Put 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”
- BSB Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.
- NKJV Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.”
- NASB Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
- NLT Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands the harvest and winepress imagery of judgment, for the nations' wickedness is full. The time for decisive judgment has come.
Overview
Joel pictures judgment as a ripe harvest cut down and a winepress trodden, the vats overflowing because of great wickedness. This vivid imagery of God's wrath against accumulated sin reappears in Revelation's depiction of final judgment (Revelation 14:18-20). It warns that God's patience has a limit and that the fullness of sin will meet the fullness of His righteous judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rev 14:15–20And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
- Mark 4:29But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
- Hos 6:11Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.
- Isa 63:3I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
- Jer 51:33For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
- Matt 13:39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
- Lam 1:15The LORD hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the LORD hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.
- Deut 16:9Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
- Gen 18:20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
- Gen 15:16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
- Gen 13:13But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 3:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.