The nations judged

[a]‘In those days and at that time,
    when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[b]
There I will put them on trial
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
    and divided up my land.
They cast lots for my people
    and traded boys for prostitutes;
    they sold girls for wine to drink.

‘Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.[c] You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

‘See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.’ The Lord has spoken.

Proclaim this among the nations:
    Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
    Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your ploughshares into swords
    and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
    ‘I am strong!’
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
    and assemble there.

Bring down your warriors, Lord!

12 ‘Let the nations be roused;
    let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
    to judge all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle,
    for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
    for the winepress is full
    and the vats overflow –
so great is their wickedness!’

14 Multitudes, multitudes
    in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
    in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
    and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion
    and thunder from Jerusalem;
    the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
    a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s people

17 ‘Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
    dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
    never again will foreigners invade her.

18 ‘In that day the mountains will drip new wine,
    and the hills will flow with milk;
    all the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house
    and will water the valley of acacias.[d]
19 But Egypt will be desolate,
    Edom a desert waste,
because of violence done to the people of Judah,
    in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Judah will be inhabited for ever
    and Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?
    No, I will not.’

The Lord dwells in Zion!

The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash[e] was king of Israel.

He said:

‘The Lord roars from Zion
    and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up,
    and the top of Carmel withers.’

Judgment on Israel’s neighbours

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Damascus,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because she threshed Gilead
    with sledges having iron teeth,
I will send fire on the house of Hazael
    that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
I will break down the gate of Damascus;
    I will destroy the king who is in[f] the Valley of Aven[g]
and the one who holds the sceptre in Beth Eden.
    The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,’
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Gaza,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because she took captive whole communities
    and sold them to Edom,
I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
    that will consume her fortresses.
I will destroy the king[h] of Ashdod
    and the one who holds the sceptre in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
    till the last of the Philistines are dead,’
says the Sovereign Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Tyre,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,
    disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,
10 I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
    that will consume her fortresses.’

11 This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Edom,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he pursued his brother with a sword
    and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually
    and his fury flamed unchecked,
12 I will send fire on Teman
    that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.’

13 This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Ammon,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
    in order to extend his borders,
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
    that will consume her fortresses
amid war cries on the day of battle,
    amid violent winds on a stormy day.
15 Her king[i] will go into exile,
    he and his officials together,’
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Moab,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes
    the bones of Edom’s king,
I will send fire on Moab
    that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth.[j]
Moab will go down in great tumult
    amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.
I will destroy her ruler
    and kill all her officials with him,’
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Judah,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord
    and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods,[k]
    the gods[l] their ancestors followed,
I will send fire on Judah
    that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.’

Judgment on Israel

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Israel,
    even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
    and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
    as on the dust of the ground
    and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
    and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar
    on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
    they drink wine taken as fines.

‘Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
    though they were tall as the cedars
    and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
    and their roots below.
10 I brought you up out of Egypt
    and led you for forty years in the wilderness
    to give you the land of the Amorites.

11 ‘I also raised up prophets from among your children
    and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?’
declares the Lord.
12 ‘But you made the Nazirites drink wine
    and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

13 ‘Now then, I will crush you
    as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
14 The swift will not escape,
    the strong will not muster their strength,
    and the warrior will not save his life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground,
    the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
    and the horseman will not save his life.
16 Even the bravest warriors
    will flee naked on that day,’
declares the Lord.

Witnesses summoned against Israel

Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you – against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

‘You only have I chosen
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your sins.’

Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar in the thicket
    when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
When a trumpet sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
    without revealing his plan
    to his servants the prophets.

The lion has roared –
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken –
    who can but prophesy?

Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
    and to the fortresses of Egypt:
‘Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
    see the great unrest within her
    and the oppression among her people.’

10 ‘They do not know how to do right,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘who store up in their fortresses
    what they have plundered and looted.’

11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘An enemy will overrun your land,
    pull down your strongholds
    and plunder your fortresses.’

12 This is what the Lord says:

‘As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
    only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
    with only the head of a bed
    and a piece of fabric[m] from a couch.’[n]

13 ‘Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,’ declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

14 ‘On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house
    along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
    and the mansions will be demolished,’
declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Joel 3:1 In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21.
  2. Joel 3:2 Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12.
  3. Joel 3:5 Or palaces
  4. Joel 3:18 Or Valley of Shittim
  5. Amos 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
  6. Amos 1:5 Or the inhabitants of
  7. Amos 1:5 Aven means wickedness.
  8. Amos 1:8 Or inhabitants
  9. Amos 1:15 Or / Molek
  10. Amos 2:2 Or of her cities
  11. Amos 2:4 Or by lies
  12. Amos 2:4 Or lies
  13. Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  14. Amos 3:12 Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches.