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3. The Nations Judged

¹ In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21.“In those days and at that time,
   when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
² I will gather all nations
   and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat means the LORD judges; also in verse 12.
There I will put them on trial
   for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
   and divided up my land.
³ They cast lots for my people
   and traded boys for prostitutes;
   they sold girls for wine to drink.

⁴ “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. ⁵ For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. Or palaces ⁶ You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

⁷ “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. ⁸ I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The LORD has spoken.

    ⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
   Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
   Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords
   and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
   “I am strong!”
¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
   and assemble there.

Bring down your warriors, LORD!

    ¹² “Let the nations be roused;
   let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
   to judge all the nations on every side.
¹³ Swing the sickle,
   for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
   for the winepress is full
   and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”

    ¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes
   in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
   in the valley of decision.
¹⁵ The sun and moon will be darkened,
   and the stars no longer shine.
¹⁶ The LORD will roar from Zion
   and thunder from Jerusalem;
   the earth and the heavens 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 “Then you will know that I, the LORD your God,
   dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
   never again will foreigners invade her.

    ¹⁸ “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,
   and the hills will flow with milk;
   all the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house
   and will water the valley of acacias. Or Valley of Shittim
¹⁹ But Egypt will be desolate,
   Edom a desert waste,
because of violence done to the people of Judah,
   in whose land they shed innocent blood.
²⁰ Judah will be inhabited forever
   and Jerusalem through all generations.
²¹ Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?
   No, I will not.”

The LORD dwells in Zion!

The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, — that God will at length become an avenger of the wrongs of his people, when they shall be unjustly harassed by profane men. We indeed know that God does not immediately succor his servants but rests as though he did not regard their troubles; but this he does to try their patience; and then at a suitable time he declares that he had not been indifferent, but had noticed the evils done to them, and deferred punishment until the wickedness of his enemies had been completed. So he says now, that God will at length be the defender of his people against all the nations assembled from every quarter in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Of this valley we have said enough already. But the chief thing is, that the afflictions of the Church shall not go unpunished; for God at the right time will ascend his tribunal, and cause all nations from every part of the earth to assemble and to be there judged. Now it follows —