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.”
Joel 3
The Voice
3 Eternal One: Know that in those days and at that time
I will bring back Judah and Jerusalem from their captivity.
2 I will assemble all Israel’s enemies in the valley of Jehoshaphat—My judgment.
I will judge them for how they treated My people, My legacy, Israel—
Whom they deported and exiled to the nations.
They divided My land among themselves;
3 They cast lots for My people, selling them into slavery—
trading boys for prostitutes, selling young girls for a drink of wine.
4 Tyre, Sidon, and all the districts of Philistia, what do you have against Me?
Are you trying to get back at Me?
Do you pay me back?
I will turn your wicked actions back upon your heads, fast and sure.
5 You have taken wonderful treasures from My house, My silver and gold,
and you carried them to your own temples and palaces.
6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks
to send them far away from their home without hope of return.
7 But now, watch! I am going to awaken them to action,
and in those distant lands where you sold them
I will turn your wicked actions back upon your heads:
8 I will sell your sons and daughters into slavery.
Now the people of Judah will be your children’s masters.
Indeed, they will sell your children to the Sabeans,
who will take them far, far away.
The Eternal One has spoken.
9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Get ready for war.
Awaken your great warriors.
Let all the soldiers come near the valley, poised for battle.
10 Hammer your sickles into swords.
Forge your pruning shears into spears.
For this final battle, even the weakling must say, ‘I am a warrior!’
11 “Hurry up! Join the battle, you nations all around;
gather in the valley of Jehoshaphat.”
Eternal One, march Your troops to war.
12 Eternal One: Let the nations awaken
and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
For that is where I will come Myself and set forth judgment against
the nations who surrounded and attacked My Israel.
13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe for judgment.
Come on and tread the grapes, for the winepress is full.
Indeed, the vats are overflowing with oil, for their evil is great.
14 The thunder of battle goes up in the valley of decision,
and the day of the Eternal One is near that valley.
15 It is time. The sun and moon have become a void of darkness;
the stars, too, lose their radiance.
16 The Eternal roars from Zion;
His voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The earth and the heavens tremble before Him.
But the Eternal is a hiding place for His people,
a fortress for the Israelites.
17 Eternal One: Then you will know that I am the Eternal, your God,
and I live in Zion, My sacred mountain.
Jerusalem will be My holy city;
never again will foreign invaders infiltrate it.
18 On that great day, the Eternal will provide:
Sweet wine will drip down from the mountains.
Fresh milk will pour down from the hills.
Clear water will run through Judah’s ravines.
A fountain will bubble up from the Eternal’s temple
and water the arid stream bed of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland and Edom a lonely desert,
because they violently attacked the people of Judah
And murdered the innocent in Israel.
20 But as for Judah, it will always be full of people.
Eternal One: Jerusalem, too, will endure for generations to come.
21 I will avenge those who were hurt, enslaved, exiled, and killed;
I will not let the guilty go free.
For the Eternal One lives in Zion.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.