Judgment on the Nations
Joel 3 “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.“Yes, and what are y’all to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will y’all repay me? And if y’all repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on y’all’s own head. Because y’all have taken my silver and my gold, and y’all have carried my finest treasures into y’all’s temples, and y’all have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their border. Look, I will stir them up out of the place where y’all have sold them, and will return your* dealings on y’all’s own head; and I will sell y’all’s sons and daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for YHWH has spoken it.”
Y’all proclaim this among the nations: “Y’all must prepare for war! Y’all stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up. Y’all are to beat your* plowshares into swords, and y’all’s pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ Y’all come quickly, all surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Bring down your mighty ones, YHWH. “Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Y’all swing in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Y’all come and tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of YHWH is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. YHWH will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but YHWH will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.