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The Nations Will Be Judged

¹ "For behold, ^(C1)in those climactic days and at that time,
When I ^(C2)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

² I will ^(C1)gather together all the Gentile nations that were hostile to My people
And bring them down into the ^(C2)Valley of Jehoshaphat (the LORD has judged).
And there I will deal with them and ^(C3)enter into judgment with them there
For their treatment of My people, My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have ^(C4)scattered among the nations,
And because they have ^(C5)encroached on My land and divided it up.

³ "They have also ^(C1)cast lots for My people,
And have ^(C2)traded a boy for a prostitute
And have sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

^9 (C1)Proclaim this among the pagan nations:
^(C2)Prepare a war! ^(C3)Stir up the mighty men!
Let all the men of war come near, let them come up!

^10 (C1)Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
^(C2)Let the weak say, "I am strong!" ^(VR1)

^11 (C1)Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there;
Bring down, O LORD, Your ^(C2)mighty ones (Your warriors).

¹² Let the nations be stirred to action
And come up to the ^(C1)Valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to ^(C2)judge and punish
All the surrounding nations.

^13 (C1)Put in the sickle of judgment, for the ^(C2)harvest is ripe;
Come, ^(C3)tread the grapes, for the ^(C4)wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for the ^(C5)wickedness of the people is great. ^(VR1)

^14 (C1)Multitudes, multitudes in the ^(C2)valley of decision (judgment)!
For the ^(C3)day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision when judgment is executed. ^(VR1)

¹⁵ The ^(C1)sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.

¹⁶ The LORD ^(C1)thunders and roars from Zion
And ^(C2)utters His voice from Jerusalem in judgment of His enemies,
And the ^(C3)heavens and the earth tremble and shudder;
But the LORD is a ^(C4)refuge for His people
And a ^(C5)stronghold of protection to the children of Israel. ^(VR1)

¹⁷ Then you will ^(C1)know and understand fully that I am the LORD your God,
Dwelling in Zion, My ^(C2)holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be ^(C3)holy,
And ^(C4)strangers who do not belong will no longer pass through it.

Judah Will Be Blessed

¹⁸ And in that day
The ^(C1)mountains will drip with sweet wine
And the hills will ^(C2)flow with milk;
And all the ^(C3)brooks and riverbeds of Judah will flow with water,
And a ^(C4)fountain will go out from the house of the LORD
To water the desert Valley of Shittim. ^(VR1)

¹⁹ Egypt will become a waste,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of their ^(C1)violence against the children of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood. ^(VR1)

²⁰ But Judah shall be ^(C1)inhabited forever
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹ And I shall ^(C1)avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the LORD dwells in Zion.