Joe 3 | ABEn | STEP | For behold, I in those days and in that time, whenever [ 6 shall return 1 the 2 captivity 3 of Judah 4 and 5 Jerusalem],

Joel 3

CHAPTER 3 The Valley of Jehoshaphat

1 For behold, I in those days and in that time, whenever [⁶shall return ¹the ²captivity ³of Judah ⁴and ⁵Jerusalem], 2 I will gather all the nations, and I will lead them into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will litigate with them there for my people, and my inheritance Israel, whom I dispersed among the nations, even the one [²my land ¹who divided]. 3 And [³over ⁴my people ¹they cast ²lots]; and gave the boys to harlots, and [²the ³young women ¹sold] for wine, and drank. 4 And what are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Philistines? Do [⁴a recompense ¹you ²recompense ³to me]? or [²have resentment ¹do you] to me? Swiftly and quickly I will recompense your recompense upon your heads; 5 because [²my silver ³and ⁴my gold ¹you took], and the chosen things of mine; the good things you carried into your temples. 6 And the sons of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem you rendered to the sons of the Greeks, so that you should push them from out of their borders. 7 And behold, I will awaken them from out of the place of which you rendered them there; and I will recompense your recompense onto your heads. 8 And I will render your sons and your daughters into the hands of sons of Judah; and they shall render them into captivity, into a nation far at a distance, for the lord spoke. 9 Proclaim these things among the nations! Sanctify a war! Awaken the warriors! Lead forward and ascend all men of war! 10 Cut up your plows into broadswords, and your sickles into spears! Let the powerless say that, I am strong! 11 Gather together and enter all nations round about! And gather together there! Let the gentle one be a warrior! 12 Awaken and ascend all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat! for there I will sit to separate all the nations round about. 13 Send out sickles! for [³stands by ¹the ²gathering of the crops]. Enter in! Tread! for [³is full ¹the ²wine vat]. [³overflow ¹The ²wine-vats], for [²are multiplied ¹their evils]. 14 Sounds resounded in the valley of punishment, for [³is near ¹the day ²of the lord] in the valley of punishment. 15 The sun and the moon shall darken, and the stars shall let down their brightness.

The LORD Will Spare His People

16 But the lord [²from ³Zion ¹shall shout aloud], and [³from out of ⁴Jerusalem ¹shall utter ²his voice]. And [⁶shall be shaken ¹the ²heaven ³and ⁴the ⁵earth], but the lord shall spare his people, and shall strengthen the sons of Israel. 17 And you shall know that I am the lord your God encamping in Zion, [³mountain ²holy ¹my]. And Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners shall go through her no longer. 18 And it will be in that day [³will trickle down ¹the ²mountains] sweetness, and the hills shall flow milk, and all the releases of Judah shall flow waters; and a spring [²from out of ³the house ⁴of the lord ¹shall come forth], and it shall water the rushing stream of the rushes. 19 Egypt [²for ³extinction ¹will be], and Edom for a plain of extinction, because of iniquities of the sons of Judah, because they poured out blood of the just in their land. 20 But Judea [²into ³the ⁴eon ¹shall dwell], and Jerusalem for generations of generations. 21 And I will require their blood, and no way acquit. And the lord shall encamp in Zion.