the-bible/NLT/29_Joel/Chapter_03.md

Judgment against Enemy Nations

Chapter 3

1. "At the time of those events," says the LORD,

"when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2. I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat.

There I will judge them

for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations,

and for dividing up my land.

3. They threw dice to decide which of my people

would be their slaves.

They traded boys to obtain prostitutes

and sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.

4. "What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done.

5. You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and have carried them off to your pagan temples.

6. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could take them far from their homeland.

7. "But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done.

8. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia, a nation far away. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

9. Say to the nations far and wide:

"Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors.

Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.

10. Hammer your plowshares into swords

and your pruning hooks into spears.

Train even your weaklings to be warriors.

11. Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.

Gather together in the valley." And now, O LORD, call out your warriors!

12. "Let the nations be called to arms.

Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the LORD, will sit

to pronounce judgment on them all.

13. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Come, tread the grapes,

for the winepress is full.

The storage vats are overflowing

with the wickedness of these people."

14. Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the LORD will soon arrive.

15. The sun and moon will grow dark,

and the stars will no longer shine.

16. The LORD's voice will roar from Zion

and thunder from Jerusalem,

and the heavens and the earth will shake. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people,

a strong fortress for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God's People

17. "Then you will know that I, the LORD your God,

live in Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem will be holy forever,

and foreign armies will never conquer her again.

18. In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and the hills will flow with milk.

Water will fill the streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the LORD's Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias.

19. But Egypt will become a wasteland

and Edom will become a wilderness, because they attacked the people of Judah

and killed innocent people in their land.

20. "But Judah will be filled with people forever,

and Jerusalem will endure through all generations.

21. I will pardon my people's crimes,

which I have not yet pardoned; and I, the LORD, will make my home in Jerusalem with my people."