WEBVTT

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Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're

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taking this journey together to read the Bible

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in a year. Today we read the entire book of Joel,

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chapters 1 through 3. Chapter 1. The word of

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the Lord that came to Joel the son of Bethuel.

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Hear this, you elders, and give ear all you inhabitants

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of the land. Has anything like this happened

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in your days or even in the days of your fathers?

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Tell your children about it. Let your children

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tell their children and their children another

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generation. What the chewing locust left, the

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swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming

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locust left, the crawling locust has eaten. And

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what the crawling locust left, the consuming

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locust has eaten. Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

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and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of

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the new wine, for it has been cut off from your

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mouth. For a nation has come up against my land,

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strong and without number. His teeth are the

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teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce

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lion. He has laid waste my vine and ruined my

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fig tree. He has stripped it bare and thrown

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it away. Its branches are made white. Lament

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like a virgin girded with sackcloth. For the

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husband of her youth, the grain offering and

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the drink offering have been cut off from the

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house of the Lord. The priests mourn who minister

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to the Lord. The field is wasted. The land mourns,

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for the grain is ruined. The new wine is dried

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up, the oil fails. Be ashamed, you farmers, wail,

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you vine -dressers, for the wheat and the barley,

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because the harvest of the field has perished.

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The vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered.

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The pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and

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the apple tree, all the trees of the field are

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withered. Surely joy has withered away from the

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sons of men. Gird yourselves and lament, you

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priests. Wail, you who minister before the altar.

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Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister

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to my God. For the grain offering and the drink

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offering are withheld from the house of your

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God. Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly,

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gather the elders and all the inhabitants of

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the land into the house of the Lord your God,

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and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For

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the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come

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as destruction from the Almighty. Is not the

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food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness

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from the house of our God? The seed shrivels

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under the clods. Storehouses are in shambles.

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Barns are broken down. For the grain has withered.

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How the animals groan. The herds of cattle are

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restless, because they have no pasture. Even

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the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. O Lord,

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to you I cry out. For fire has devoured the open

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pastures, and a flame has burned all the trees

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of the field. The beasts of the field also cry

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out to you, for the water brooks are dried up,

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and fire has devoured the open pastures. Chapter

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2 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm

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in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants

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of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord

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is coming, for it is at hand. a day of darkness

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and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

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Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains,

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a people come, great and strong, the like of

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whom has never been, nor will there ever be any

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such after them, even for many successive generations.

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A fire devours before them, and behind them a

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flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden

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before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness.

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Surely nothing shall escape them. Their appearance

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is like the appearance of horses, and like swift

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steeds, so they run. With a noise like chariots,

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over mountaintops they leap, like the noise of

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a flaming fire that devours the stubble, like

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a strong people set in battle array. Before them,

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the people ride in pain. All faces are drained

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of color. They run like mighty men. They climb

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the wall like men of war. Everyone marches in

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formation. And they do not break ranks. They

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do not push one another. Everyone marches in

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his own column. Though they lunge between the

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weapons, they are not cut down. They run to and

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fro in the city. They run on the wall. They climb

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into the houses. They enter at the windows like

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a thief. The earth quakes before them. The heavens

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tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the

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stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives

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voice before his army, for his camp is very great.

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For strong is the one who executes his word.

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For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible.

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Who can endure it? Now therefore, says the Lord,

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turn to me with all your heart, with fasting,

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with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your

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heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord

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your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow

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to anger and of great kindness, and he relents

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from doing harm. Who knows if he will turn and

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relent and leave a blessing behind him, a grain

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offering and a drink offering for the Lord your

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God. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Consecrate a fast.

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Call a sacred assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify

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the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather

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the children and nursing babes. Let the bridegroom

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go out from his chamber and the bride from her

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dressing room. Let the priests who minister to

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the Lord Weep between the porch and the altar.

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Let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, and

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do not give your heritage to reproach, that the

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nations should rule over them. Why should they

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say among the peoples, Where is their God? Then

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the Lord will be zealous for his land, and pity

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his people. The Lord will answer and say to his

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people, Behold, I will send you grain and new

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wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them.

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I will no longer make you a reproach among the

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nations, but I will remove far from you the northern

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army, and will drive him away into a barren and

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desolate land, with his face toward the eastern

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sea and his back toward the western sea. His

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stench will come up and his foul odor will rise,

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because he has done monstrous things. Fear not,

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O land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has

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done marvelous things. Do not be afraid, you

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beasts of the field, for the open pastures are

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springing up, and the tree bears its fruit. The

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fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be

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glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice

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in the Lord your God, for he has given you the

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former rain faithfully, and he will cause the

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rain to come down for you, the former rain and

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the latter rain in the first month. The threshing

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floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall

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overflow with new wine and oil. So I will restore

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to you the years that the swarming locust has

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eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust,

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and the chewing locust, my great army which I

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sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be

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satisfied. And praise the name of the Lord your

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God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my

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people shall never be put to shame. Then you

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shall know that I am in the midst of Israel.

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I am the Lord your God, and there is no other.

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My people shall never be put to shame. And it

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shall come to pass afterward that I will pour

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out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your

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daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall

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dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions.

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And also on my men servants and on my maid servants

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I will pour out my spirit in those days. And

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I will show wonders in the heavens and in the

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earth. Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The

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sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon

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into blood. before the coming of the great and

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awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to

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pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord

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shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

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there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said

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among the remnant whom the Lord calls. When I

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bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,

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I will also gather all nations and bring them

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down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will

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enter into judgment with them there on account

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of my people, my heritage, Israel, whom they

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have scattered among the nations. They have also

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divided up my land. They have cast lots for my

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people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot,

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and sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

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Indeed, what have you to do with me? Otire and

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Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia. Will

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you retaliate against me? But if you retaliate

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against me swiftly and speedily, I will return

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your retaliation upon your own head, because

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you have taken my silver and my gold, and have

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carried into my temples my prized possessions.

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Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem

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you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove

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them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise

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them out of the place to which you have sold

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them, and will return your retaliation upon your

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own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters

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into the hand of the people of Judah, and they

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will sell them to the Sabians, to a people far

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off, for the Lord has spoken. Proclaim this among

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the nations. Prepare for war. Wake up the mighty

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men. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them

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come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and

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your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak

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say, I am strong. Assemble and come, all you

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nations, and gather together all around. Cause

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your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. Let

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the nations be awakened and come up to the valley

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of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge

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all the surrounding nations. Put in a sickle,

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for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the

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winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their

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wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in

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the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord

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is near in the valley of decision. The sun and

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moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish

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their brightness. The Lord also will roar from

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Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. The

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heavens and earth will shake, but the Lord will

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be a shelter for his people and the strength

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of the children of Israel. So you shall know

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that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion,

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my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy,

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and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.

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And it will come to pass in that day that the

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mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills

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shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah

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shall be flooded with water. A fountain shall

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flow from the house of the Lord, and water the

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valley of Acacias. Egypt shall be a desolation,

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and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence

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against the people of Judah. For they have shed

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innocent blood in their land, but Judah shall

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abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation

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to generation. For I will acquit them of the

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guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted.

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For the Lord dwells in Zion. I hope you enjoyed

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today's reading as much as I did, and I look

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forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue

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on our journey. God bless you and have a great

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day.