The Lord Judges the Nations
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"For behold, a in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
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b I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I c will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
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They have d cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
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"Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
e O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me?
But if you retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;
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Because you have taken My silver and My gold,
And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.
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Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem
You have sold to the Greeks,
That you may remove them far from their borders.
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"Behold, f I will raise them
Out of the place to which you have sold them,
And will return your retaliation upon your own head.
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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 g Sabeans,
To a people h far off;
For the LORD has spoken."
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i Proclaim this among the nations:
"Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
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j Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
k Let the weak say, 'I am strong.' "
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Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause l Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.
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"Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to m judge all the surrounding nations.
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n Put in the sickle, for o the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the p winepress is full,
The vats overflow -
For their wickedness is great."
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Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For q the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
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The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
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The LORD also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
r But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 30:3
'For behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. 'And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.'"
Ezekiel 38:14
Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?
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Cross References
Isaiah 66:18
For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
Micah 4:12
But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, Nor do they understand His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
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Cross References
Isaiah 66:16
For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Jeremiah 25:31
A noise will come to the ends of the earth - For the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,' says the LORD.
Ezekiel 38:22
And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
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Cross References
Nahum 3:10
Yet she was carried away, She went into captivity; Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.
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Cross References
Isaiah 14:29 - 31
Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, Because the rod that struck you is broken; For out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper, And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
Jeremiah 47:1 - 7
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.
Ezekiel 25:15 - 17
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and took vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old hatred,"
Amos 1:6 - 8
Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they took captive the whole captivity To deliver them up to Edom.
Zechariah 9:5 - 7
Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall be very sorrowful; And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation. The king shall perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:5
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west.
Isaiah 43:6
I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth -
Jeremiah 23:8
"but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land."
Zechariah 9:13
For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a mighty man.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 23:42
The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 6:20
For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 6:4
Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
Ezekiel 38:7
Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.
Micah 3:5
Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant "Peace" While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him Who puts nothing into their mouths:
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Cross References
Isaiah 2:4
He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
Micah 4:3
He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
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Cross References
Zechariah 12:8
In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.
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Cross References
Psalms 103:20
Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.
Isaiah 13:3
I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger - Those who rejoice in My exaltation.
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Cross References
Psalms 96:13
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.
Isaiah 2:4
He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
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Cross References
Matthew 13:39
The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
Revelation 14:15
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 51:33
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to thresh her; Yet a little while And the time of her harvest will come.
Hosea 6:11
Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, When I return the captives of My people.
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Cross References
Isaiah 63:3
I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes.
Lamentations 1:5
Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
Revelation 14:19
So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
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Cross References
Joel 2:1
Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:
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Cross References
Isaiah 51:5
My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait upon Me, And on My arm they will trust.
Isaiah 51:6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.