Joel 3

Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 835 BC – 400 BC · Divided kingdom · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·

21 verses · 508 words · ~3 min read · ~3 min listen

The LORD Judges the Nations

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.

Blessings for Godʼs People

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.

Footnotes (7)

a v1 Or restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem
b v2 Jehoshaphat means the LORD judges; also in verse 12.
c v5 Or palaces
d v6 Or to the peoples of Javan
e v13 LXX the harvest has come; see also Mark 4:29.
f v18 Or Valley of Shittim
g v21 Or For I will pardon their bloodguilt, which I have not yet pardoned.

Study notes on this chapter · 1

Prophecy & fulfillmentDebated

Armageddon

At the sixth bowl the kings of the whole world are gathered to the place called in Hebrew 'Armageddon' for the battle of the great day of God. The name probably means 'Mountain of Megiddo', though no such mountain exists. Megiddo was a site of decisive battles in Israel's history.

When: Revelation, c. AD 90s.

Original passageRevelation 16:12–16

Echoed inJudges 5:192 Kings 23:29Zechariah 12:11Joel 3:2

Ways people read this (4)

A literal end-time battle in the valley of Jezreel near Megiddo (many futurist readings).
A symbolic picture of the final defeat of evil, drawing on Megiddo's history and on Ezekiel 38–39, and not tied to a place.
'Har-Magedon' may come from Hebrew 'mo'ed' (assembly) or 'Megiddo' and may refer to Jerusalem or a mountain of assembly.
The battle has been fulfilled in the victory of Christ at the cross (some idealist readings).

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

See all prophecy & fulfillment notes →

Joel 3

The LORD Judges the Nationsⓘ

Blessings for Godʼs Peopleⓘ

Study notes on this chapter · 1

Armageddon

The LORD Judges the Nations

Blessings for Godʼs People