Joel 3:1-13

New Living Translation

Judgment against Enemy Nations

3 ^[a]“At the time of those events,” says the Lord,
    “when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,
²I will gather the armies of the world
    into the valley of Jehoshaphat.^[b]
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.
³They threw dice^[c] 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. ⁵You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and have carried them off to your pagan temples. ⁶You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,^[d] 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. ⁸I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia,^[e] a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

⁹Say to the nations far and wide:
    “Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
    Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.
¹⁰Hammer your plowshares into swords
    and your pruning hooks into spears.
    Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
¹¹Come 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.
¹³Swing the sickle,
    for the harvest is ripe.^[f]
Come, tread the grapes,
    for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
    with the wickedness of these people.”