Yoel 1:5

1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, ¹  and weep!

Wail, all you wine drinkers, ² 

because the sweet wine ³  has been taken away ⁴  from you. ⁵ 

Yoel 3:9

Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat

3:9 Proclaim this among the nations:

“Prepare for a holy war!

Call out the warriors!

Let all these fighting men approach and attack! ⁶ 

Yoel 3:4

3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ⁷ 

Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ⁸ 

I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ⁹ 

[1:5]  ¹ sn The word drunkards has a double edge here. Those accustomed to drinking too much must now lament the unavailability of wine. It also may hint that the people in general have become religiously inebriated and are unresponsive to the Lord. They are, as it were, drunkards from a spiritual standpoint.

[1:5]  ² sn Joel addresses the first of three groups particularly affected by the locust plague. In v. 5 he describes the effects on the drunkards, who no longer have a ready supply of intoxicating wine; in vv. 11-12 he describes the effects on the farmers, who have watched their labors come to naught because of the insect infestation; and in vv. 13-14 he describes the effects on the priests, who are no longer able to offer grain sacrifices and libations in the temple.

[1:5]  ³ tn Heb “over the sweet wine, because it.” Cf. KJV, NIV, TEV, NLT “new wine.”

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “will be withheld.”

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “your mouth.” This is a synecdoche of part (the mouth) for whole (the person).

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “draw near and go up.”

[3:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “What [are] you [doing] to me, O Tyre and Sidon?”

[3:4]  ⁸ tn Or “districts.”

[3:4]  ⁹ 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.