Joel 3:3 (ASV)

Passage

and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

Nearby Context

Joel 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

Joel 3:2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations: and they have parted my land,

Joel 3:3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

Joel 3:4 Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head.

Joel 3:5 Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly precious things,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "cast", "lots", "people", "given", "harlot", "sold", "girl", and "wine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "cast" and "lots", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "I will gather all nations and will..." into verse 4's "Yea and what are ye to me...", so "cast" and "lots" belong inside that flow. In Joel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "cast" and "lots" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.