Yoel 3:3-4

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded ¹  a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. ² 

3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ³ 

Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ⁴ 

I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ⁵ 

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  ² sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).

[3:4]  ³ tn Heb “What [are] you [doing] to me, O Tyre and Sidon?”

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Or “districts.”

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “quickly, speedily, I will return your recompense on your head.” This is an idiom for retributive justice and an equitable reversal of situation.