The LORD gathers the nations because they scattered his people, divided his land, and exploited the vulnerable.
Joel 3:1-3
1 “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,
3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia are confronted for plunder and slave trade, and their violence is turned back upon them.
Joel 3:4-8
4 “Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.
5 Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,
6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head;
8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it.”
The nations arm themselves for war, but their gathering becomes the scene of the LORD's judicial throne.
Joel 3:9-12
9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’
11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.
12 “Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
The sickle, harvest, and winepress imagery show that wickedness is full and judgment is ready.
Joel 3:13-16
13 Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
Judgment gives way to refuge, holiness, abundance, justice, pardon, and the LORD's abiding presence.
Joel 3:17-21
17 “So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.
18 It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.”