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Punishment for Judah’s Enemies

[L For look/T behold] In those days and at that time,
    when I will ·make things better for [restore the fortunes of; or return the exiles/captives of] Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all the nations together
    and bring them down into the Valley ·Where the Lord Judges [L of Jehoshaphat; C Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges”].
    There I will ·judge [enter into judgment against] them,
because those nations scattered my ·own people [L people, my heritage] Israel
    ·and forced them to live in other [L among the] nations.
They divided up my land
and ·threw [T cast] lots for my people.
They traded boys for prostitutes,
and they sold girls to buy wine to ·drink [get drunk].

“Tyre and Sidon and all of you regions of Philistia! What did you have against me? Were you ·punishing me [paying me back; taking vengeance] for something I did, ·or were you doing something to hurt me? [or If you were trying to pay me back,] I will very quickly ·do to you [L return on your heads] what you have done to me. You took my silver and gold, and you put my ·precious [costly; rich; prized] treasures in your ·temples [or palaces]. You sold the ·people [sons; descendants] of Judah and Jerusalem to the [L sons/descendants of the] Greeks so that you could ·send [remove] them far from their ·land [L border].

[L Look; T Behold] You sent my people to that faraway place, but I will ·get them [rouse them; stir them up] and bring them back, and I will ·do to you [L return on your heads] what you have done to them. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabean people [C Arab merchants from the southeast; Job 1:15] far away.” The Lord said this.

God Judges the Nations

·Announce [Proclaim] this among the nations:
    Prepare for war!
·Wake up [Rouse; Call out] the ·soldiers [warriors; mighty men]!
    Let all the men of war come near and attack.
10 ·Make swords from your plows [T Beat your plowshares into swords],
    and make spears from your ·hooks for trimming trees [pruning hooks; C the opposite of Is. 2:4].
Let even the weak person say,
    “I am ·a soldier [a warrior; or strong].”
11 All of you nations, hurry,
    and ·come together [assemble] in that place.
Lord, ·send your soldiers
    to gather the nations [L bring down your warriors].

12 “·Wake up, nations [or Let the nations be roused],
    and come ·to attack in [up to] the Valley ·Where the Lord Judges [L of Jehoshaphat; v. 2].
There I will sit to judge
    all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the ·cutting tool [sickle],
    because the harvest is ripe.
Come, ·walk on them as you would walk on grapes to get their juice [L trample the grapes],
    because the winepress is full
    and the ·barrels [vats] are ·spilling over [overflowing],
because ·these people are so evil [their wickedness/evil is great]!”

14 ·There are huge numbers of people [L Multitudes, multitudes]
    in the Valley of Decision [C the place of the Lord’s verdict against the nations; vv. 2, 12],
because the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord; 1:15] is near
    in the Valley of Decision.
15 The sun and the moon will become dark,
    and the stars will ·stop shining [L withhold their brightness; 2:10].
16 The Lord ·will roar like a lion from Jerusalem [L roars from Zion];
    his loud voice will thunder from ·that city [L Jerusalem],
    and the ·sky [heavens] and the earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a ·safe place [refuge] for his people,
    a ·strong place of safety [stronghold] for the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel.

17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
    live on my holy Mount Zion.
Jerusalem will be a holy place,
    and ·strangers [foreigners] will never even go through it again [C as invaders].

A New Life Promised for Judah

18 “On that day ·wine [sweet/new wine] will drip from the mountains,
    milk will flow from the hills [C symbols of bounty and prosperity],
    and water will run through all the ·ravines [streambeds] of Judah.
A fountain will flow from the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord
    and give water to the valley of ·acacia trees [L Shittim; C perhaps a proper name; Num. 25:1].
19 But Egypt will ·become empty [be desolate],
    and Edom an ·empty desert [deserted wilderness],
because ·they were cruel [of their violence] to the ·people [L sons; descendants] of Judah.
    They ·killed innocent people [L shed innocent blood] in that land.
20 But ·there will always be people living in Judah [Judah will be inhabited forever],
    and ·people will live in Jerusalem from now on [L Jerusalem from generation to generation].
21 ·Egypt and Edom killed my people,
    so I will definitely punish them [L I will avenge/punish their blood, which I have not yet avenged/punished].”

The Lord ·lives [dwells] in Jerusalem!

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