God Judges the Nations
1 “For behold,in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
# And Iwill enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
3 They havecast lots for My people,
Have given a boyaspaymentfor a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4 “Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
# O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me?
But if you retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;
5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold,
And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.
6 Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem
You have sold to the Greeks,
That you may remove them far from their borders.
7 “Behold,I will raise them
Out of the place to which you have sold them,
And will return your retaliation upon your own head.
8 I will sell your sons and your daughters
Into the hand of the people of Judah,
# And they will sell them to theSabeans,
# To a peoplefar off;
For theLordhas spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
# Let the weak say, ‘Iamstrong.’ ”
11 Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
# CauseYour mighty ones to go down there, OLord.
12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
# For there I will sit tojudge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, forthe harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
# For thewinepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickednessisgreat.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
# Forthe day of theLordisnear in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 TheLordalso will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
# But theLordwill be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.
17 “So you shall know that IamtheLordyour God,
# Dwelling in Zion Myholy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
God Blesses His People
18 And it will come to pass in that day
Thatthe mountains shall drip with new wine,
The hills shall flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;
# Afountain shall flow from the house of theLord
And water the Valley of Acacias.
19 “Egypt shall be a desolation,
And Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violenceagainstthe people of Judah,
For they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall abide forever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I willacquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;
For theLorddwells in Zion.”