Joel 3:13 (DRB)

Passage

Put 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.

Nearby Context

Joel 3:11 Break forth, and come, all ye nations from round about, and gather yourselves together: there will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to fall down.

Joel 3:12 Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the valley of Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about.

Joel 3:13 Put 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.

Joel 3:14 Nations, nations in the valley of destruction: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of destruction.

Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sickles", "harvest", "ripe", "come", "down", "press", "full", and "fats". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sickles" and "harvest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Let them arise and let the nations..." into verse 14's "Nations nations in the valley of destruction...", so "sickles" and "harvest" 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 "sickles" and "harvest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.