}done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
Indeed, Yahweh dwells in Zion.