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Joel.3:1. For behold, in the days of thy, and in this time, Showing exactly what time, he added: When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. Not during the spiritual gifts, but soon after returning from Babylon. Joel.3:2. I will collect all the languages, that is, I will allow them to gather, and I will not hinder their first aspiration. This is expressed by the word: “I will collect”; because he did not bring them against their will, but did not hinder them when they intended to go. and I will bring you down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will reason with them concerning my people, and concerning my inheritance of Israel, who are scattered among the nations: and I have divided my land, Joel.3:3. And My people cast lots, and gave maidens to harlots, and maidens sold wine, and drink. From this it is clear that others followed in the footsteps of the neighboring peoples. During the captivity, they divided the land of Judea, since there was no one on it, no one owned it or cultivated it, they divided it among themselves, and when dividing they cast lots, and sold the Jews who escaped captivity, spending the price given for them on debauchery and luxury. God says: “I will reason about My people,” indicating that He will punish them for their lawless acts against the Jews. Joel.3:4. And what are you to me, Tire and Sidon and all Galilea, foreigners? After this, Tire and “Galilee of the foreigners” (this was a country belonging to Tire) accuse Tire of having done the same to the people of God out of rancor, and what was done to the people, attributing it to Himself, God said: Food is the reward you give Me? Or do you remember to be angry with Me? As for the Apostles persecuted by Saul, he said to Him from heaven: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4) - calling by His own suffering what he plotted against the Apostles: so here, turning his speech to Tire, God took upon Himself the face of the people, and took to Himself what was done to them. He threatens them with very quick retribution, righteous retribution for their lawless actions against the people. Then he sets out the very types of untruths; for he says: Having taken “silver and gold” and everything else dedicated to Me, “bring into the treasury” your idols (Joel 3:5); The Jews, who escaped the invasion of the Babylonians, “will be sold as sons of the Greeks” (Joel 3:6), having one goal, to remove them from the land that I have given them. But having gathered them from everywhere, I will arrange that they will again take on their strength in order to take righteous revenge on you, crush your arrogance, make you slaves and force you to slave on the last borders of the universe. From Tyre, God again turns the prophecy to the Scythian peoples, and commands them to “preach among the nations and raise up the slaughter” (Joel 3:9) and separate them for battle (he called this “sanctification of the army”). since the Holy One removes Himself from unclean things; then he calls everything that is separated from anything sanctified. So he said above: “sanctify the fast” (John 1:14), that is, separate it. And Isaiah says about the Babylonians: “they are sanctified: and I lead them” (Is. 13:3), that is, for this they are separated. Then he commands that agricultural tools be converted into military ones, and that the weak, like the strong, prepare for battle, and that the meek, having changed, become ready for valiant deeds, and everyone gather “to the vale of Jehoshaphat” (Joel 3:12). Joel.3:12. As soon as I sit there, judge all the tongues around, that is, the nations living near Jerusalem: the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Amalekites, the Philistines, the Tirians, the Sidonians; because they also gathered the Scythian nations against Jerusalem. Then allegorically, putting their extermination to shame, he calls the beating “embracing grapes”, the spears and swords with which they were killed – “sickles”; their valley filled with blood - “the grindstone and the grindstone.” He also tells the reason for the punishment: “for their wickedness has increased” (Joel 3:13). Then he feigns confusion during the beating. Joel.3:14. A voice was heard in the valley of judgment, as if the day of the Lord was near in the valley of judgment. The Prophet called the Valley of Jehoshaphat “judgmental Judalia,” since there will be a judgment there, and a ruling will be made about them. It says that the sun, moon and other stars will lose their light. And this will probably really happen when God of all kinds stirs up all creation against them. However, this can be understood differently; because for those who have given up life and are given over to death, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor any of the stars emit rays of light. And those befallen by unexpected calamities remain in darkness, counting day as night. Joel.3:16. The Lord will call from Zion, and will give His voice from Jerusalem: and heaven and earth will shake, but the Lord will spare His people. And the sim lets you see that this will really happen. He calls thunder a voice: for we find that thunder is called that way in the books of the kingdoms. It is said: “The Lord will give voices 3 and rain” (1 Samuel 12:18). Therefore, it shows that he will strike them with thunder and confuse them with earthquakes, and in the end he will destroy them with heavenly punishments. But the Lord of all will do this out of mercy for His people, so that, as God says, taking advantage of this providence for them, they will see Joel.3:17. And you will know that I am the Lord God, who dwells in Zion in My holy mountain: and Jerusalem will be holy, After these events, Jerusalem will be glorious, as having enjoyed My care for it; fear will fall on all foreigners, so that even a foreign traveler will not pass through it, fearing the same thing that happened to those nations. For he expressed this by saying: Foreign women will not pass through it. But God’s prophecies are prevented from coming true by the iniquities they have committed; because the God of all, with the law and the promise of good things, speaks His word with a limitation: “If you keep the commandments of the Lord your God” (Deut. 8:6); and: “If you walk in His ways” (Deut. 28:9), “and if you are willing, you will listen to Me, and you will destroy the good earth; if you are not willing, you will listen to Me; and therefore, even if we do not find similar restrictions everywhere, we nevertheless understand what has been said indefinitely in the same way. Joel.3:18. And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains will dry up the sweetness, and the hills will flow milk, And sim means the fruits of the earth and the good condition of livestock; because milk is the fruit of herds. and all the springs of Judah shall issue forth water: and the fountain shall issue forth from the house of the Lord, and shall give water to the stream of snakes. “The springs of Judah” he called the springs of water, and the source emanating from the house of the Lord was the grace of the Holy Spirit, which he foretold above that it gave water not only to the Jews, but to all nations. Joel.3:19. Egypt will be destroyed, and Idumea will be in the field of destruction because of the bitterness of the sons of Judah, having shed righteous blood on their lands: that is, the violent attachment to idols will fade away; because Egypt is the beginning of the leader of wickedness. “And Idumea is in the field of destruction,” that is, it will lose its strength and earthly wisdom; because “Edom” is interpreted: red and earthy. But what has been said can be understood in a historical sense. How Egypt perished with the destruction of the kingdom; because the end of the Egyptian kingdom was put by Cambyses, the son of Cyrus; so Idumea was devastated, as evidenced by the deed itself. They fell to this, according to what was said, as punishment for the injustices inflicted on Judea; because the Prophet called innocent blood “righteous blood,” as if saying so; without any plausible guilt they dared to massacre the Jews. Joel.3:20. Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem throughout all generations. And I will require their blood, and will not blame them: and the Lord will dwell in Zion. As a truthful one, says God, I will not tolerate the offended being left without care for them; on the contrary, I will punish those who offended, and I will honor them with My providence, revealing My presence in Zion. What was said: “it will be inhabited forever” will be understood in the sense we set out above; because it was unjust for God, who is truthful and hates untruth, to fulfill good promises for the unworthy. Therefore, the Jews, having furiously acted against the Benefactor, themselves became the culprits of their dispersion. And we, called to be the bride instead, will fervently love the Bridegroom who loved us and made us worthy of great gifts, so as not to lose the eternal promises, which may we all receive by the grace of Christ who saved us. With Him glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto ages of ages! Amen. The word φωνἀς, read in seventy, is translated “thunder” in Slavic.