Joel 1:13 (YLT)

Passage

Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation.

Nearby Context

Joel 1:11 Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, Howl, vine-dressers, for wheat and for barley, For perished hath the harvest of the field.

Joel 1:12 The vine hath been dried up, And the fig-tree doth languish, Pomegranate, also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For dried up hath been joy from the sons of men.

Joel 1:13 Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation.

Joel 1:14 Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders--all the inhabitants of the land, <FI>Into<Fi> the house of Jehovah your God,

Joel 1:15 And cry unto Jehovah, `Alas for the day! For near <FI>is<Fi> a day of Jehovah, And as destruction from the mighty it cometh.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "gird", "lament", "priests", "howl", "ministrants", "altar", "come", and "lodge". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "gird" and "lament", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "The vine hath been dried up And..." into verse 14's "Sanctify a fast proclaim a restraint Gather...", so "gird" and "lament" 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 "gird" and "lament" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.