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Thursday, July 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Joel 1:11

Dirt farmers, despair! Grape growers, wring your hands! Lament the loss of wheat and barley. All crops have failed. Vineyards dried up, fig trees withered, Pomegranates, date palms, and apple trees— deadwood everywhere! And joy is dried up and withered in the hearts of the people.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Agriculture;   Nation;   Scofield Reference Index - Day (of Jehovah);   Thompson Chain Reference - Agriculture;   Agriculture-Horticulture;   Barley;   Grain;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Agriculture or Husbandry;   Famine;   Harvest, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Drought;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Feasts and Festivals of Israel;   Nahum, Theology of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Barley;   Husbandman;   Joel;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Famine;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Barley;   Husbandman;   Joel (2);   Palestine;   Pomegranate;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Barley;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Alliteration and Kindred Figures;   Famine;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Be ashamed, you farmers,wail, you vinedressers,over the wheat and the barley,because the harvest of the field has perished.
Hebrew Names Version
Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; For the wheat and for the barley; For the harvest of the field has perished.
King James Version
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
English Standard Version
Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
New American Standard Bible
Be ashamed, you farm workers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
New Century Version
Be sad, farmers. Cry loudly, you who grow grapes. Cry for the wheat and the barley. Cry because the harvest of the field is lost.
Amplified Bible
Be ashamed, O farmers; Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and for the barley, Because the harvest of the field has perished.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Be ye ashamed, O husband men: howle, O ye vine dressers for the wheate, and for the barly, because the haruest of the fielde is perished.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
Legacy Standard Bible
Be ashamed, O farmers,Wail, O vinedressers,For the wheat and the barley,Because the harvest of the field perishes.
Berean Standard Bible
Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
Contemporary English Version
Mourn for our farms and our vineyards! There's no wheat or barley growing in our fields.
Complete Jewish Bible
Despair, you farmers; lament, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley — the harvest from the fields is lost.
Darby Translation
Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.
Easy-to-Read Version
Be sad, farmers! Cry loudly for the grapes, for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest in the field is ruined.
George Lamsa Translation
Be ashamed, O you husbandmen; howl, O you vinedressers, howl for the wheat and for the barley because the harvest of the fields is perished.
Good News Translation
Grieve, you farmers; cry, you that take care of the vineyards, because the wheat, the barley, yes all the crops are destroyed.
Lexham English Bible
Be ashamed, farmers; Wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and over the barley, because the harvest of the field is ruined.
Literal Translation
Be withered, farmers, howl, vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field has perished.
American Standard Version
Be confounded, O ye husbandmen, wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished.
Bible in Basic English
The farmers are shamed, the workers in the vine-gardens give cries of grief, for the wheat and the barley; for the produce of the fields has come to destruction.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen, wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
King James Version (1611)
Be yee ashamed, O yee husbandmen: howle, O yee vine-dressers, for the wheate and for the barley; because the haruest of the field is perished.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Be ye ashamed O ye husbandemen, howle O ye wine dressers for ye wheate and for the barly: for the haruest of the fielde is perished.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
the husbandmen are consumed: mourn your property on account of the wheat and barley; for the harvest has perished from off the field.
English Revised Version
Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen, howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished.
World English Bible
Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; For the wheat and for the barley; For the harvest of the field has perished.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The erthe tilieris ben schent, the vyn tilieris yelliden on wheete and barli; for the ripe corn of the feeld is perischid.
Update Bible Version
Be confounded, O you husbandmen, wail, O you vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished.
Webster's Bible Translation
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field hath perished.
New English Translation
Be distressed, farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished.
New King James Version
Be ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished.
New Living Translation
Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat and barley— all the crops of the field—are ruined.
New Life Bible
Be troubled, you farmers! Cry in a loud voice, you who take care of the vines! Cry for the wheat and the barley, because what was gathered from the field is destroyed.
New Revised Standard
Be dismayed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley; for the crops of the field are ruined.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Turn pale, ye husbandmen, howl, ye vinedressers, over the wheat, and over the barley, - for perished is the harvest of the field.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.
Revised Standard Version
Be confounded, O tillers of the soil, wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley; because the harvest of the field has perished.
Young's Literal Translation
Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, Howl, vine-dressers, for wheat and for barley, For perished hath the harvest of the field.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The hu?bodemen & the wyne gardeners shal loke piteously & make lamentacion, for the wheate wyne & barley, & because the haruest vpon the felde is so clene destroyed.

Contextual Overview

8Weep like a young virgin dressed in black, mourning the loss of her fiancé. Without grain and grapes, worship has been brought to a standstill in the Sanctuary of God . The priests are at a loss. God 's ministers don't know what to do. The fields are sterile. The very ground grieves. The wheat fields are lifeless, vineyards dried up, olive oil gone. 11Dirt farmers, despair! Grape growers, wring your hands! Lament the loss of wheat and barley. All crops have failed. Vineyards dried up, fig trees withered, Pomegranates, date palms, and apple trees— deadwood everywhere! And joy is dried up and withered in the hearts of the people. 13And also you priests, put on your robes and join the outcry. You who lead people in worship, lead them in lament. Spend the night dressed in gunnysacks, you servants of my God. Nothing's going on in the place of worship, no offerings, no prayers—nothing. Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting, get the leaders together, Round up everyone in the country. Get them into God 's Sanctuary for serious prayer to God .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ashamed: Jeremiah 14:3, Jeremiah 14:4, Romans 5:5

because: Isaiah 17:11, Jeremiah 9:12

Reciprocal: Ruth 1:1 - a famine 2 Chronicles 6:28 - locusts Isaiah 13:6 - Howl ye Jeremiah 50:16 - the sower Ezekiel 30:2 - Howl Joel 1:5 - weep Amos 5:16 - Wailing Amos 8:3 - the songs James 5:1 - weep

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:14
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.
Genesis 1:16
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.
Genesis 1:20
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.
Genesis 1:29
Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was.
Genesis 2:5
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
Genesis 2:16
God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."
Matthew 6:30
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
James 3:12
When You Open Your Mouth Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen,.... Tillers of the land, who have took a great deal of pains in cultivating the earth, dunging, ploughing, and sowing it; confusion may cover you, because of your disappointment, the increase not answering to your expectations and labours:

howl, O ye vinedressers; that worked in the vineyards, set the vines, watered and pruned them, and, when they had done all they could to them, were dried up with the drought, or devoured by the locusts, as they were destroyed by the Assyrians or Chaldeans; and therefore had reason to howl and lament, all their labour being lost:

for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field is perished; this belongs to the husbandmen, is a reason for their shame and blushing, because the wheat and barley were destroyed before they were ripe; and so they had neither wheat nor barley harvest. The words, by a transposition, would read better, and the sense be clearer, "thus, be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest", c. "howl, O ye vine dressers" for what follows:

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Be ye ashamed, O ye farmers - The prophet dwells on and expands the description of the troubles which he had foretold, setting before their eyes the picture of one universal dessolation. For the details of sorrow most touch the heart, and he wished to move them to repentance. He pictures them to themselves; some standing aghast and ashamed of the fruitlessness of their toil others giving way to bursts of sorrow, and all things around waste and dried. Nothing was exempt. Wheat and barley, widespread as they were (and the barley in those countries, “more fertile” than the wheat,) perished utterly. The rich juice of the vine, the luscious sweetness of the fig the succulence of the ever-green pomegranate, the majesty of the palm tree, the fragrance of the eastern apple, exempted them not. All, fruitbearing or barren, were dried up, for joy itself, and every source of joy was dried up from the sons of men.

All these suggest a spiritual meaning. For we know of a spiritual harvest, souls born to God, and a spiritual vineyard, the Church of God; and spiritual farmers and vinedressers, those whom God sends. The trees, with their various fruits were emblems of the faithful, adorned with the various gifts and graces of the Spirit. All well-nigh were dried up. Wasted without, in act and deed, the sap of the Spirit ceased within; the true laborers, those who were jealous for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts were ashamed and grieved. : “Husbandmen” and “vinedressers,” are priests and preachers; “farmers” as instructors in morals, “vinedressers” for that joy in things eternal, which they infuse into the minds of the bearers. “Husbandmen,” as instructing the soul to deeds of righteousness; vinedressers, as exciting the minds of hearers to the love of wisdom. Or, “farmers,” in that by their doctrine they uproot earthly deeds and desires; “vinedressers,” as holding forth spiritual gifts.” “The vine is the richness of divine knowledge; the fig the sweetness of contemplation and the joyousness in things eternal.” The pomegranate, with its manifold grains contained under its one bark, may designate the variety and harmony of graces, disposed in their beautiful order. “The palm, rising above the world.” : “Well is the life of the righteous likened to a palm, in that the palm below is rough to the touch, and in a manner enveloped in dry bark, but above it is adorned with fruit, fair even to the eye; below it is compressed by the enfoldings of its bark; above, it is spread nut in amplitude of beautiful greenness. For so is the life of the elect, despised below, beautiful above. Down below, it is, as it were, enfolded in many barks, in that it is straitened by innumerable afflictions. But on high it is expanded into a foliage, as it were, of beautiful greenness by the amplitude of the rewarding.”


 
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