Joel 3
3
Punishment for Judah’s Enemies
1“In those days and at that time,
I will give Judah and Jerusalem back their riches.
2I will also gather all the nations together.
I will bring them down into the Valley Where the Lord Judges.
And there I will judge them.
Those nations scattered my own people, Israel.
They forced my people to live in other nations.
They divided up my land.
3They threw lots for my people.
They traded boys for prostitutes.
And they sold girls to buy wine to drink.
4“Tyre and Sidon and all of you regions of Philistia! What do you have against me? Are you punishing me for something I did? Or are you doing something to hurt me? Then I will quickly do to you what you have done to me. 5You took my silver and gold. You took my precious treasures and put them in your temples. 6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks. That way you could send them far from their land.
7“You sent my people to that faraway place. But I will bring them back. And I will do to you what you have done to them. 8I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. Then they will sell them to the Sabean people far away.” The Lord said this.
God Judges the Nations
9Announce this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Wake up the soldiers!
Let all the men of war come near and attack.
10Make your plows into swords.
Make spears from your hooks for trimming trees.
Let the weak say,
“I am strong.”
11All of you nations, hurry.
Come together in that place.
Lord, send your strong soldiers
to gather the nations.
12“Wake up, nations.
Come to the Valley Where the Lord Judges.
There I will sit to judge
all the nations on every side.
13Cut them down like grain
because the harvest is ripe with sin.
Come, walk on them as you would walk on grapes,
because the winepress is full.
The barrels are full of their sins and spilling over.
These people are so evil!”
14There are many people
in the Valley of Decision.# This is like the name “the Valley Where the Lord Judges” in 3:2 and 3:12.
The Lord’s day of judging is near
in the Valley of Decision.
15The sun and the moon will become dark.
The stars will stop shining.
16The Lord will roar like a lion from Jerusalem.
His loud voice will sound like a growl from Jerusalem.
And the sky and the earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a safe place for his people.
He will be a strong place of safety for the people of Israel.
17“Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.
I stay in my holy Mount Zion.
Jerusalem will become holy.
Strangers will never take over that city again.
A New Life Promised for Judah
18“On that day the mountains will be covered with grapes for sweet wine.
The hills will be covered with cows to give milk.
And water will flow through all the ravines of Judah.
A fountain will flow from the Temple of the Lord.
It will give water to the valley of acacia trees.
19But Egypt will become empty.
And Edom will become an empty desert.
This is because they were cruel to the people of Judah.
They killed innocent people in the land of Judah.
20But there will always be people living in Judah.
And people will live in Jerusalem from now on.
21Egypt and Edom killed my people.
So I will definitely punish them.”
The Lord lives in Jerusalem!
Joel 1
Joel 2
Joel 3
Currently Selected:
Joel 3: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Joel 3
3
The nations judged
# In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21. 1‘In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.#3:2 Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12.
There I will put them on trial
for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
3They cast lots for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine to drink.
4‘Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. 5For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.#3:5 Or palaces 6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
7‘See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. 8I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.’ The Lord has spoken.
9Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10Beat your ploughshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
‘I am strong!’
11Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemble there.
Bring down your warriors, Lord!
12‘Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
to judge all the nations on every side.
13Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full
and the vats overflow –
so great is their wickedness!’
14Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
16The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s people
17‘Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
never again will foreigners invade her.
18‘In that day the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills will flow with milk;
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house
and will water the valley of acacias.#3:18 Or Valley of Shittim
19But Egypt will be desolate,
Edom a desert waste,
because of violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20Judah will be inhabited for ever
and Jerusalem through all generations.
21Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?
No, I will not.’
The Lord dwells in Zion!
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.