Joel 3:19
What does Joel 3:19 mean?
A plain-English look at Joel 3:19 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Joel 3:19 means
Egypt and Edom, emblematic long-time adversaries, will become a desolation and a desolate wilderness. The reason is moral and specific: “for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.” God’s judgments are not arbitrary; they answer blood with justice. The contrast is striking—while Judah receives life-giving waters, Egypt and Edom receive barrenness. The Lord sets a lasting testimony: nations that make themselves enemies of His people and stain their hands with innocent blood stand under His sentence and will not flourish. Divine holiness demands that such violence be answered.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Egypt will be a waste and Edom a land of destruction, because of the evil done to the children of Judah, because they have let blood be drained out in their land without cause.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Egypt a desolation becometh, And Edom a desolation, a wilderness, becometh, For violence <FI>to<Fi> sons of Judah, Whose innocent blood they shed in their land.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a wilderness destroyed: because they have done unjustly against the children of Juda, and have shed innocent blood in their land.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, in that they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Context
This verse forms the dark counterpoint to verse 18’s abundance. It names representative foes to highlight the moral basis of God’s judgment: violence against Judah. The contrast prepares for the enduring promise in verse 20—Judah’s permanence—thereby framing desolation for oppressors against the everlasting stability God grants His people.
v.18And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
v.19This passage
v.20But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 11:15
And Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod.
- Ezekiel 35:1
Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
- Jeremiah 49:17
And Edom shall become an astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
- Lamentations 4:21
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
- Malachi 1:3
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
- Jeremiah 51:35
The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
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