Joel 1:6 (DRB)

Passage

For a nation come up upon my land, strong, and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion's whelp.

Nearby Context

Joel 1:4 That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed.

Joel 1:5 Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.

Joel 1:6 For a nation come up upon my land, strong, and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion's whelp.

Joel 1:7 He hath laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Joel 1:8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "nation", "come", "upon", "land", "strong", "without", "number", and "teeth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "nation" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "Awake ye that are drunk and weep..." into verse 7's "He hath laid my vineyard waste and...", so "nation" and "come" 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 "nation" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.