Joel 1:16 (YLT)

Passage

Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing?

Nearby Context

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.

Joel 1:16 Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing?

Joel 1:17 Rotted have scattered things under their clods, Desolated have been storehouses, Broken down have been granaries, For withered hath the corn.

Joel 1:18 How have cattle sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And cry unto Jehovah Alas for the..." into verse 17's "Rotted have scattered things under their clods...", so "before" and "eyes" 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 "before" and "eyes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.