Joel 2:30

2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky ¹  and on the earth –

blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

Joel 3:3

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded ²  a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. ³ 

[2:30]  ¹ tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[3:3]  ² tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  ³ 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).