Joel 3:1-7

1 "In those days and at that time, I will bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem.

2 I will gather all the nations. I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will judge them there. They scattered the Israelites, the people who belong to me, among the nations. They divided my land.

3 They threw dice for my people. They traded boys for prostitutes. They sold girls so that they could buy wine to drink.

4 "Now what do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will quickly pay you back for what you have done.

5 You took my silver and my gold. You brought my finest treasures to your temples.

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks. That way you could send them far away from their land.

7 I am going to make them leave the place where you sold them. I will pay you back for what you have done.

Joel 3:1-7 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.