1“For, behold, in those days,
and in that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2I will gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat;
and I will execute judgment on them there for my people,
and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations.
They have divided my land,
3and have cast lots for my people,
and have given a boy for a prostitute,
and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4“Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre and Sidon,
and all the regions of Philistia?
Will you repay me?
And if you repay me,
I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.
5Because you have taken my silver and my gold,
and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,
6and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks,
that you may remove them far from their border.
7Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them,
and will return your repayment on your own head;
8and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah,
and they will sell them to the men of Sheba,
to a faraway nation,
for Yahweh has spoken it.”
9Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Stir up the mighty men.
Let all the warriors draw near.
Let them come up. 10Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’
11Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves together.”
Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.
12“Let the nations arouse themselves,
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13Put in the sickle;
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine press is full,
the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision.
15The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16Yahweh will roar from Zion,
and thunder from Jerusalem;
and the heavens and the earth will shake;
but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people,
and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
17“So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be holy,
and no strangers will pass through her any more.
18It will happen in that day,
that the mountains will drop down sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters;
and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house,
and will water the valley of Shittim.
19Egypt will be a desolation
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the children of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21I will cleanse their blood
that I have not cleansed,
for Yahweh dwells in Zion.”
To the minds of the Hebrew, the day of the Lord was the future day when God would intervene in human history to vindicate Himself and the people of Israel. This concept seems to have appeared during the Conquest when God judged the Canaanites on behalf of His people Israel.
When Amos incorporated the concept of the day of the Lord in his preaching, however, his view was shocking to his people because Amos' understanding of this day was in total contrast to the popular notion of the 8th century B.C. Amos proclaimed that Israel would lament rather than rejoice on that day (Amos 5:16-17) for God was to judge Israel (5:18-20) and the world. On that day, God was going to reject Israel's meaningless religious rituals (5:21-27) and it was to be a day of darkness and woe (6:1-6). The moral corruption of Israel would ultimately usher in Israel's destruction on the day.
Expressing the concept in variant forms such as "by that day" and "on that day," the prophets frequently used this concept in their proclamation of judgment and hope. Zephaniah used it seven times, Isaiah six times, and Joel five times. These are the characteristics of the day of the Lord: 1) It will be a day of judgment (Joel 3:19-21; Amos 5:18) on the enemies of God including Israel and a day of vindication for the faithful; 2) The day of the Lord will be experienced everywhere (Isa 2:12; Zeph 1, 2; Amos 5:18-20); 3) The day of the Lord is near--not far out in the future (Isa 13:6); 4) There will be transformation in nature (Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13), in human relationships (Mic 4:3), and in the relationship between human beings and animals (Isa 11:6-8) which will result in the emergence of a better world; 5) On that day, Jerusalem will be exalted (Zech 14:16); 6) It will be accompanied by cosmic phenomena (Joel 2:28-32; Isa 13:10; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8); 7) There will be a Davidic ruler (Isa 11:10); 8) There will be a re-gathering of God’s people (Isa 11:11). The New Testament equivalent for this is the second coming of Jesus Christ (2 Thess 2:1) and the day of the Lord Paul mentions in 2:2.