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Text -- Joel 3:1-18 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Lord Plans to Judge the Nations
3:1 For look ! In those days and at that time I will return the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem .
3:2 Then I will gather all the nations , and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat . I will enter into judgment against them there concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance , whom they scattered among the nations . They partitioned my land ,
3:3 and they cast lots for my people . They traded a boy for a prostitute ; they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink .
3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon ? Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia ? I will very quickly repay you for what you have done!
3:5 For you took my silver and my gold and brought my precious valuables to your own palaces .
3:6 You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks , removing them far from their own country .
3:7 Look ! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them. I will repay you for what you have done !
3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah . They will sell them to the Sabeans , a nation far away . Indeed , the Lord has spoken !
Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat
3:9 Proclaim this among the nations : “Prepare for a holy war ! Call out the warriors ! Let all these fighting men approach and attack !
3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords , and your pruning hooks into spears ! Let the weak say , ‘I too am a warrior !’
3:11 Lend your aid and come , all you surrounding nations , and gather yourselves to that place .” Bring down , O Lord , your warriors !
3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat , for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations .
3:13 Rush forth with the sickle , for the harvest is ripe ! Come , stomp the grapes, for the winepress is full ! The vats overflow . Indeed , their evil is great !
3:14 Crowds , great crowds are in the valley of decision , for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision !
3:15 The sun and moon are darkened ; the stars withhold their brightness .
3:16 The Lord roars from Zion ; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out . The heavens and the earth shake . But the Lord is a refuge for his people ; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel .
The Lord’s Presence in Zion
3:17 You will be convinced that I the Lord am your God , dwelling on Zion , my holy mountain . Jerusalem will be holy – conquering armies will no longer pass through it.
3:18 On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine , and the hills will flow with milk . All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water . A spring will flow out from the temple of the Lord , watering the Valley of Acacia Trees .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Joe 3:1; Joe 3:1; Joe 3:1; Joe 3:1; Joe 3:2; Joe 3:2; Joe 3:2; Joe 3:3; Joe 3:3; Joe 3:4; Joe 3:4; Joe 3:4; Joe 3:5; Joe 3:6; Joe 3:7; Joe 3:8; Joe 3:8; Joe 3:8; Joe 3:9; Joe 3:10; Joe 3:10; Joe 3:10; Joe 3:10; Joe 3:11; Joe 3:11; Joe 3:11; Joe 3:13; Joe 3:13; Joe 3:13; Joe 3:14; Joe 3:15; Joe 3:16; Joe 3:16; Joe 3:16; Joe 3:16; Joe 3:17; Joe 3:17; Joe 3:17; Joe 3:18; Joe 3:18; Joe 3:18; Joe 3:18; Joe 3:18; Joe 3:18
NET Notes: Joe 3:1 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
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NET Notes: Joe 3:3 Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow ...
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NET Notes: Joe 3:4 Heb “quickly, speedily, I will return your recompense on your head.” This is an idiom for retributive justice and an equitable reversal of...
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NET Notes: Joe 3:8 The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45...
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NET Notes: Joe 3:10 The “weak” individual mentioned here is apparently the farmer who has little or no military prowess or prior fighting experience. Under or...
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NET Notes: Joe 3:11 Some commentators prefer to delete the line “Bring down, O Lord, your warriors,” understanding it to be a later addition. But this is unne...
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NET Notes: Joe 3:13 The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harv...
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NET Notes: Joe 3:14 The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.
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NET Notes: Joe 3:17 Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.
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