Joel 3
3
1“For, behold, in those days,
and in that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat;
and I will execute judgement on them there for my people,
and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered amongst the nations.
They have divided my land,
3 and have cast lots for my people,
and have given a boy for a prostitute,
and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4“Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre and Sidon,
and all the regions of Philistia?
Will you repay me?
And if you repay me,
I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.
5 Because you have taken my silver and my gold,
and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,
6and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks,
that you may remove them far from their border.
7Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them,
and will return your repayment on your own head;
8and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah,
and they will sell them to the men of Sheba,
to a faraway nation,
for the LORD has spoken it.”
9Proclaim this amongst the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Stir up the mighty men.
Let all the warriors draw near.
Let them come up. 10Beat your ploughshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’
11Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves together.”
Cause your mighty ones to come down there, LORD.
12“Let the nations arouse themselves,
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13Put in the sickle;
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine press is full,
the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16The LORD will roar from Zion,
and thunder from Jerusalem;
and the heavens and the earth will shake;
but the LORD will be a refuge to his people,
and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
17“So you will know that I am the LORD, your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be holy,
and no strangers will pass through her any more.
18It will happen in that day,
that the mountains will drop down sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters;
and a fountain will flow out from the LORD’s house,
and will water the valley of Shittim.
19Egypt will be a desolation
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the children of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21I will cleanse their blood
that I have not cleansed,
for the LORD dwells in Zion.”
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Joel 3
3
The Lord Will Judge the Nations
1At that time I, the Lord, will make Judah and Jerusalem prosperous again. 2Then in Judgment Valley#3.2 Judgment Valley: The Hebrew text has “Jehoshaphat Valley,” which means “Valley of the Lord's Judgment.” This valley is mentioned here and in verse 12, but nowhere else in the Bible. I will bring together the nations that scattered my people Israel everywhere in the world, and I will bring charges against those nations. They divided up my land 3and gambled to see who would get my people; they sold boys and girls to pay for prostitutes and wine.
4 #
Is 23.1-18; Ez 26.1—28.26; Am 1.9,10; Zec 9.1-4; Mt 11.21,22; Lk 10.13,14;
Is 14.29-31; Jr 47.1-7; Ez 25.15-17; Am 1.6-8; Zep 2.4-7; Zec 9.5-7. You people of Tyre and Sidon#3.4 Tyre and Sidon: Two Phoenician coastal cities. and you Philistines, why are you doing this? Are you trying to get even with me? I'll strike back before you know what's happened. 5You've taken my prized possessions, including my silver and gold, and carried them off to your temples.#3.5 temples: Or “palaces.” 6You have dragged the people of Judah and Jerusalem from their land and sold them to the Greeks.
7But I'll make the people of Judah determined to come home, and what happened to them will happen to you. 8I'll hand over your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans,#3.8 Sabeans: The people of Seba, a region in southwest Arabia. who live far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!
Judgment in Judgment Valley
9Say to the nations:
“Get ready for war!
Be eager to fight.
Line up for battle
and prepare to attack.
10 #
Is 2.4; Mic 4.3. Make swords out of plows
and spears out of garden tools.
Strengthen every weakling.”
11Hurry, all you nations!
Come quickly.
Ask the Lord to bring
his warriors along.#3.11 Ask … along: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
12You must come now
to Judgment Valley,#3.12 Judgment Valley: See the note at 3.2.
where the Lord will judge
the surrounding nations.
13 #
Rev 14.14-16;
Rev 14.19,20; 19.15. They are a field of ripe crops.
Bring in the harvest!
They are grapes piled high.
Start trampling them now!#3.13 grapes … now: People trampled grapes with their bare feet to squeeze out the juice.
If our enemy's sins were wine,
every jar would overflow.
14Crowds fill Decision Valley.
The judgment day of the Lord
will soon be here—
15no light from the sun or moon,
and stars no longer shine.
16 #
Am 1.2. From the heart of Jerusalem
the Lord roars like a lion,
shaking the earth and sky.
But the Lord is a fortress,
a place of safety
for his people Israel.
God Will Bless His People
17I am the Lord your God.
And you will know I live on Zion,
my sacred hill,
because Jerusalem will be sacred,
untouched by foreign troops.
18On that day, fruitful vineyards
will cover the mountains.
And your cattle and goats
that graze on the hills
will produce a lot of milk.
Streams in Judah
will never run dry;
a stream from my house
will flow in Acacia Valley.#3.18 Acacia Valley: In the plains of Moab, northeast of the Dead Sea.
19Egypt and Edom were cruel
and brutal to Judah,
without a reason.
Now their countries will become
a barren desert,
20but Judah and Jerusalem
will always have people.
21I, the Lord, live on Mount Zion.
I will punish the guilty
and defend the innocent.#3.21 I will … innocent: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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