Chapter 4
The Lord’s Case Against the Nations
1 For see, in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes
of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment with them
on behalf of my people, my heritage, Israel;
Because they scattered them among the nations,
they divided up my land.
3 For my people they cast lots,
trading a young boy for the price of a prostitute,
exchanging a young girl for the wine they drank.
4 Moreover, what are you doing to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are, I will very quickly turn your deeds back upon your own head. 5 You took my silver and my gold and brought my priceless treasures into your temples! 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, taking them far from their own country! 7 Look! I am rousing them from the place to which you sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the Judahites who will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. The Lord has spoken!
The Nations Destroyed
9 Announce this to the nations:
Proclaim a holy war!
Alert the warriors!
Let all the soldiers
report and march!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears;
let the weakling boast, “I am a warrior!”
11 Hurry and come, all you neighboring peoples,
assemble there!
Bring down, Lord, your warriors!
12 Let the nations rouse themselves and come up
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit in judgment
upon all the neighboring nations.
13 Wield the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe;
Come and tread,
for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow,
for their crimes are numerous.
14 Crowds upon crowds
in the Valley of Decision;
For near is the day of the Lord
in the Valley of Decision.
15 Sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars withhold their brightness,
16 The Lord roars from Zion,
and from Jerusalem raises his voice,
The heavens and the earth quake,
but the Lord will be a shelter for his people,
a fortress for the people of Israel.
A Secure Future for Judah
17 Then you will know that I the Lord am your God,
dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain;
Jerusalem will be holy,
and strangers will never again travel through her.
18 On that day
the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills flow with milk,
All the streams of Judah
will flow with water.
A spring will rise from the house of the Lord,
watering the Valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will be a waste,
Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violence done to the Judahites,
because they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem for all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
and I will not acquit the guilt.
The Lord dwells in Zion.