Joel 3

Yahweh’s Judgment on the Nations

1 For look! In those days, and in that time, when I will return the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will argue {a case against them} there concerning my people and my inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations, and my land [that] they have divided.

3 For my people they cast lots, and {they traded} the male child for the prostitute, and the female child they sold for wine and they drank [it].

4 What [are] you to me, [O] Tyre and [O] Sidon, and all of the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying to me what is deserved? If you [are] recompensing me, I will return swiftly [and] quickly what you deserve on your head!

5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and my beautiful treasures you have carried into your temples.

6 And the sons of Judah and Jerusalem you sold to the sons of the Greeks, in order to remove them from their border.

7 Look! I [am] rousing them from the place where you have sold them, and I will return what you deserve on your head!

8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to [the] Sabeans and to a nation far [away], for Yahweh has spoken.

Yahweh’s Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat

9 Proclaim this among the nations: {Prepare for war}! Stir up the mighty warriors; let them approach and come up; [let] all the men of war approach.

10 Beat your cutting tools of iron into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weakling say, 'I am a mighty warrior!'

11 Hurry and come, all the nations, from all around, and gather [yourselves] there. Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!

12 Let the nations be roused and let them come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from all around.

13 Send forth [the] sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Go tread, for [the] winepress is full! The vats overflow, because their evil [is] great!

14 Commotion, commotion in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh [is] near in the valley of decision!

15 [The] sun and [the] moon grow dark, and [the] stars {have withheld} their splendor.

16 And Yahweh roars from Zion; from Jerusalem he utters his voice, and [the] heavens and [the] earth shake. But Yahweh [is] a refuge for his people, and a protection for the children of Israel.

17 And you will know that I, Yahweh your God, [am] dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be [a place of] holiness, and strangers will pass through [it] no longer.

18 And it will happen on that day; the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the channels of Judah will flow with water. A spring from the house of Yahweh will come forth, and it will water the valley of Acacia Trees.

19 Egypt will become a desolation, and Edom will become a {desolate desert}, because of the violence [they did] against the children of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood.

20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem {for all generations}.

21 {I will cleanse their bloodguilt} [that] {I did not cleanse}, for Yahweh is dwelling in Zion.

Joel 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

God's judgments in the latter days. (1-8) The extent of these judgments. (9-17) The blessings the church shall enjoy. (18-21)

Verses 1-8 The restoration of the Jews, and the final victory of true religion over all opposers, appear to be here foretold. The contempt and scorn with which the Jews have often been treated as a people, and the little value set upon them, are noticed. None ever hardened his heart against God or his church, and prospered long.

Verses 9-17 Here is a challenge to all the enemies of God's people. There is no escaping God's judgments; hardened sinners, in that day of wrath, shall be cut off from all comfort and joy. Most of the prophets foretell the same final victory of the church of God over all that oppose it. To the wicked it will be a terrible day, but to the righteous it will be a joyful day. What cause have those who possess an interest in Christ, to glory in their Strength and their Redeemer! The acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will be a day of remarkable vengeance to others: let every one that is out of Christ awake, and flee from the wrath to come.

Verses 18-21 There shall be abundant Divine influences, and the gospel will spread speedily into the remotest corners of the earth. These events are predicted under significant emblems; there is a day coming, when every thing amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; his sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally.

Footnotes

• [a]. Joel 3:1-21 in the English Bible is 4:1-21 in the Hebrew Bible
• [b]. Or "restore"
• [c]. Literally "a matter with them"
• [d]. Hebrew "lot"
• [e]. Literally "gave"
• [f]. Literally "Sanctify a battle"
• [g]. Literally "gathered"
• [h]. Or "the wadi Shittim"
• [i]. Literally "desert of desolation"
• [j]. Or "for each generation"
• [k]. Literally "I will not leave unpunished their blood"
• [l]. Or "I did not consider innocent"

Chapter Summary

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.