Joel 1:13

Repentance Prayer

¹¹ Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

¹² The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁴ Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

¹⁵ Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
KJV: Gird 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.
WEB: Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
ASV: Gird yourselves [with 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.
DARBY: Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.
BLB: Gird yourselves and lament, O priests; wail, [you] ministering before the altar. Come, lodge in sackcloth, [you] ministering before my God, for it is withheld from the house of your⁺ God—the grain offering and the drink offering.

ÅB: Kle dere i sørgedrakt og klag, dere prester! Jamre dere, dere som gjør tjeneste ved alteret! Gå inn og sitt hele natten i sørgedrakt, dere min Guds tjenere! For deres Guds hus må savne matoffer og drikkoffer.
OTB: Kle dere i sekkestrie og klag, dere prester;
jamre, dere som tjener ved alteret.
Kom, tilbring natten i sekkestrie,
dere som tjener min Gud,
for grødeofferet og drikkofferet
er holdt tilbake fra deres Guds hus.
B1930: Klæ eder i sørgedrakt og klag, I prester! Jamre eder, I som gjør tjeneste ved alteret! Gå inn og sitt hele natten i sørgedrakt, I min Guds tjenere! For eders Guds hus må savne matoffer og drikkoffer.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 4:8
So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
Read in context
Joel 1:8–9
Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.
Read in context
Jeremiah 9:10
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
Read in context
Joel 2:17
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
Read in context
1 Kings 21:27
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
Read in context
Ezekiel 7:18
They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
Read in context
Jonah 3:5–8
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
Read in context
Isaiah 61:6
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.
Read in context