American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Joel 3
1
For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
Reference
2
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.
Reference
📍 Valley of Jehoshaphat
Parallel theme
Isaiah 66:16
Zephaniah 3:8
Ezekiel 38:22
Revelation 16:16
Jeremiah 25:31
Joel 3:12
Ezekiel 35:10
References Israel
Ezekiel 39:11
3
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.
Reference
4
Yes, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will you render me a recompense? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own head;
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5
Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Kings 12:18
6
The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have you sold to the Grecians, that you might remove them far from their border.
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7
Behold, I will raise them out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your recompense on your own head:
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8
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 has spoken it.
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9
Proclaim you 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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10
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
Reference
11
Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause your mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
Reference
12
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.
Reference
📍 Valley of Jehoshaphat
Judgment
Isaiah 2:4
Psalm 96:13
Psalm 98:9
Isaiah 3:13
Psalm 7:6
Micah 4:3
Parallel theme
Joel 3:2
Joel 3:14
13
Put you 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.
Reference
Evil
Matthew 13:39
Parallel theme
Mark 4:29
Hosea 6:11
Isaiah 63:3
Jeremiah 51:33
Genesis 18:20
Deuteronomy 16:9
Lamentations 1:15
14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Reference
16
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.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 51:16
Psalm 61:3
Revelation 16:18
References Israel
Ezekiel 38:19
References Lord
Amos 1:2
Haggai 2:6
Isaiah 42:13
Proverbs 18:10
Jeremiah 16:19
Psalm 18:2
17
So shall you 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.
Reference
Holy
Isaiah 52:1
Isaiah 4:3
Jeremiah 31:23
Parallel theme
Nahum 1:15
Revelation 21:27
References God
Joel 2:27
References Lord
Joel 3:21
18
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.
Reference
📍 Valley of Shittim
19
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.
Reference
Blood
Jeremiah 51:35
21
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwells in Zion.
Reference
Blood
Isaiah 4:4
Parallel theme
Revelation 21:3
Ezekiel 36:25
Ezekiel 36:29
References Lord
Ezekiel 48:35
Joel 3:17
Summary of Joel 3
Joel 3 concludes the book with a dramatic vision of restoration, international judgment, and God's permanent presence among His people, showing that the nations that exploited, scattered, enslaved, and harmed Judah will ultimately face divine accountability while God's people will be restored to their land and protected by the Lord who dwells among them.
The chapter begins by promising that God will restore Judah and Jerusalem, reversing the humiliation and displacement described earlier.
God then gathers the nations for judgment in the symbolic Valley of Jehoshaphat because they have scattered His people, divided His land, and treated human lives as commodities.
The nations are specifically condemned for selling captives, exchanging vulnerable people for material goods, stealing treasures, and exploiting God's people for their own economic and political purposes.
Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistine territories are singled out as examples of nations that have participated in this exploitation, while the mention of Greece and Sheba emphasizes the wide geographical reach of the ancient slave and trading networks.
God promises that the injustice committed against His people will not simply disappear with time but will eventually be answered by divine judgment.
The nations are then summoned to prepare for an enormous battle, with agricultural tools being transformed into weapons because the entire world appears to be mobilized for the decisive confrontation.
The agricultural imagery continues when God describes the wickedness of the nations as fully ripe for harvest, meaning that their actions have reached the point where judgment can no longer be postponed.
The day of the Lord is again associated with darkness in the sun, moon, and stars, while the Lord's voice causes the heavens and earth to shake.
Yet within this terrifying picture comes one of the chapter's most important contrasts: the Lord is a refuge and stronghold for His people.
Judgment therefore has two very different results depending upon one's relationship with God.
For rebellious nations, the day of the Lord brings accountability and destruction, while for God's people it brings protection, restoration, holiness, and the assurance of God's presence.
Jerusalem is described as holy and secure, while the surrounding land becomes extraordinarily fertile.
Mountains overflow with wine, hills produce milk, streams flow through Judah, and a spring comes from the Lord's house, creating a picture of life and abundance flowing directly from God's presence.
Egypt and Edom, representing nations associated with violence against Judah, are described as becoming desolate because innocent blood has been shed.
The chapter then closes with the opposite picture for Judah and Jerusalem, which will remain inhabited through future generations.
The final promise that God will cleanse His people's bloodguilt and dwell in Zion brings the entire book toward its ultimate goal: God's restored relationship with His people and His permanent presence among them.
The central message is that Joel 3 declares that God will ultimately judge nations that exploit and oppress His people, restore what has been lost, and establish His presence among a renewed Judah, demonstrating that injustice will not have the final word and that God's judgment is accompanied by protection and restoration for those who belong to Him.
The chapter also completes Joel's movement from devastation to restoration, beginning with destroyed crops and national mourning and ending with abundant land, secure communities, divine protection, holiness, and God's presence in Zion, showing that the final purpose of God's intervention is not merely to punish evil but to restore His people and establish lasting peace and blessing.
The chapter begins by promising that God will restore Judah and Jerusalem, reversing the humiliation and displacement described earlier.
God then gathers the nations for judgment in the symbolic Valley of Jehoshaphat because they have scattered His people, divided His land, and treated human lives as commodities.
The nations are specifically condemned for selling captives, exchanging vulnerable people for material goods, stealing treasures, and exploiting God's people for their own economic and political purposes.
Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistine territories are singled out as examples of nations that have participated in this exploitation, while the mention of Greece and Sheba emphasizes the wide geographical reach of the ancient slave and trading networks.
God promises that the injustice committed against His people will not simply disappear with time but will eventually be answered by divine judgment.
The nations are then summoned to prepare for an enormous battle, with agricultural tools being transformed into weapons because the entire world appears to be mobilized for the decisive confrontation.
The agricultural imagery continues when God describes the wickedness of the nations as fully ripe for harvest, meaning that their actions have reached the point where judgment can no longer be postponed.
The day of the Lord is again associated with darkness in the sun, moon, and stars, while the Lord's voice causes the heavens and earth to shake.
Yet within this terrifying picture comes one of the chapter's most important contrasts: the Lord is a refuge and stronghold for His people.
Judgment therefore has two very different results depending upon one's relationship with God.
For rebellious nations, the day of the Lord brings accountability and destruction, while for God's people it brings protection, restoration, holiness, and the assurance of God's presence.
Jerusalem is described as holy and secure, while the surrounding land becomes extraordinarily fertile.
Mountains overflow with wine, hills produce milk, streams flow through Judah, and a spring comes from the Lord's house, creating a picture of life and abundance flowing directly from God's presence.
Egypt and Edom, representing nations associated with violence against Judah, are described as becoming desolate because innocent blood has been shed.
The chapter then closes with the opposite picture for Judah and Jerusalem, which will remain inhabited through future generations.
The final promise that God will cleanse His people's bloodguilt and dwell in Zion brings the entire book toward its ultimate goal: God's restored relationship with His people and His permanent presence among them.
The central message is that Joel 3 declares that God will ultimately judge nations that exploit and oppress His people, restore what has been lost, and establish His presence among a renewed Judah, demonstrating that injustice will not have the final word and that God's judgment is accompanied by protection and restoration for those who belong to Him.
The chapter also completes Joel's movement from devastation to restoration, beginning with destroyed crops and national mourning and ending with abundant land, secure communities, divine protection, holiness, and God's presence in Zion, showing that the final purpose of God's intervention is not merely to punish evil but to restore His people and establish lasting peace and blessing.