1“In those days, and in that time, when I shall restore the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and will judge them there for what they did to My people and My heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided up My land.
3For they have cast lots for My people; and have traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine to drink.
4Now, what have you against Me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia (Palestine)? Are you repaying Me for something I have done? And if you are paying Me back, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompence upon your own head,
5Because you have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried it, with My finest treasures, into your temples:
6You have sold the children Judah, and Jerusalem, to the Grecians, that you might take them far from their homeland.
7Behold, I will raise them out of the places to which you have sold them, and will return upon your own heads your recompence.
8And I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba (Sabeans), a nation far away;” for the LORD has spoken it.
9Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war, wake up the warriors, let all the men of war be gathered and draw near.
10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, ‘I am strong’.
11Assemble yourselves, and come, all you nations from every side, and gather yourselves together; cause Your mighty warriors to come down, O LORD.
12Let the nations be roused, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations on every side.
13Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, trample the grapes; for the press is full, the vats overflow; their wickedness is so grievous.
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars will no longer shine.
16The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and thunder His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall tremble; but the LORD will be the hope and refuge of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17Then you shall know that I am the LORD, your God, Who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain; then shall Jerusalem be holy, and no strangers shall invade her any more.
18And in that day the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the ravines of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall flow out of the house of the LORD, and it shall water the Valley of Shittim (Acacia).
19Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desert waste, because of the violence done against the people of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood,
20But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem through all generations.
21For I will avenge their innocent blood--blood that I have not yet avenged; for the LORD dwells in Zion! Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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