Joel 3

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¹“For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ✦ ²I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land. ✦ ³“They have also cast lots for My people, Traded a boy for a prostitute, And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink. ✦ ⁴Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will return your retribution on your head! ✦ ⁵Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples, ✦ ⁶and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, ✦ ⁷behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. ✦ ⁸I will also sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken. ✦ ⁹¶Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors! Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up! ✦ ¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.” ✦ ¹¹Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, Lord, Your warriors. ✦ ¹²Let the nations be awakened 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 the grapes, 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 moon have become dark, And the stars have lost their brightness. ✦ ¹⁶The Lord roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge for His people, And a stronghold for the sons of Israel. ✦ ¹⁷Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, Dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will no longer pass through it. ✦ ¹⁸¶And on that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Shittim. ✦ ¹⁹Egypt will become a wasteland, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood. ✦ ²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever, And Jerusalem for all generations. ✦ ²¹And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the Lord dwells in Zion. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Joel 3 ·10 Rev 16 ·7 Ezek 38 ·7 Rev 19 ·6 Joel 2 ·6 Zech 14 ·6 Obad 1 ·5 Amos 1 ·5

Christ at the center

The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.

How Joel 3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Joel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Joel 3YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Joel 3David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JoelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Joel 3Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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