Joel 3:10

Beat your plowshares ¹  into swords, and your pruning hooks ²  into spears! ³  Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’ ⁴ 

Beat your ploughshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, "I am strong!"

Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, "I am a mighty man."

Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors.

Turn your shovels into swords, turn your hoes into spears. Let the weak one throw out his chest and say, "I'm tough, I'm a fighter."

Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong.

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weakling say, "I am a warrior."

Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’"

Beat your plowshares ¹  into swords, and your pruning hooks ²  into spears! ³  Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’ ⁴ 

¹ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

² sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.

³ sn This conversion of farming instruments to instruments of war is the reverse of Isa 2:4 (cf. Mic 4:3), where military weapons are transformed into tools for farming. Isaiah describes a time of kingdom blessing and prosperity, whereas Joel describes a time of eschatological conflict and judgment.

⁴ sn The “weak” individual mentioned here is apparently the farmer who has little or no military prowess or prior fighting experience. Under ordinary circumstances such a person would be ill-prepared for assuming the role of a soldier. However, in the scene that Joel is describing here even the most unlikely candidate will become a participant to be reckoned with in this final conflict.