The Nations Judged
Joe 3 : 1“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
Joe 3 : 2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. 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.
Joe 3 : 3 They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.
Joe 3 : 4 “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.
Joe 3 : 5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.
Joe 3 : 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
7“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.
Joe 3 : 8 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.
Joe 3 : 9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
Joe 3 : 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”
Joe 3 : 11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!
Joe 3 : 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.
Joe 3 : 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!”
Joe 3 : 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Joe 3 : 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.
Joe 3 : 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
Joe 3 : 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.
Joe 3 : 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.
Joe 3 : 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.
Joe 3 : 20 Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
Joe 3 : 21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.” The Lord dwells in Zion!
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