Joel 1:13
What does Joel 1:13 mean?
A plain-English look at Joel 1:13 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Joel 1:13 means
Priests are summoned to urgent, sustained lament: gird with sackcloth, weep, and lie all night before God. The withholding of grain and drink offerings has shut the normal channels of worship; extraordinary prayer must answer extraordinary lack. As ministers of the altar, they lead by example in repentance and intercession. Night-long vigil shows both desperation and dependence—only God can supply what the land and temple lack. The verse teaches that spiritual leaders are called to bear the people’s grief, not to minimize it, and to turn mourning into prayer, pleading for mercy from the God who once filled His house with offerings.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Gird yourselveswith sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Gird 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Gird yourselveswith sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Put haircloth round you and give yourselves to sorrow, you priests; give cries of grief, you servants of the altar: come in, and, clothed in haircloth, let the night go past, you servants of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering have been kept back from the house of your God.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Gird, 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.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Gird yourselves, and lament, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of myGod: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of yourGod.
Context
Having named the collapse of worship in verse 9 and the universal withering in verse 12, Joel now charges the priests to respond proportionately. Their deep lament becomes the prelude to corporate action. In the next verse, Joel will broaden the summons into a nation-wide fast and solemn assembly at Jehovah’s house. The flow moves from priestly example to communal participation, signaling that restoration must be sought together, under God’s appointed leadership, with hearts low before Him and voices united in crying out.
v.12The vine is withered, 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: for joy is withered away from the sons of men.
v.13This passage
v.14Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Joel 1:8
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
- 2 Corinthians 3:6
who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
- Jonah 3:5
And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
- Ezekiel 7:18
They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
- 2 Corinthians 6:4
but in everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
- Joel 2:17
Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?
Related questions readers ask
Keep reading
Want to dig deeper? Explore Joel 1
Hand-picked devotionals, topical studies, and pastoral answers that draw on Joel 1.
Topics that quote it
Topic
Bible Verses About Fasting
Fasting in the Bible is a spiritual discipline involving abstinence from food for a period, often coupled with prayer and repentance.
Topic
Bible Verses About Being Filled with the Spirit
The Bible encourages believers to be filled with the Spirit, a divine empowerment for Christian life and witness
Topic
Bible Verses About The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God’s presence, power, and wisdom, guiding believers into truth, empowering them for service, and transforming their lives