Joel 3

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The Lord declares that when He restores Judah and Jerusalem, He will gather all nations into the Valley of Jehoshaphat to judge them for scattering Israel, dividing His land, and selling His people into captivity to the Greeks. Addressing Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia, the Lord condemns them for taking His silver, gold, and treasures, and announces that He will return their deeds upon their own heads by selling their sons and daughters to the Sabeans. The Lord then commands the nations to prepare for war, urging them to beat their plowshares into swords and gather in the valley for judgment, likened to a ripe harvest and a full winepress. Amid darkening skies and trembling heavens and earth, the Lord roars from Zion to protect Israel, leaving Jerusalem holy while rendering Egypt desolate and Edom a wasteland for their violence against Judah. Finally, the Lord promises that Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever as He avenges the spilled blood of His people and dwells in Zion.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹“Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity, ²I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land. ³They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink. ⁴Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads. ⁵For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples. ⁶You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland. ⁷Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads. ⁸I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken. ⁹Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack! ¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’ ¹¹Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD. ¹²Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down 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; the wine vats overflow because 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 moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine. ¹⁶The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. ¹⁷Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners. ¹⁸And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias. ¹⁹Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. ²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. ²¹For I will avenge their blood, which I have not yet avenged. ” For the LORD dwells in Zion.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.