Yoel 3:3

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 

Amos 8:6

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ³ 

a pair of sandals ⁴  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” 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).

[8:6]  ³ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  sn The expression trade silver for the poor refers to the slave trade.

[8:6]  ⁴ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”