The Judgment of the Nations in the Valley of Decision
Joel 3:1-16
1For behold, in those days and at that time when I restore the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,2I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there concerning my people and my inheritance Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and they divided my land.3They cast lots for my people; they gave the youth to a prostitute and sold the maiden for wine, and they drank it.4And what are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering full recompense upon me? If you are repaying me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your own head,5because you took my silver and my gold and brought my pleasant things into your temples.6You sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border.7Behold, I am rousing them from the place where you sold them, and I will return your recompense upon your own head.8I will 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.9Proclaim this among the nations; consecrate war; rouse the mighty men; let them draw near and arise, all the men of war.10Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am mighty.11Hasten and come, all the nations from every side, and be gathered there; bring down, O LORD, your mighty men.12Let the nations be roused and arise toward the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about.13Send out the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come down, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.14Multitudes upon multitudes in the Valley of Decision, for the day of the LORD is near in the Valley of Decision.15The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their brightness.16The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble; the LORD is a refuge for his people and a stronghold for the sons of Israel.