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A Call to Repentance
Joel 1:13–20 calls priests and people to mourn, gather, and cry out to Yahweh. The passage describes a crisis so severe that worship, food, farming, and even the animals are all affected.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In these verses, Joel first addresses priests and ministers of the altar, then calls elders and all the inhabitants of the land to Yahweh’s house. He speaks of withheld offerings, a solemn assembly, the day of Yahweh, ruined grain, distressed animals, and a direct cry to Yahweh.
Joel 1:13–20Main takeaway
This passage presents mourning, fasting, gathering, and crying to Yahweh as the fitting response to a devastating crisis.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Priests are told to mournThe passage opens with commands to the priests and ministers of the altar: put on sackcloth, mourn, wail, and lie all night in sackcloth.
Explanation
The passage opens with commands to the priests and ministers of the altar: put on sackcloth, mourn, wail, and lie all night in sackcloth. The reason is also given. The meal offering and drink offering are withheld from God’s house, so the crisis has reached the place of worship.
02A fast and assembly are calledThe call then expands beyond the priests. Joel says to sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land, and come to the house of Yahweh.
Explanation
The call then expands beyond the priests. Joel says to sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land, and come to the house of Yahweh. The gathered people are told to cry to Yahweh together.
03The day of Yahweh is nearJoel explains the urgency with a lament: ‘Alas for the day!’ He says the day of Yahweh is at hand and describes it as destruction from the Almighty.
Explanation
Joel explains the urgency with a lament: ‘Alas for the day!’ He says the day of Yahweh is at hand and describes it as destruction from the Almighty. This gives the mourning and public crying out a serious setting within the passage itself.
04Loss is visible in worship and foodThe passage points to what can be seen: food is cut off before their eyes, and joy and gladness are gone from the house of God.
05The cry to Yahweh rises from a dry landAnimals groan and pant because pasture and water are gone. In the middle of this, the speaker says, ‘Yahweh, I cry to you.’
Explanation
Animals groan and pant because pasture and water are gone. In the middle of this, the speaker says, ‘Yahweh, I cry to you.’ That prayer matches the earlier command to cry to Yahweh, while fire, drought, and desolation show how far the crisis has spread.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What reason does Joel give for telling the priests to mourn and wail?
Look for the statement about what is withheld from God’s house.
02Who is called to gather, and what are they meant to do when they gather?
List the groups named in the verse, then notice the final command.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Joel 1:13–20
13Put 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.
14Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry to Yahweh.
15Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
18How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19Yahweh, I cry to you, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.