People ¹  writhe in fear when they see them. ²  All of their faces turn pale with fright. ³ 

Lend your aid ¹  and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves ²  to that place.” Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! ³ 

(3:1) ¹  After all of this ²  I will pour out my Spirit ³  on all kinds of people. ⁴  Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; ⁵  your young men will see prophetic visions.

Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for a holy war! Call out the warriors! Let all these fighting men approach and attack! ¹ 

“Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart – with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, ¹  not just your garments!”

Wake up, you drunkards, ¹  and weep! Wail, all you wine drinkers, ²  because the sweet wine ³  has been taken away ⁴  from you. ⁵ 

To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ¹  for fire ²  has burned up ³  the grassy pastures, ⁴  flames have razed ⁵  all the trees in the fields.

Let the nations be roused and let them go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.

Listen to this, you elders; ¹  pay attention, ²  all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life ³  or in the lifetime ⁴  of your ancestors? ⁵ 

The vine has dried up; the fig tree languishes – the pomegranate, date, and apple ¹  as well. In fact, ²  all the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, the joy of the people ³  has dried up!

Announce a holy fast; ¹  proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and ²  all the inhabitants of the land to the temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

Blow the trumpet ¹  in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed, ²  it is near! ³ 

Then I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ¹  I will enter into judgment ²  against them there concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ³  whom they scattered among the nations. They partitioned my land,

On that day ¹  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ²  and the hills will flow with milk. ³  All the dry stream beds ⁴  of Judah will flow with water. A spring will flow out from the temple ⁵  of the Lord, watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ⁶ 

Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ¹  Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb ²  among the nations. Why should it be said ³  among the peoples, “Where is their God?”

But Judah will reside securely forever, and Jerusalem will be secure ¹  from one generation to the next.

Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ¹  Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ²  I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ³ 

Be distressed, ¹  farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished.

Get dressed ¹  and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister at the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God, because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of your God anymore. ² 

Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them. I will repay you for what you have done! ¹