3:13a The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping,

People could not tell the difference between those who were happy and those who were sad
-or-
So no one who was listening could understand whether the people were rejoicing or crying.

3:13b because the people were making so much noise.

because the sound/noise was so great.
-or-
This was because the people were shouting so loudly.

3:13c And the sound was heard from afar.

The noise they made could be heard over a long distance.
-or-
⌊In fact,⌋ it was so loud that people could hear the noise from very far away.

3:13a–c (reordered)

The sound of their voices was so loud that it could be heard from far away, and no one could tell who were glad and who were weeping.
-or-
The cries of joyful shouting and mourning mixed together as one. They were so loud that people could not hear the difference, and the cries/sound could be heard from far away.

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