31 And after that, it will come about, says the Lord, that I will send my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, your old men will have dreams, your young men will see visions: 2 And on the servants and the servant-girls in those days I will send my spirit. 3 And I will let wonders be seen in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 4 The sun will be made dark and the moon turned to blood, before the great day of the Lord comes, a day to be feared. 5 And it will be that whoever makes his prayer to the name of the Lord will be kept safe: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem some will be kept safe, as the Lord has said, and will be among the small band marked out by the Lord. 6 For in those days and in that time, when I let the fate of Judah and Jerusalem be changed, 7 I will get together all the nations, and make them come down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and there I will take up with them the cause of my people and of my heritage Israel, whom they have sent wandering among the nations, and of my land which has been parted by them. 8 And they have put the fate of my people to the decision of chance: giving a boy for the price of a loose woman and a girl for a drink of wine.
9 And further, what are you to me, O Tyre and Zidon and all the circle of Philistia? will you give me back any payment? and if you do, quickly and suddenly I will send it back on your head, 10 For you have taken my silver and my gold, putting in the houses of your gods my beautiful and pleasing things. 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem you have given for a price to the sons of the Greeks, to send them far away from their land: 12 See, I will have them moved from the place where you have sent them, and will let what you have done come back on your head; 13 I will give your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah for a price, and they will give them for a price to the men of Sheba, a nation far off: for the Lord has said it. 14 Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up. 15 Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong.
16 Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord. 17 Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.
18 Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing. 19 Masses on masses in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 20 The sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining. 21 And the Lord will be thundering from Zion, and his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will be shaking: but the Lord will be a breastplate for his people and a strong place for the children of Israel.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joel 3:1-21
Commentary on Joel 3:1-8
(Read Joel 3:1-8)
The restoration of the Jews, and the final victory of true religion over all opposers, appear to be here foretold. The contempt and scorn with which the Jews have often been treated as a people, and the little value set upon them, are noticed. None ever hardened his heart against God or his church, and prospered long.
Commentary on Joel 3:9-17
(Read Joel 3:9-17)
Here is a challenge to all the enemies of God's people. There is no escaping God's judgments; hardened sinners, in that day of wrath, shall be cut off from all comfort and joy. Most of the prophets foretell the same final victory of the church of God over all that oppose it. To the wicked it will be a terrible day, but to the righteous it will be a joyful day. What cause have those who possess an interest in Christ, to glory in their Strength and their Redeemer! The acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will be a day of remarkable vengeance to others: let every one that is out of Christ awake, and flee from the wrath to come.
Commentary on Joel 3:18-21
(Read Joel 3:18-21)
There shall be abundant Divine influences, and the gospel will spread speedily into the remotest corners of the earth. These events are predicted under significant emblems; there is a day coming, when every thing amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; his sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally.