Joel 3:1-16

“Behold! In those days, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations together. I will bring them to the Valley of YAHWEH’s Judgment. I will take them to court there for all they have done against Israel— my people and my inheritance. I will execute judgment upon them because they have scattered my people among the nations and divided my land among themselves. They cast lots for my people and sold them into slavery. They traded a boy to pay for a prostitute and trafficked a girl for a drink of wine. And what have you done to me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, I will swiftly and speedily pay you back and return your revenge so that it lands squarely on your own heads. For you have stolen my silver and gold and carried off my valuable treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks to be taken as slaves far from their homeland. Behold! I will rouse them to return and come back from the places to which you have sold them. I will do to you the very thing that you have done to them. Your sons and daughters will be sold as slaves to the sons of Judah, who in turn will sell them to the Sabaeans, who live in a distant land. I, YAHWEH, have spoken!” Proclaim this message among the nations: “Prepare for war!” Awaken the champions! Let all you soldiers gather, advance, and march. Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am a champion!” Hurry and join the battle, all you surrounding nations. Come and assemble there. YAHWEH, send down your champions, your warring angels! YAHWEH “Let the nations stir themselves up and march to the Valley of YAHWEH’s Judgment. There I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations. “Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe for judgment. Come and tread the grapes of wrath. The winepress is full and the vats are overflowing for their wickedness is so great!” Multitudes! So many multitudes in the Valley of Decision! For the day of YAHWEH is near in the Valley of the Verdict. YAHWEH The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. YAHWEH roars from Zion, and his voice thunders from Jerusalem; heaven and earth tremble. But YAHWEH will be a shelter for his people, a faithful fortress for Israel.