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Joel

Predicts a locust plague and future blessings, calling for repentance.

Chapter 3

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1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

*"See, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,"

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.

*I will bring together all countries and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There, I will argue for my people and Israel, who they have separated and divided among different lands, and taken my property.

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.

*They used chance to decide what happened to my people. They traded a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for alcohol. They did this so they could keep drinking.

4 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;

*"What does it matter to you, Tyre and Sidon and all of Palestine? Will you pay me back? If you do, I will quickly give you your payment right back on your own head."

5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

*Because you took my money and treasures, and brought my nice things to your sacred places.

6 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.

*You sold the kids from Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks so they could be far away from their land.

7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:

*Look, I will rescue them from the place you sold them in, and I will repay you for your actions by doing it to you personally.

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 hath spoken it.

*I will give your children to the people of Judah, who will then sell them to the Sabeans, a distant group. The Lord says this will happen.

9 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:

*Tell everyone outside Israel: Get ready for battle, wake up strong warriors, and bring all fighting men close; they should come.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

*Turn your farming tools into weapons, and your gardening tools into weapons too; let those who are weak say, "I am strong now."

11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

*Gather everyone, non-believers included, and come together. Ask your powerful helpers to join us, God.

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.

*Tell non-believers to wake up and gather in Jehoshaphat Valley because that's where I will judge all the nearby non-believers.

13 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.

*Put the sickle in, because the crops are ready to be harvested: come and gather; as the winepress is filled, with juice spilling over; because they have done many wrong things.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

*Many people are in the valley of choice, because the Lord's day is soon coming in that valley of choice.

15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

*The sun and moon will become dark, and the stars will hide their light.

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.

*God will loudly speak from Jerusalem, causing heaven and earth to tremble. But God will be a source of hope for his people and strength for the descendants of Israel.

17 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.

*You will understand that I am your God living in Zion, my sacred mountain. Then, Jerusalem will be holy, and no outsiders will pass through it again.

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 of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

*On that day, mountains will have new wine, hills will have milk, Judah's rivers will have water, a fountain from the LORD's house will appear, and it will water the Shittim valley.

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.

*Egypt will be empty and barren, and Edom will be a desert wasteland, because they hurt Judah's children. They spilled innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

*But Judah will always have a home, and Jerusalem will be lived in forever, passing down to each new group of people.

21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

*For I will purify their blood, which I haven't purified yet, because the LORD lives in Zion.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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