Joel 3:1-6

The Nations Will Be Judged

1 "For behold, ¹in those days and at that time, When I ²restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will ³gather all the nations And bring them down to the ⁴valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will ⁵enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have ⁶scattered among the nations; And they have ⁷divided up My land.

3 "They have also ⁸cast lots for My people, ⁹Traded a boy for a harlot And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

4 "Moreover, what are you to Me, O ¹⁰Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of ¹¹Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will ¹²return your recompense on your head.

5 "Since you have ¹³taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples,

6 and sold the ¹⁴sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,

Joel 3:1-6 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.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 38:14
• 2. Jeremiah 16:15
• 3. Isaiah 66:18; Micah 4:12; Zechariah 14:2
• 4. Joel 3:12, 14
• 5. Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 25:31; Ezekiel 38:22
• 6. Jeremiah 50:17; Ezekiel 34:6
• 7. Ezekiel 35:10; Ezekiel 36:1-5
• 8. Obadiah 11; Nahum 3:10
• 9. Amos 2:6
• 10. Isaiah 23:1-18; Amos 1:9, 10; Zechariah 9:2-4; Matthew 11:21, 22; Luke 10:13, 14
• 11. Isaiah 14:29-31; Jeremiah 47:1-7; Ezekiel 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8; Zechariah 9:5-7
• 12. Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 59:18
• 13. 2 Kings 12:18; 2 Chronicles 21:16, 17
• 14. Ezekiel 27:13

Footnotes

• [a] Ch 4:1 in Heb
• [b] I.e. YHWH judges
• [c] Lit "Given"
• [d] Lit "goodly things"
• [e] Lit "sons of Javan"