Joel 1:13-14

1:13 Get dressed ¹  and lament, you priests!

Wail, you who minister at the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,

because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple of your God anymore. ² 

1:14 Announce a holy fast; ³ 

proclaim a sacred assembly.

Gather the elders and ⁴  all the inhabitants of the land

to the temple of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

Joel 1:16

1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! ⁵ 

There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! ⁶ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. 13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words.

[1:13]  ² tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “consecrate a fast” (so NASB).

[1:14]  ⁴ tc The conjunction “and” does not appear in MT or LXX, but does appear in some Qumran texts (4QXII^c and 4QXII^g).

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “Has not the food been cut off right before our eyes?” This rhetorical question expects an affirmative answer; the question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarity and emphasis.

[1:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “joy and gladness from the house of our God?” Verse 16b is a continuation of the rhetorical question begun in v. 16a, but has been translated as an affirmative statement to make the meaning clear. The words “There is no longer any” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.