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God is in control, not only of those who recognize him and call upon him, but also of all the nations who have been the enemies of his people. These are to be brought together in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (lit. “the valley of decision”), there to receive the judgment due them as a result of their evil treatment of Israel.
A prose section (vv.4-8) specifies the evil perpetuated by the nations surrounding Judah and for which vengeance is sought. The next section (vv.9-13) is a call to battle that will bring about the anticipated destruction of the enemies of God and his people. Joel calls for a reversal of that order to be found in Isa 2:4 and Mic 4:3. There the call is to beat swords into plowshares; here in Joel the message is to beat plowshares into swords, to make weapons of war from their agricultural implements (v.10).