Joel 3:7-16 - Compare All Versions

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“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. 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. Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, LORD! “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. 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!” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 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.

Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.” Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD. Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

“But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia, a nation far away. I, the LORD, have spoken!” Say to the nations far and wide: “Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors. Let all your fighting men advance for the attack. Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors. Come quickly, all you nations everywhere. Gather together in the valley.” And now, O LORD, call out your warriors! “Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the LORD, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people.” Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the LORD will soon arrive. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine. The LORD’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will shake. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress for the people of Israel.

Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them;  I will bring retribution on your heads. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah,  and they will sell them to the Sabeans,  , to a distant nation, for the LORD has spoken. Proclaim this among the nations:  Prepare for holy war;  rouse the warriors;  let all the men of war advance and attack! Beat your plows into swords and your pruning knives into spears.  Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.” Come quickly,  all you surrounding nations; gather yourselves.  Bring down your warriors there,  LORD.  Let the nations be roused and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the surrounding nations.  Swing the sickle because the harvest is ripe.  Come and trample the grapes because the winepress is full;  the wine vats overflow because the wickedness of the nations is extreme.  Multitudes, multitudes  in the valley of decision! For the day of the  LORD is near  in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will cease their shining.  The LORD will roar from Zion  and make his voice heard from Jerusalem;  heaven and earth will shake.  But the LORD will be a refuge for his people,  a stronghold for the Israelites.

Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

“Behold, I will raise them Out of the place to which you have sold them, And will return your retaliation upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the people of Judah, And they will sell them to the Sabeans, To a people far off; For the LORD has spoken.” 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. Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ” Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD. “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.

“As for you, Tyre and Sidon and Philistia, why should I bother with you? Are you trying to get back at me for something I did to you? If you are, forget it. I’ll see to it that it boomerangs on you. You robbed me, cleaned me out of silver and gold, carted off everything valuable to furnish your own temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem into slavery to the Greeks in faraway places. But I’m going to reverse your crime. I’m going to free those slaves. I’ll have done to you what you did to them: I’ll sell your children as slaves to your neighbors, And they’ll sell them to the far-off Sabeans.” GOD’s Verdict. * * * Announce this to the godless nations: Prepare for battle! Soldiers at attention! Present arms! Advance! Turn your shovels into swords, turn your hoes into spears. Let the weak one throw out his chest and say, “I’m tough, I’m a fighter.” Hurry up, pagans! Wherever you are, get a move on! Get your act together. Prepare to be shattered by GOD! Let the pagan nations set out for Judgment Valley. There I’ll take my place at the bench and judge all the surrounding nations. “Swing the sickle— the harvest is ready. Stomp on the grapes— the winepress is full. The wine vats are full, overflowing with vintage evil. “Mass confusion, mob uproar— in Decision Valley! GOD’s Judgment Day has arrived in Decision Valley. “The sky turns black, sun and moon go dark, stars burn out. GOD roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem. Earth and sky quake in terror. But GOD is a safe hiding place, a granite safe house for the children of Israel. Then you’ll know for sure that I’m your GOD, Living in Zion, my sacred mountain. Jerusalem will be a sacred city, posted: ‘NO TRESPASSING.’

behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. I will also sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the LORD has spoken. ¶Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors! Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.” Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, LORD, Your warriors. Let the nations be awakened And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon have become dark, And the stars have lost their brightness. The LORD roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge for His people, And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.

behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them [and return them to their land], and I shall return your action [of retaliation] on your own head. Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the LORD has spoken. [Is 14:2; 60:14] ¶Proclaim this among the [pagan] nations: Prepare a war! Stir up the mighty men! Let all the men of war come near, let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, “I am strong!” [Is 2:4; Mic 4:3] Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there; Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones (Your warriors). Let the nations be stirred [to action] And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge and punish All the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle [of judgment], for the harvest is ripe; Come, tread [the grapes], for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for the wickedness [of the people] is great. [Mark 4:29; Rev 14:15, 18-20] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision (judgment)! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision [when judgment is executed]. [Zech 14:1-9] The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. The LORD thunders and roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem [in judgment of His enemies], And the heavens and the earth tremble and shudder; But the LORD is a refuge for His people And a stronghold [of protection] to the children of Israel. [Amos 9:11-15; Mic 4:1-3; 5:2; Zeph 3:13-20; Zech 6:12, 13; 12:8, 9]

Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them. I will repay you for what you have done! I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. They will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away. Indeed, the LORD has spoken! Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for a holy war! Call out the warriors! Let all these fighting men approach and attack! Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears! Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’ Lend your aid and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves to that place.” Bring down, O LORD, your warriors! Let the nations be roused and let them go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations. Rush forth with the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Come, stomp the grapes, for the winepress is full! The vats overflow. Indeed, their evil is great! Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision, for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision! The sun and moon are darkened; the stars withhold their brightness. The LORD roars from Zion; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out. The heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel.