3:1 *“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, / *In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21.
3:2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.* There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. / *Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12.
3:3 They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.
3:4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.
3:5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.* / *Or palaces
3:6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
3:7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.
3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.
3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”
3:11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!
3:12 “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.
3:13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow - so great is their wickedness!”
3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
3:15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.
3:16 The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
3:17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.
3:18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.* / *Or Valley of Shittim
3:19 But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
3:20 Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
3:21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.” The Lord dwells in Zion!