The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 "In those days, yes, at that very time when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem,
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“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I'll assemble all the godless nations. I'll lead them down into Judgment Valley And put them all on trial, and judge them one and all because of their treatment of my own people Israel. They scattered my people all over the pagan world and grabbed my land for themselves.
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I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I 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,
3 They threw dice for my people and used them for barter. They would trade a boy for a whore, sell a girl for a bottle of wine when they wanted a drink.
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and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 "As for you, Tyre and Sidon and Philistia, why should I bother with you? Are you trying to get back at me for something I did to you? If you are, forget it. I'll see to it that it boomerangs on you.
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“What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily.
5 You robbed me, cleaned me out of silver and gold, carted off everything valuable to furnish your own temples.
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For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.
6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem into slavery to the Greeks in faraway places.
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You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border.
7 But I'm going to reverse your crime. I'm going to free those slaves. I'll have done to you what you did to them:
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Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head.
8 I'll sell your children as slaves to your neighbors, And they'll sell them to the far-off Sabeans."
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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 Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken. ”
9 Announce this to the godless nations: Prepare for battle! Soldiers at attention! Present arms! Advance!
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Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
10 Turn your shovels into swords, turn your hoes into spears. Let the weak one throw out his chest and say, "I'm tough, I'm a fighter."
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Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior. ”
11 Hurry up, pagans! Wherever you are, get a move on! Get your act together. Prepare to be shattered by God!
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Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the pagan nations set out for Judgment Valley. There I'll take my place at the bench and judge all the surrounding nations.
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Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 "Swing the sickle - the harvest is ready. Stomp on the grapes - the winepress is full. The wine vats are full, overflowing with vintage evil.
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Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14 "Mass confusion, mob uproar - in Decision Valley! God's Judgment Day has arrived in Decision Valley.
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Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 "The sky turns black, sun and moon go dark, stars burn out.
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The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem. Earth and sky quake in terror. But God is a safe hiding place, a granite safe house for the children of Israel.
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The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
17 Then you'll know for sure that I'm your God, Living in Zion, my sacred mountain. Jerusalem will be a sacred city, posted: 'no trespassing.'
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“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 "What a day! Wine streaming off the mountains, Milk rivering out of the hills, water flowing everywhere in Judah, A fountain pouring out of God's Sanctuary, watering all the parks and gardens!
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“And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.
19 But Egypt will be reduced to weeds in a vacant lot, Edom turned into barren badlands, All because of brutalities to the Judean people, the atrocities and murders of helpless innocents.
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“Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 Meanwhile, Judah will be filled with people, Jerusalem inhabited forever.
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But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 The sins I haven't already forgiven, I'll forgive." God has moved into Zion for good.
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I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion. ”
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025