The LORD Judges the Nations 1 Brenton For, behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall have turned the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem, BSB BSB: “Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,
2 Brenton I will also gather all the Gentiles, and bring them down to the valley of Josaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, who have been dispersed among the Gentiles; and these Gentiles have divided my land, BSB BSB: I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.
3 Brenton and cast lots over my people, and have given their boys to harlots, and sold their girls for wine, and have drunk. BSB BSB: They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.
4 Brenton And what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles? do ye render me a recompense? or do ye bear malice against me? quickly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own heads: BSB BSB: Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
5 Brenton because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and ye have brought my choice ornaments into your temples; BSB BSB: For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.
6 Brenton and ye have sold the children of Juda and the children of Jerusalem to the children of the Greeks, that ye might expel them from their coasts. BSB BSB: You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.
7 Brenton Therefore, behold, I will raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and I will return your recompense on your own heads. BSB BSB: Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.
8 Brenton And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them into captivity to a far distant nation: for the Lord has spoken it . BSB BSB: I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.
9 Brenton Proclaim these things among the Gentiles; declare war, arouse the warriors, draw near and go up, all ye men of war. BSB BSB: Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
10 Brenton Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your sickles into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. BSB BSB: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’
11 Brenton Gather yourselves together, and go in, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves there: let the timid become a warrior. BSB BSB: Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.
12 Brenton Let them be aroused, let all the nations go up to the valley of Josaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the Gentiles round about. BSB BSB: Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.
13 Brenton Bring forth the sickles, for the vintage is come: go in, tread the grapes , for the press is full: cause the vats to overflow; for their wickedness is multiplied. BSB BSB: Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.
14 Brenton Noises have resounded in the valley of judgment: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment. BSB BSB: Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 Brenton The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light. BSB BSB: The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
16 Brenton And the Lord shall cry out of Sion, and shall utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heaven and the earth shall be shaken, but the Lord shall spare his people, and shall strengthen the children of Israel. BSB BSB: The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s People 17 Brenton And ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwell in Sion my holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall not pass through her any more. BSB BSB: Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
18 Brenton And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the fountains of Juda shall flow with water, and a fountain shall go forth of the house of the Lord, and water the valley of flags. BSB BSB: And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.
19 Brenton Egypt shall be a desolation, and Idumea shall be a desolate plain, because of the wrongs of the children of Juda, because they have shed righteous blood in their land. BSB BSB: Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Brenton But Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations. BSB BSB: But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 Brenton And I will make inquisition for their blood, and will by no means leave it unavenged: and the Lord shall dwell in Sion. BSB BSB: For I will avenge their blood, which I have not yet avenged.” For the LORD dwells in Zion.