Joel 3:13
What does Joel 3:13 mean?
A plain-English look at Joel 3:13 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Joel 3:13 means
The sentence becomes harvest: “Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe.” The judgment is timely, not premature. Like grain swollen at season’s end, wickedness has matured to its full measure. The winepress picture intensifies it: the vats overflow because “their wickedness is great.” These are not random storms of destruction but deliberate, just strokes. The command to “come, tread ye” implies God’s agents carry out His decree. This imagery echoes through later Scripture as a portrait of the final day when God tramples unrepentant evil. The point here is solemn: the time of patient waiting has ended; ripeness calls for reaping.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Send ye forth a sickle, For ripened hath harvest, Come in, come down, for filled hath been the press, Overflowed hath wine-presses, For great <FI>is<Fi> their wickedness.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Put ye in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe: come and go down, for the press is full, the fats run over: for their wickedness is multiplied.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down, for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Context
Following the enthronement of verse 12, verse 13 shows the judgment set in motion. The legal verdict takes tangible form in harvest and winepress—a common prophetic shorthand for decisive, comprehensive judgment. The next verse widens the lens, showing the throng of nations in the “valley of decision,” underscoring the corporate scope and the imminence of the day.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Matthew 13:39
and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.
- Mark 4:29
But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come.
- Deuteronomy 16:9
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing grain shalt thou begin to number seven weeks.
- Lamentations 1:15
The Lord hath set at nought all my mighty men in the midst of me; He hath called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men: The Lord hath trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
- Genesis 15:16
And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.
- Hosea 6:11
Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people.
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