Joel 3
English Standard Version
The Lord Judges the Nations
3 [a] “For behold, (A)in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 (B)I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And (C)I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and (D)have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, (E)O Tyre and Sidon, and all (F)the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, (G)I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For (H)you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.[b] 6 You have sold (I)the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and (J)I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the (K)Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
(L)Consecrate for war;[c]
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 (M)Beat your plowshares into swords,
and (N)your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11 (O)Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
(P)Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to (Q)the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
(R)for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 (S)Put in the sickle,
(T)for the harvest is ripe.
(U)Go in, tread,
(V)for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For (W)the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 (X)The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 (Y)The Lord roars from Zion,
and (Z)utters his voice from Jerusalem,
(AA)and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is (AB)a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17 (AC)“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
(AD)who dwells in Zion, (AE)my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and (AF)strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 “And in that day
(AG)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and (AH)all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
(AI)and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of (AJ)Shittim.
19 (AK)“Egypt shall become a desolation
and (AL)Edom a desolate wilderness,
(AM)for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 (AN)But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 (AO)I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,[d]
(AP)for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
Amos 3
English Standard Version
Israel's Guilt and Punishment
3 (A)Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 (B)“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
(C)therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 (D)Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
(E)Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
(F)without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
(G)The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in (H)Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on (I)the mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and (J)the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
(K)“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
(L)“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down[a] your defenses from you,
and (M)your strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: (N)“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, (O)so shall the people of Israel (P)who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part[b] of a bed.
13 “Hear, (Q)and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, (R)the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
(S)I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and (T)the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 (U)I will strike (V)the winter house along with (W)the summer house,
and (X)the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[c] shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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