Joel 2:6 (DRB)

Passage

At their presence the people shall be in grievous pains: all faces shall be made like a kettle.

Nearby Context

Joel 2:4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and they shall run like horsemen.

Joel 2:5 They shall leap like the noise of chariots upon the tops of mountains, like the noise of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, as a strong people prepared to battle.

Joel 2:6 At their presence the people shall be in grievous pains: all faces shall be made like a kettle.

Joel 2:7 They shall run like valiant men: like men of war they shall scale the wall: the men shall march every one on his way, and they shall not turn aside from their ranks.

Joel 2:8 No one shall press upon his brother: they shall walk every one in his path: yea, and they shall fall through the windows, and shall take no harm.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "presence", "people", "shall", "grievous", "pains", "faces", and "like". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "presence" and "people", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "They shall leap like the noise of..." into verse 7's "They shall run like valiant men like...", so "presence" and "people" 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 "presence" and "people" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.