Judgment on the nations

¹Truly, in those days and in that time, I will bring back to Judah and Jerusalem those who were sent away.

²I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them to the Jehoshaphat Valley. There I will enter into judgment with them in support of my people and my possession, Israel, which they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,

³and have cast lots for my people. They have traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, which they drank down.

⁴What are you to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, then in a flash I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads.

⁵You have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.

⁶You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border.

⁷But now I am calling them from the places where you have sold them, and I will repay you for your deeds.

⁸I will sell your sons and your daughters as a possession of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the Lord has spoken.

Declaration of war

⁹Announce this among the nations:

Prepare a holy war,

let all the soldiers draw near,

¹⁰Beat the iron tips of your plows into swords

¹¹Come quickly,

gather yourselves there;

¹²Let the nations prepare themselves,

¹³Cut with the sickle,

Go and crush grapes,

The jars overflow with wine,

¹⁴Crowd after crowd fills the valley of judgment,

for the day of the LORD is near

¹⁵The sun and the moon are darkened;

the stars have ceased shining.

Salvation for God’s people

¹⁶The LORD roars from Zion,

But the LORD is a refuge for his people,

¹⁷So you will know that I am the LORD your God,

Jerusalem will be holy,

¹⁸In that day

¹⁹Egypt will become desolate

This is because of the violence done to the people of Judah,

²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever,

²¹I will forgive their bloodguilt,

I will act on their account;