Joel 1:14 (KJV)

Passage

Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.

Nearby Context

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.

Joel 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.

Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Joel 1:16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Gird yourselves and lament ye priests howl..." into verse 15's "Alas for the day for the day...", so "sanctify" 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 "sanctify" and "fast" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.