1 God's judgments against the enemies of his people.
9 God will be known in his judgment.
18 His blessing upon the church.

in those. 2:29 Da 12:1 Zep 3:19,20

when. De 30:3 2Ch 6:37,38 Ps 14:7 85:1 Isa 11:11-16 Jer 16:15 23:3-8 Jer 29:14 30:3,18 Eze 16:53 37:21,22 38:14-18 39:25,28,29 Am 9:14

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.

also. Zep 3:8 Zec 14:2-4 Re 16:14,16 19:19-21 20:8

the valley. 12 2Ch 20:26 Eze 39:11 Zec 14:4

will plead. Isa 66:16 Eze 38:22 Am 1:11 Ob 10-16 Zec 12:3,4 Re 11:18 16:6 Re 18:20,21

and parted. Jer 12:14 49:1 Eze 25:8 35:10 Zep 2:8-10

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.

2Ch 28:8,9 Am 2:6 Ob 11 Na 3:10 Re 18:13

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;

and what. Jud 11:12 2Ch 21:16 28:17,18 Ac 9:4

O Tyre. Am 1:6-10,12-14 Zec 9:2-8

will ye. Eze 25:12-17

swiftly. De 32:35 Isa 34:8 59:18 Jer 51:6 Lu 18:7 2Th 1:6

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

ye. 2Ki 12:18 16:8 18:15,16 24:13 25:13-17 Jer 50:28 51:11 Da 5:2,3

into. 1Sa 5:2-5

pleasant. Heb. desirable. Da 11:38

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.

have ye. 3,8 De 28:32,68 Eze 27:13

Grecians. Heb. sons of the Grecians.

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

I will. Isa 11:12 43:5,6 49:12 Jer 23:8 30:10,16 31:8 32:37 Eze 34:12,13 36:24 38:8 Zec 10:6-10

and will. 4 Jud 1:7 1Sa 15:33 Es 7:10 Mt 7:2 2Th 1:6 Jas 2:13 Re 13:10 Re 16:6 19:2

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. De 32:30 Jud 2:14 4:2,9

your sons. Isa 14:1,2 60:14

Sabeans. Job 1:15 Eze 23:42

far off. Jer 6:20

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:

Proclaim. Ps 96:10 Isa 34:1 Jer 31:10 50:2

Prepare. Heb sanctify. Eze 21:21,22

wake. Isa 8:9,10 Jer 46:3,4 Eze 38:7

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

your plowshares. Isa 2:4 Mic 4:3 Lu 22:36

pruninghooks. or, scythes. let. 2Ch 25:8 Zec 12:8

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

Assemble. 2 Eze 38:9-18 Mic 4:12 Zep 3:8 Zec 14:2,3 Re 16:14-16 19:19,20 Re 20:8,9

cause, etc. or, the Lord shall bring down thy mighty ones. mighty. Ps 103:20 Isa 10:34 13:3 37:36 2Th 1:7 Re 19:14

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.

valley. 2,14 2Ch 20:26 Eze 39:11 Zec 14:4

for Ps 2:8,9 7:6 76:8,9 96:13 98:9 110:5,6 Isa 2:4 3:13 Eze 30:3 Mic 4:3 Re 19:11

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.

the sickle. De 16:9 Mr 4:29 Re 14:15,16

the harvest. Jer 51:33 Ho 6:11 Mt 13:39

for the press. Isa 63:3 La 1:15 Re 14:17-20

for their. Ge 13:13 15:16 18:20

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

multitudes. 2 Isa 34:2-8 63:1-7 Eze 38:8-23 39:8-20 Re 16:14-16 19:19-21

decision. or, concision. Php 3:2

or, threshing. for. 2:1 Ps 37:13 2Pe 3:7

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

2:10,31 Isa 13:10 Mt 24:29 Lu 21:25,26 Re 6:12,13

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.

roar. 2:11 Isa 42:13 Jer 25:30,31 Ho 11:10 Am 1:2 3:8

and the heavens. 2:10 Eze 38:19 Hag 2:6 Heb 12:26 Re 11:13,19 16:18

hope. Heb. place of repair, or, harbour. Ps 18:2 46:1-11 61:3 91:1,2 Pr 18:10 Isa 33:16,21 51:5,6,16

and the strength. 1Sa 15:29 Ps 29:11 Zec 10:6,12 12:5-8

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.

shall ye. 21 2:27 Ps 9:11 76:2 Isa 12:6 Eze 48:35 Mic 4:7 Zep 3:14-16

my. Da 11:45 Ob 16 Zec 8:3

Jerusalem. Isa 4:3 Jer 31:23 Eze 43:12 Ob 17 Zec 14:20

holy. Heb. holiness. there. Isa 35:8 52:1 Na 1:15 Zec 14:21 Re 21:27

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.

the mountains. Job 29:6 Isa 55:12,13 Am 9:13,14

and all. Isa 30:25 35:6 41:17,18

flow. Heb. go. and a. Ps 46:4 Eze 47:1-12 Zec 14:8 Re 22:1,2

the valley. Nu 25:1 Mic 6:5

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. Isa 11:15 19:1-15 Zec 10:10 14:18,19

Edom. Isa 34:1-17 63:1-6 Jer 49:17 La 4:21 Eze 25:1-17 35:1-15 Am 1:11,12 Ob 1,10-14 Mal 1:3,4

for. Ps 137:7 Jer 51:35 Ob 10-16 2Th 1:6

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

Judah. Isa 33:20 Eze 37:25 Am 9:15

dwell. or, abide.

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

will. Isa 4:4 Eze 36:25,29 Mt 27:25

for the Lord. or, even I the Lord that. 17 Eze 48:35 Re 21:3

CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE BOOK OF JOEL.

It is generally supposed, that the prophet Joel blends two subjects of affliction in one general consideration, or beautiful allegory; and that, under the devastation to be produced by locusts in the vegetable world, he portrays the more distant calamities to be inflicted by the armies of the Chaldeans in their invasion of Judea. These predictions are followed by a more general denunciation of God's vengeance, delivered in such language as to be in some measure descriptive of the final judgment of mankind. The prophet intermingles these declarations with earnest exhortations to repentance, and with promises of returning prosperity productive of Gospel blessings; foretelling, in the clearest terms, the general effusion of the Holy Spirit under the Christian dispensation, and the awful consequences of obstinately rejecting the sacred influence, especially to the Jews. The state of this nation at the present day, fully attests the Divine inspiration of the prophecy.