New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 For then, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
1
For in those days and in that time, when I let the fate of Judah and Jerusalem be changed,
2 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 account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my land,
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I will get together all the nations, and make them come down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and there I will take up with them the cause of my people and of my heritage Israel, whom they have sent wandering among the nations, and of my land which has been parted by them.
3 and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down.
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And they have put the fate of my people to the decision of chance: giving a boy for the price of a loose woman and a girl for a drink of wine.
4 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 turn your deeds back upon your own heads swiftly and speedily.
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And further, what are you to me, O Tyre and Zidon and all the circle of Philistia? will you give me back any payment? and if you do, quickly and suddenly I will send it back on your head,
5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.
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For you have taken my silver and my gold, putting in the houses of your gods my beautiful and pleasing things.
6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border.
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And the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem you have given for a price to the sons of the Greeks, to send them far away from their land:
7 But now I will rouse them to leave the places to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads.
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See, I will have them moved from the place where you have sent them, and will let what you have done come back on your head;
8 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.
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I will give your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah for a price, and they will give them for a price to the men of Sheba, a nation far off: for the Lord has said it.
9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war, stir up the warriors. Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up.
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Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weakling say, "I am a warrior."
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Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong.
11 Come quickly, all you nations all around, gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
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Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord.
12 Let the nations rouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the neighboring nations.
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Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
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Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing.
14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
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Masses on masses in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
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The sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining.
16 The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
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And the Lord will be thundering from Zion, and his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will be shaking: but the Lord will be a breastplate for his people and a strong place for the children of Israel.
17 So you shall know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
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And you will be certain that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion, my holy mountain: and Jerusalem will be holy, and no strange person will ever again go through her.
18 In that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Wadi Shittim.
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And it will come about in that day that the mountains will be dropping sweet wine, and the hills will be flowing with milk, and all the streams of Judah will be flowing with water; and a fountain will come out from the house of the Lord, watering the valley of acacia-trees.
19 Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood.
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Egypt will be a waste and Edom a land of destruction, because of the evil done to the children of Judah, because they have let blood be drained out in their land without cause.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
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But Judah will be peopled for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the Lord dwells in Zion.
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And I will send punishment for their blood, for which punishment has not been sent, for the Lord is living in Zion.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.