Joel 1:13-20·~1 min

A Call to Repentance

Joel now directs the response of priests and people. Ministers of the altar are told to put on sackcloth, spend the night in lament, and consecrate a fast because offerings have vanished from the house of God. The elders and all inhabitants of the land must be gathered for a solemn assembly and cry out to the LORD, for the day is near and comes like destruction from the Almighty. The remainder of the chapter deepens the prayer through scenes of deprivation: food is cut off, joy and gladness disappear, seeds shrivel, storehouses collapse, cattle wander perplexed, and even sheep suffer. Joel himself cries to the LORD because fire has devoured the pastures and drought has dried the streams, until even the beasts pant upward in dependence. The chapter ends with creation itself drawn into the lament.

P¹³ut on sackcloth and lament, O priests; ¹⁴Consecrate a fast; ¹⁵Alas for the day! ¹⁶Has not the food been cut off ¹⁷The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; ¹⁸How the cattle groan! ¹⁹To You, O LORD, I call, ²⁰Even the beasts of the field pant for You,

Section summaryThe closing movement gathers the priests and the whole community into liturgical response. Sackcloth, lament, fasting, solemn assembly, and corporate crying out are prescribed because the day of the LORD is near. The chapter then ends not with restored order but with desperate prayer: food has been cut off, storehouses lie desolate, herds groan, and even the beasts of the field pant for God because fire and drought have consumed the land. The natural world itself becomes a witness to the urgency of turning back to the LORD.

Role in the chapterThis section converts the chapter's sorrow into communal repentance and prayer, preparing the way for Joel's fuller call to return in chapter 2.