Valley of Jehoshaphat
4 “For behold, in those days and at that time,
when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from exile,
2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will plead[a] with them there on behalf of My people,
even My inheritance, Israel,
whom they scattered among the nations
and they divided up My land.
3 They cast lots for My people,
traded a boy for a prostitute,
and sold a girl for wine, which they drank.”
4 “Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre and Sidon[b] and all regions of Philistia? Did you render retribution for Me? Even if you were rendering retribution for Me, swiftly, speedily, will I return your retribution back on your own head. 5 For you took My silver and My gold, and you carried My valuable treasures into your temples.
6 “The children of Judah and of Jerusalem you sold to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own territory.
7 “Behold, I am rousing them from the place where you sold them, and I will return your retribution on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba[c], to a nation far off—for Adonai has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war.
Stir up the mighty men.
Let the warriors advance and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears.
Let the weak say, “I am strong.”
11 Rouse yourselves and come,
all nations around, and gather there.
Adonai, bring Your mighty ones down!
12 “Let the nations rouse themselves
and go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
For there will I sit
to judge all the surrounding nations.”
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the winepress is full
—the vats overflow—
for their wickedness is great![d]
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of Adonai is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon become dark,
the stars withdraw their brightness.
16 Adonai will roar from Zion
and give His voice from Jerusalem.
Heaven and earth will shudder,
Shalom in Zion
but Adonai will be a refuge for His people,
and a safe place for the children of Israel.
17 So you will know that I am Adonai, your God,
dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.
Then will Jerusalem be holy,
and foreigners will cross through her no more.
18 It will be in that day,
the mountains will drip sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and all the wadis of Judah will flow with water.[e]
A spring will flow out from the House of Adonai
and water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a desolation
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence against the children of Judah,
because they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever—
Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will acquit their bloodguilt that I had not acquitted,[f]
for Adonai dwells in Zion.
Footnotes
- Joel 4:2 Or, enter into judgment.
- Joel 4:4 cf. Matt. 11:21-22.
- Joel 4:8 Or, into captivity.
- Joel 4:13 cf. Matt. 13:39; Rev. 14:15-20.
- Joel 4:18 cf. Rev. 22:1-2.
- Joel 4:21 cf. Heb. 9:14; 10:22.