Joel 1:14
What does Joel 1:14 mean?
A plain-English look at Joel 1:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Joel 1:14 means
Joel orders a sanctified fast and a solemn assembly, gathering elders and all inhabitants to Jehovah’s house to cry to Him. Fasting sets apart time to humble the body and sharpen prayer; a solemn assembly underscores that this is a covenant response, not private grief. The whole community—leaders and laity—must meet God where He promised to be present. This is not a ritual to twist God’s arm, but an acknowledgment that only His mercy can end the drought of bread and worship. The path forward is not activism first but repentance and united supplication before the Lord.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Sanctify 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Sanctify 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting, let the old men, even all the people of the land, come together to the house of the Lord your God, crying out to the Lord.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders--all the inhabitants of the land, <FI>Into<Fi> the house of Jehovah your God,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly, gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord:
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, [and] all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Jehovah yourGod, and cry unto Jehovah.
Context
Building on priestly lament, Joel now institutionalizes the response: a public fast at the temple. This sets the stage for theological interpretation in the next verse, where the calamity is linked to “the day of Jehovah.” The flow is crucial: assembly and crying out are not ends in themselves; they arise because the present suffering previews a greater, future reckoning. The chapter will soon move from calling a fast to lamenting the nearness of that day and tracing again the visible desolations that demand urgent prayer.
v.13Gird 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.
v.14This passage
v.15Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 29:10
Ye stand this day all of you before Jehovah your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,
- Joel 2:15
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly;
- Nehemiah 8:18
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the ordinance.
- Jonah 3:8
but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
- Nehemiah 9:2
And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 20:3
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
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