3:1 “ ①For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
▷ ①Ch 4:1 in Heb
3:2 I will gather all the nations
And bring them down to the Valley of ①Jehoshaphat.
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
And they have divided up My land.
▷ ①I.e., YHWH judges
3:3 They have also cast lots for My people,
①Traded a boy for a prostitute,
And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.
▷ ①Lit Given
3:4 Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will return your retribution on your head!
3:5 Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious ①treasures to your temples,
▷ ①Lit goodly things
3:6 and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the ①Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,
▷ ①Lit sons of Javan
3:7 behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head.
3:8 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.
3:9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors!
Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
3:11 ①Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, LORD, Your warriors.
▷ ①Or Come help
3:12 Let the nations be awakened
And come up to the Valley of ①Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations.
▷ ①I.e., YHWH judges
3:13 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.
3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of ①decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of ②decision.
▷ ①I.e., God’s verdict ②I.e., God’s verdict
3:15 The sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.
3:16 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.
3:17 Then you will know that I am the LORD your God,
Dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be holy,
And strangers will no longer pass through it.
3:18 And on that day
The mountains will drip with ①sweet wine,
And the hills will flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a spring will go out from the house of the LORD
And water the Valley of ②Shittim.
▷ ①Lit freshly pressed-out grape juice ②Or acacias
3:19 Egypt will become a wasteland,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the violence ①done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
▷ ①Lit of the sons
3:20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
And Jerusalem for all generations.
3:21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the LORD dwells in Zion.