Joel 1:11 (DBY)

Passage

Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.

Nearby Context

Joel 1:9 The oblation and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah's ministers, mourn.

Joel 1:10 The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

Joel 1:11 Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.

Joel 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm also and the apple-tree; all the trees of the field are withered, yea, joy is withered away from the children of men.

Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ashamed", "husbandmen", "howl", "vinedressers", "wheat", "barley", "harvest", and "field". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ashamed" and "husbandmen", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "The field is laid waste the land..." into verse 12's "The vine is dried up and the...", so "ashamed" and "husbandmen" 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 "ashamed" and "husbandmen" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.