The Lord Judges the Nations
1 3:1 Ch 4:1 in Hebrew "For behold, Jer. 30:3in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 [Zeph. 3:8]; See Zech. 14:2-4I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And Isa. 66:16;Jer. 25:31I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and Obad. 11;Nah. 3:10have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 "What are you to me, Isa. 23:1,2;Jer. 47:4;Amos 1:9O Tyre and Sidon, and all [Ezek. 25:15,16] the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, [Obad. 15]I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For [2 Chr. 21:16,17]you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.3:5 Or palaces6 You have sold [ver. 3]the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and [See ver. 4above]I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the See 1 Kgs. 10:1Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken."
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
[Mic. 3:5]Consecrate for war;3:9 Or Consecrate a war
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 [Isa. 2:4]Beat your plowshares into swords,
and [Isa. 2:4]your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, "I am a warrior."
11 [Isa. 54:15] Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
[Zech. 14:5]Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to ver. 2the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
Ps. 96:13;98:9;110:6;Isa. 2:4;3:13;Mic. 4:3for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 Rev. 14:15Put in the sickle,
[Jer. 51:33;Hos. 6:11;Matt. 13:30,39;Mark 4:29;John 4:35;Rev. 14:15,18] for the harvest is ripe.
Rev. 14:20;[Isa. 63:2,3]Go in, tread,
Rev. 14:20;[Isa. 63:2,3]for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For See ch. 1:15the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 See ch. 2:10The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 ch. 2:11;Amos 1:2;[Jer. 25:30] The Lord roars from Zion,
and ch. 2:11;Amos 1:2;[Jer. 25:30] utters his voice from Jerusalem,
ch. 2:10and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is Isa. 4:6;25:4a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17 ch. 2:27;[Ezek. 6:7] "So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
ver. 21;[Ezek. 43:7] who dwells in Zion, ch. 2:1;Ps. 48:1;Isa. 65:11;Jer. 31:23my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and Isa. 52:1;Nah. 1:15;Zech. 14:21;[Rev. 21:27;22:15]strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 "And in that day
Jer. 31:12;Amos 9:13the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and Isa. 30:25all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
Ezek. 47:1and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of See Num. 25:1Shittim.
19 See Isa. 19:1-17"Egypt shall become a desolation
and See Isa. 34:5Edom a desolate wilderness,
Obad. 10for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 Ps. 125:1,2;Ezek. 37:25But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 Isa. 4:4;Ezek. 36:25,29I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,3:21 Or I will acquit their bloodguilt that I have not acquitted
[See ver. 17above]for the Lord dwells in Zion."