1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, 1
for fire 2 has burned up 3 the grassy pastures, 4
flames have razed 5 all the trees in the fields.
3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to 6 the people of Judah. 7
They will sell them to the Sabeans, 8 a nation far away.
Indeed, the Lord has spoken!
3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.
1 tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
2 sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).
3 tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.
4 tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”
5 tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.
6 tn Heb “into the hand of.”
7 tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”
8 sn The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45:14; Ps 72:10.