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The LORD Judges the Nations

¹ Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore from captivity^(a) Judah and Jerusalem,² I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat^(a). There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.³ They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.⁴ Now what have you against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia—are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense on your own heads.⁵ For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples^(a).⁶ You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.⁷ Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense on your own heads.⁸ I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’¹¹ Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.¹² Let the nations be roused and advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.¹³ Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.¹⁵ The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.¹⁶ The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s People

¹⁸ And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias^(a).¹⁹ Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.²⁰ But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.²¹ For I will acquit their bloodguilt which I have not yet acquitted^(a).” For the LORD dwells in Zion.