Joel 1:4 (YLT)

Passage

What is left of the palmer-worm, eaten hath the locust, And what is left of the locust, Eaten hath the cankerworm, And what is left of the cankerworm, Eaten hath the caterpillar.

Nearby Context

Joel 1:2 Hear this, ye aged ones, And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, Hath this been in your days? Or in the days of your fathers?

Joel 1:3 Concerning it to your sons talk ye, And your sons to their sons, And their sons to another generation.

Joel 1:4 What is left of the palmer-worm, eaten hath the locust, And what is left of the locust, Eaten hath the cankerworm, And what is left of the cankerworm, Eaten hath the caterpillar.

Joel 1:5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, And howl all drinking wine, because of the juice, For it hath been cut off from your mouth.

Joel 1:6 For a nation hath come up on my land, Strong, and there is no number, Its teeth <FI>are<Fi> the teeth of a lion, And it hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "left", "palmer-worm", "eaten", "hath", and "locust". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "left" and "palmer-worm", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Concerning it to your sons talk ye..." into verse 5's "Awake ye drunkards and weep And howl...", so "left" and "palmer-worm" 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 "left" and "palmer-worm" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.