1 ‘In those days and at that time,when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nationsand bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.There I will put them on trialfor what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,because they scattered my people among the nationsand divided up my land.
3 They cast lots for my peopleand traded boys for prostitutes;they sold girls for wine to drink.
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.
5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.
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.
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.
9 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 swordsand 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 sitto judge all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle,for the harvest is ripe.Come, trample the grapes,for the winepress is fulland the vats overflow –so great is their wickedness!’
14 Multitudes, multitudesin the valley of decision!For the day of the Lord is nearin the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zionand 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.
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 houseand will water the valley of acacias.
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 everand Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?No, I will not.’Footnotes for the Book of Joela 18,19 Or Lord will be jealous … / and take pity … / 19The Lord will replyb 25 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain.c 32 In Hebrew texts 2:28-32 is numbered 3:1-5.