1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
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 the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
<html><b>to the Valley of Jehoshaphat</b>—I will descend with them to the depth of justice. <b>Jehoshaphat</b>—The judgments of the Lord.</html>
<html><b>they cast lots</b> Heb. יִדּוּ. Like (Lam. 3:53) “And they cast (וַ יַּדּוּ) a stone upon me.”</html>
<html><b>Are you paying Me recompense</b>—Is this the recompense for what Solomon gave Hiram, the king of Tyre, twenty cities (I Kings 9:11)? <b>swiftly</b> Heb. קַל מְהֵרָה, an expression of eagerness.</html>
<html><b>to the Shebaites</b>—To the children of Sheba. <b>for the Lord has spoken</b>—Now where did He speak? (Gen. 9:25) “A slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” So it is explained in <i>Mechilta</i> (Ex. 12:25).</html>
<html><b>prepare war</b>—if you can wage war against Me.</html>
<html><b>your plowshares</b> Heb. אִתֵּיכֶם, <i>koltres</i> in O.F:, colters. <b>and your pruning hooks</b> Heb. וּמַזְמְרוֹתֵיכֶם, serpes in French.</html>
<html><b>Gather</b> Heb. עוּשׁוּ. Like חוּשוּ, hasten, so did Menahem associate it. <i>Jonathan</i>, however, renders: they shall gather, and I say that it is an expression of a block of iron (עֶשֶת), which is gathered together, masse in French, and the “tav” is not a radical. <b>there the Lord shall break your mighty men</b> Heb. הַנְחַת. There in the gathering of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, He will break your might. So did <i>Jonathan </i>render it, but I do not know whether it is an Aramaic expression of lowering (נחת) or an expression of breaking (חתת), and the “nun” is defective. Cf. (Dan. 2:25) “brought Daniel in (הנְעַל) before the king,” which has no radical but על.</html>
<html><b>Stretch out a sickle etc.</b>—Draw the swords, you who go on My mission to destroy the nations. <b>for the harvest is ripe</b>—I.e, for their time has arrived, and he compared the matter to harvest, which is harvested with sickles when it becomes completely ripe. <b>come press for the winepress is full</b>—of grapes. Come and tread them; i.e., the measure of their iniquity is full. <b>press</b> Heb. רְדוּ, an expression of pressing [or ruling]. Cf. (Gen. 1:28) “And rule (וּרְדוּ) over the fish of the sea.” <b>and the vats shall roar</b>—The sound of the stream of the wine going down in the vats before the winepresses is heard.</html>
<html><b>in the valley of decision</b>—For there it is decided that the judgment is true. And so did <i>Jonathan </i>render: the valley of judgment.</html>
<html><b>have withdrawn their shining</b>—Have taken in their shining.</html>
<html><b>shall roar from Zion</b>—Because of what they did to Zion. <b>and the heavens and earth shall quake</b>—He will deal retribution upon the heavenly princes and then upon the nations. <b>a shelter</b> Heb. מַחֲסֶה, an expression of a cover, <i>abrier</i> in O.F., abri in modern French, a shelter.</html>
<html><b>springs</b> Heb. אֲפִיקֵי, a place of the source of water. <b>and water the valley of Shittim</b>—According to its apparent meaning, and it will water the valley of Shittim (<i>Targum</i>), and, according to its Midrashic meaning, He will atone for the iniquity of Peor.</html>
<html><b>Egypt etc. and Edom</b>—He juxtaposed them as regards their retribution. You find that, were it not for Egypt, Edom would not exist, as it is stated: (I Kings 11:16 21) “For Joab and all Israel remained [stationed] there for six months etc. every male in Edom.” And it is stated there: (==== Verse 17) “Adad fled, he and some Edomite men etc. And Hadad pleased Pharaoh very much etc. And Hadad etc. that David slept with his fathers etc.” And, at the end, (Verse 25) “And he was an adversary to Solomon (sic).” Said the Holy One, blessed be He: I will destroy both of them. <b>because of the violence done to the children of Judah</b>—Because of the violence they did to the children of Judah, viz., that they shed their blood.</html>
<html><b>Now should I cleanse, their blood I will not cleanse</b>—Even if I cleanse them of other sins in their hands, and of the evils they have done to Me, I will not cleanse them of the blood of the children of Judah. When will this come to pass? At the time the Holy One, blessed be He, dwells in Zion.</html>