Joel 3:1-16

1 For lo! in those days, and in that time, when I shall turn the captivity of Judah and of Jerusalem, (For lo! in those days, and at that time, when I shall restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,)
2 I shall gather all folks, and I shall lead them [forth] into the valley of Jehoshaphat ; and I shall dispute there with them on my people, and mine heritage Israel, which they scattered among nations; and they parted my land, (I shall gather all the nations, and I shall lead them forth into the Valley of Doom, that is, the Valley of Judgement; and I shall judge them there on behalf of my people Israel, my own inheritance, whom they have scattered among the nations; for they have divided up my land,)
3 and sent lot on my people; and they setted a knave child in the bordel house, and sold a damsel for wine, that they should drink. (and cast lots for my people; and they put a boy child in the bordellery, and sold a young girl for wine, so that they could have something to drink.)
4 But what to me and to you, thou Tyre, and Sidon, and each end of Palestine? Whether ye shall yield venging to me? and if ye venge you against me, soon swiftly I shall yield while to you on(to) your head. (But what be you to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all of Philistia? Shall ye avenge yourselves against me? if ye do avenge yourselves against me, soon and swiftly I shall turn back your despicable deeds upon your own heads.)
5 Ye took away my silver and gold, and ye brought my desirable things and fairest things into your temples of idols. (Ye took away my silver and gold, and ye brought my most desired and beautiful things into your temples of idols.)
6 And ye sold the sons of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem, to the sons of (the) Greeks, that ye should make them far from their coasts. (And ye sold the people of Judah, and of Jerusalem, to the Greeks, so that ye could send them far away from their own coasts.)
7 Lo! I shall raise them from the place in which ye sold them; and I shall turn your yielding into your head. (Lo! I shall raise them up from the place into which ye sold them; and I shall turn back your despicable deeds upon your own heads.)
8 And I shall sell your sons and your daughters in(to) the hands of the sons of Judah, and they shall sell them to (the) Sabeans, a far(-off) folk, for the Lord spake.
9 Cry ye this thing among heathen men, hallow ye battle (prepare ye for battle), raise ye (up) strong men; all men warriors, nigheth, and goeth up.
10 Beat ye together your plows into swords, and your mattocks, either pickaxes, into spears; a feeble man say, that I am strong (let the weak say, I am strong).
11 All folks, break ye out, and come from compass (about), and be ye gathered together; there the Lord shall make thy strong men to die. (All the nations, break ye out, and come from all around, and be ye gathered together; and there the Lord shall make thy strong men to die.)
12 Folks rise together, and goeth up into the valley of Jehoshaphat; for I shall sit there, to deem all folks in compass. (Let all the nations rise up, and go into the Valley of Doom, or the Valley of Judgement; for there I shall sit, and judge all the nations around them.)
13 Send ye sickles, either scythes, for [the] ripe corn waxed; come ye, and go ye down, for the presser is full; pressers be plenteous, for the malice of them is multiplied. (Send ye sickles, or scythes, for the grain is ripe, or the harvest is ready; come ye, and go ye down, for the winepress is full; yea, the winepresses be overflowing, for their malice, or their wickedness, is multiplied.)
14 Peoples, peoples in the valley of cutting down; for the day of the Lord is nigh in the valley of cutting down. (Peoples, peoples in the Valley of Doom, or the Valley of Judgement; for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Doom!)
15 The sun and the moon be made dark, and (the) stars withdraw their shining.
16 And the Lord shall roar from Zion, and shall give his voice from Jerusalem, and (the) heavens and (the) earth shall be moved; and the Lord is the hope of his people, and the strength of the sons of Israel (and the Lord is the hope of his people, and the defender of 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.