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Joel 3-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Joel 3-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
III. The Lord’s Final Judgment
Chapter 3
The Day of the Lord(A)
1 [a]It shall come to pass
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
2 Even upon your male and female servants,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
3 I will set signs in the heavens and on the earth,
blood, fire, and columns of smoke;
4 The sun will darken,
the moon turn blood-red,
Before the day of the Lord arrives,
that great and terrible day.(B)
5 Then everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord
will escape harm.
For on Mount Zion there will be a remnant,
as the Lord has said,
And in Jerusalem survivors
whom the Lord will summon.(C)
Chapter 4
The Lord’s Case Against the Nations
1 For see, in those days and at that time,(D)
when I restore the fortunes
of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[b]
There I will enter into judgment with them
on behalf of my people, my heritage, Israel;
Because they scattered them among the nations,
they divided up my land.(E)
3 For my people they cast lots,
trading a young boy for the price of a prostitute,
exchanging a young girl for the wine they drank.(F)
4 [c]Moreover, what are you doing to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are, I will very quickly turn your deeds back upon your own head.(G) 5 You took my silver and my gold and brought my priceless treasures into your temples! 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, taking them far from their own country! 7 Look! I am rousing them from the place to which you sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the Judahites who will sell them to the Sabeans,[d] a distant nation. The Lord has spoken!
The Nations Destroyed
9 Announce this to the nations:
Proclaim a holy war!
Alert the warriors!
Let all the soldiers
report and march!(H)
10 [e]Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears;
let the weakling boast, “I am a warrior!”(I)
11 Hurry and come, all you neighboring peoples,
assemble there!
Bring down, Lord, your warriors!
12 Let the nations rouse themselves and come up
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit in judgment
upon all the neighboring nations.
13 Wield the sickle,(J)
for the harvest is ripe;
Come and tread,
for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow,
for their crimes are numerous.[f]
14 Crowds upon crowds
in the Valley of Decision;
For near is the day of the Lord
in the Valley of Decision.(K)
15 Sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars withhold their brightness,(L)
16 The Lord roars from Zion,
and from Jerusalem raises his voice,(M)
The heavens and the earth quake,
but the Lord will be a shelter for his people,
a fortress for the people of Israel.
A Secure Future for Judah
17 Then you will know[g] that I the Lord am your God,(N)
dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain;
Jerusalem will be holy,
and strangers will never again travel through her.
18 [h]On that day
the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills flow with milk,
All the streams of Judah
will flow with water.
A spring will rise from the house of the Lord,
watering the Valley of Shittim.(O)
19 Egypt will be a waste,
Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violence done to the Judahites,
because they shed innocent blood in their land.(P)
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem for all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
and I will not acquit the guilt.
The Lord dwells in Zion.
Footnotes
- 3:1–5 In many places in the Old Testament, Hebrew ruah is God’s power, or spirit, bestowed on chosen individuals. The word can also mean “breath” or “wind.” In this summary introduction to his second speech, Joel anticipates that the Lord will someday renew faithful Judahites with the divine spirit. In Acts 2:17–21 the author has Peter cite Joel’s words to suggest that the newly constituted Christian community, filled with divine life and power, inaugurates the Lord’s Day, understood as salvation for all who believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.
- 4:2 Valley of Jehoshaphat: one of the symbolic names of the place of punishment for Judah’s enemies; the other is “Valley of Decision” (v. 14). The name Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges.” If the popular identification of this place as the Kidron Valley is accurate, Joel may imagine the Lord seated above the valley on Mount Zion directing his troops in the destruction of nations in the valley below.
- 4:4–8 This prose material may be a later addition to the book. It illustrates a common biblical theme (cf. Ps 7:16; 9:16; 35:8; 37:14–15; 57:7), having one’s evil deed (selling Judahites into slavery) turned into one’s own punishment (being sold into slavery by the Judahites).
- 4:8 Sabeans: traders from the southwestern tip of the Arabian peninsula, present-day Yemen (cf. 1 Kgs 10:1–2; Ps 72:10; Jer 6:20).
- 4:10 The Lord directs the troops to forge military weapons out of the agricultural tools necessary for life during peacetime. In Is 2:4 and Mi 4:3, both in contexts presuming the defeat of Israel’s enemies, this imagery is reversed.
- 4:13 Their crimes are numerous: the nations are ripe for punishment. Joel uses the vocabulary of the autumn grape harvest to describe the assault of the Lord’s army against these nations. In Is 63:1–6, grape harvest imagery also controls the description of the Lord’s return from Edom with blood-spattered clothing after having trod his enemies into the ground as if they were grapes (cf. Jer 25:30).
- 4:17 Then you will know: this verse further develops the motif of knowledge introduced in 2:27. The Judahites will learn that the Lord is present in their economic prosperity and political autonomy, even though they did not associate God’s presence with their crop failure.
- 4:18 Images of agricultural abundance illustrate the harmony and order Joel expects the Lord to establish in Judah; like 2:18–27, this section reverses the deprivation and drought of chap. 1. A spring…house of the Lord: streams of water flowing from the Temple of an ideal Jerusalem also appear in Ez 47:1. The Valley of Shittim: or “the ravine of the acacia trees”; while there is a Shittim east of the Jordan, the reference here is probably to that rocky part of the Kidron Valley southeast of Jerusalem, an arid region where acacia trees flourished.
Joel 3
New International Version
Joel 3
New International Version
The Nations Judged
3 [a]“In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes(A) of Judah(B) and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather(C) all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[b](D)
There I will put them on trial(E)
for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered(F) my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
3 They cast lots(G) for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine(H) to drink.
4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon(I) and all you regions of Philistia?(J) Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.(K) 5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.[c](L) 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,(M) that you might send them far from their homeland.
7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them,(N) and I will return(O) on your own heads what you have done. 8 I will sell your sons(P) and daughters to the people of Judah,(Q) and they will sell them to the Sabeans,(R) a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.(S)
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!(T)
Rouse the warriors!(U)
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks(V) into spears.(W)
Let the weakling(X) say,
“I am strong!”(Y)
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemble(Z) there.
Bring down your warriors,(AA) Lord!
12 “Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,(AB)
for there I will sit
to judge(AC) all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle,(AD)
for the harvest(AE) is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,(AF)
for the winepress(AG) is full
and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”
14 Multitudes,(AH) multitudes
in the valley(AI) of decision!
For the day of the Lord(AJ) is near
in the valley of decision.(AK)
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.(AL)
16 The Lord will roar(AM) from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;(AN)
the earth and the heavens will tremble.(AO)
But the Lord will be a refuge(AP) for his people,
a stronghold(AQ) for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s People
17 “Then you will know(AR) that I, the Lord your God,(AS)
dwell in Zion,(AT) my holy hill.(AU)
Jerusalem will be holy;(AV)
never again will foreigners invade her.(AW)
18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,(AX)
and the hills will flow with milk;(AY)
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.(AZ)
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house(BA)
and will water the valley of acacias.[d](BB)
19 But Egypt(BC) will be desolate,
Edom(BD) a desert waste,
because of violence(BE) done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Judah will be inhabited forever(BF)
and Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?(BG)
No, I will not.(BH)”
The Lord dwells in Zion!(BI)
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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