Joel 1:11 (KJV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Joel 1:9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.

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

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

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

Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is 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 wasted the land mourneth..." 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.