The Lord Judges the Nations
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a"For behold, 1in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
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2I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And 3I 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,
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and 4have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
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"What are you to me, 5O Tyre and Sidon, and all 6the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, 7I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily.
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You have sold 9the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border.
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Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and 10I will return your payment on your own head.
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I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the 11Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken."
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Proclaim this among the nations: 12Consecrate for war;c stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
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13Beat your plowshares into swords, and 14your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior."
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15Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. 16Bring down your warriors, O LORD.
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Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to 17the Valley of Jehoshaphat; 18for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
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19Put in the sickle, 20for the harvest is ripe. 21Go in, tread, 22for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
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Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For 23the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
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24The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
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25The LORD roars from Zion, and 26utters his voice from Jerusalem, 27and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is 28a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
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29"So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, 30who dwells in Zion, 31my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and 32strangers shall never again pass through it.
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"And in that day 33the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and 34all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; 35and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the Valley of 36Shittim.
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37"Egypt shall become a desolation and 38Edom a desolate wilderness, 39for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
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40But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)