Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joel 3:21:
Kupsabiny: “I will repay/avenge the blood of the people of Judah and not forgive the sinners. I God shall live in Zion.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Their guilt of having shed blood that I have not yet forgiven I will forgive." The LORD is dwelling in Zion.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-take-revenge-upon the ones who have-killed my people; I will- surely -punish the one who has-done this to them. I (am), the LORD who lives in Zion.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “I will avenge those whom they killed, I will not forgive those who sinned. But in Juda and Jerusalem however, there-will-be in-the-future inhabitants forever, and I who am God, I will stay on mountain Zion.’” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “I, Yahweh, live on Zion Hill in Jerusalem, and I will get revenge on the people of Egypt and Edom who killed many of my people.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Good News Translation has rearranged the lines of verses 20-21 to give a more logical presentation for the English reader (see the comments below). Translators will have to determine if such a rearrangement is useful in their language.
But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations: These two parallel lines show that Judah and Jerusalem will always have inhabitants in contrast to the future for Egypt and Edom. Good News Translation combines them into one line, saying “But Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever.”
I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty: This line in the Hebrew text is somewhat difficult to translate. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have followed the Septuagint, which itself may have been a free translation of the Hebrew. The Hebrew is literally “and I will not leave unpunished their blood [which] I have left [yet] unpunished” (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which recommends this reading). The meaning seems to be that God has not yet punished the Egyptians and the Edomites for killing the people of Judah (verse 20), but he threatens to do so. (The literal translation of the Hebrew in the RSV footnote: is not accurate.) So both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have adequately expressed the intended meaning of the Hebrew. Revised English Bible has “I shall avenge their blood, the blood I have not yet avenged.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982) says “Should I leave that unpunished? I will punish them for it…!”
Avenge their blood is a Hebrew figure of speech, which Good News Translation translates nonfiguratively with “avenge those who were killed.”
Good News Translation moves this first line of verse 21 before verse 20 to preserve the connection with verse 19, so it combines verses 20-21.
For the LORD dwells in Zion: Yahweh’s fellowship with his people was interrupted by the plague of locusts, but now he lives with them again in his Temple. For this line see the comments at verse 17. Since Yahweh himself continues to speak here, Good News Translation translates the LORD as “I, the LORD.” Again, Good News Translation refers to Zion as “Mount Zion,” to remind the readers that this is the place where the Temple stands.
Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
3:21a For I will avenge their blood, which I have not yet avenged.”
Shall I fail to punish those who killed my people? No, I will not fail to punish them.” -or-
I, ⌊Yahweh,⌋ will certainly/surely punish those who killed my people.
3:21b For the LORD dwells in Zion.
Yahweh dwells in Zion! -or-
I, Yahweh, live/stay in Zion/Jerusalem!”
3:20–21b (reordered)
I will surely/certainly punish the people of ⌊Egypt and Edom⌋ for killing ⌊my⌋ ⌊innocent⌋ people. But I, Yahweh, will always live/stay in ⌊the holy mountain⌋ Zion, and there will always be people living in Judah and Jerusalem.”
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