Joel 1:14 (GNV)

Passage

Sanctifie you a fast: call a solemne assemblie: gather the Elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the House of the Lord your God, and cry vnto the Lord,

Nearby Context

Joel 1:12 The vine is dried vp, and the figge tree is decayed: the pomegranate tree and the palme tree, and the apple tree, euen all the trees of the fielde are withered: surely the ioy is withered away from the sonnes of men.

Joel 1:13 Girde your selues and lament, ye Priests: howle ye ministers of the altar: come, and lie all night in sackecloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meate offring, and the drinke offring is taken away from the house of your God.

Joel 1:14 Sanctifie you a fast: call a solemne assemblie: gather the Elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the House of the Lord your God, and cry vnto the Lord,

Joel 1:15 Alas: for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and it commeth as a destruction from the Almightie.

Joel 1:16 Is not the meate cut off before our eyes? and ioy, and gladnesse from the house of our God?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sanctifie", "fast", "call", "solemne", "assemblie", "gather", "elders", and "inhabitants". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sanctifie" and "fast", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Girde your selues and lament ye Priests..." into verse 15's "Alas for the day for the day...", so "sanctifie" and "fast" 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 "sanctifie" and "fast" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.