Joel 3:1-11

Judgment of the Nations

1 ^[a] Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,^[b]

2 I will gather all the nations and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.^[c] I will enter into judgment with them there because of My people, My inheritance Israel. The nations have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided up My land.

3 They cast lots for My people;^[d] they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.

4 And also: Tyre, Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia-what are you to Me? Are you paying Me back or trying to get even with Me? I will quickly bring retribution on your heads.^[e]

5 For you took My silver and gold and carried My finest treasures^[f] to your temples.

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks^[g] to remove them far from their own territory.

7 Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them; I will bring retribution on your heads.

8 I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans,^[h] to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken.

9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for holy war; rouse the warriors; let all the men of war advance and attack!

10 Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning knives into spears.^[i] Let even the weakling say: I am a warrior.

11 Come quickly,^[j] all you surrounding nations; gather yourselves. Bring down Your warriors there, Lord.

Joel 3:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 3

This chapter, which some make the fourth, contains a prophecy of God's judgments on all the antichristian nations at the time of the Jews' conversion, and the reasons of them, Joe 3:1-3; a threatening of Tyre and Zidon, by way of retaliation, for carrying the riches of the Jews into their temples, and selling their persons to the Greeks, Joe 3:4-8; an alarm to prepare for the battle of Armageddon, or the destruction that shall be made in the valley of Jehoshaphat, Joe 3:9-15; and after that an account of the happy state of the church of Christ, their safety and security, plenty, prosperity, and purity, to the end of the world, Joe 3:16-21.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jl 4:1 in Hb
• [b]. Jr 32:44; 33:7,11; Ezk 39:25
• [c]. The Lord Will Judge
• [d]. Ob 11; Nah 3:10
• [e]. Jl 3:7; Ps 28:4
• [f]. 1 Kg 20:6; 2 Ch 36:19; Lm 1:10-11
• [g]. Isa 66:19; Ezk 27:13
• [h]. Probably the south Arabian kingdom of Sheba (modern Yemen)
• [i]. Isa 2:4; Mc 4:3
• [j]. LXX, Syr, Tg read Gather yourselves and come; Hb obscure