Joel 3:1-16

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.

12 Let the nations be roused and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the surrounding nations.

13 Swing the sickle because the harvest is ripe. Come and trample [the grapes] because the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because the wickedness of the nations is great.^[k]

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 moon will grow dark, and the stars will cease their shining.

16 The Lord will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem;^[l] heaven and earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for His people,^[m] a stronghold for the Israelites.

Joel 3:1-16 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
• [k]. Rv 19:14-16
• [l]. Am 1:2
• [m]. Ps 46:1; 62:8; Pr 14:26