Joel 1:16 (GNV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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?

Joel 1:17 The seede is rotten vnder their cloddes: the garners are destroyed: the barnes are broken downe, for the corne is withered.

Joel 1:18 How did the beasts mourne! the herdes of cattel pine away, because they haue no pasture, and the flockes of sheepe are destroyed.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "meate", "before", "eyes", "gladnesse", and "house". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "meate" and "before", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Alas for the day for the day..." into verse 17's "The seede is rotten vnder their cloddes...", so "meate" and "before" 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 "meate" and "before" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.