For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
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I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
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And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
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Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
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Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
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The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
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Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
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And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
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Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
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Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
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Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
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Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
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Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
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Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
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The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
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The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
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So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
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And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
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Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
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But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
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For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
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Joel 3 Study & Commentary
Joel 3 - Judgment on the Nations: God gathers the nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Valley of Decision) to judge them for their treatment of Israel. While the world faces a harvest of judgment, the Lord remains the hope and strength of His people.
THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
1. The Valley of Decision: Not a place for humans to decide, but where God’s decision/sentence is executed.2. Reversal of Peace (v. 10): Contrasting Isaiah 2:4, here the "plowshares" are beaten into "swords," signifying the final global conflict.
3. The Dwelling of God: The book ends with the assurance that "the Lord dwelleth in Zion," guaranteeing the security of His people.
PRACTICAL LESSONS
1. God as a Refuge: Even when the heavens and earth shake, the Lord is the "hope of his people."2. Accountability of Nations: Countries will be judged by God for how they treat His heritage and His people.
