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.

Footnotes 12

  • [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"

Joel 3 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.