Joel 1:2 (KJV)

Passage

Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

Nearby Context

Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

Joel 1:2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

Joel 1:3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

Joel 1:4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hear", "give", "inhabitants", "land", "hath", "been", "days", and "even". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hear" and "give", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "The word of the LORD that came..." into verse 3's "Tell ye your children of it and...", so "hear" and "give" 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 "hear" and "give" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.