The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
Parallel translations
- WEB The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
- BSB The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.
- NKJV The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.
- NASB The seeds have dried up under their shovels; The storehouses have become desolate, The grain silos are ruined, Because the grain has dried up.
- NLT The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The seed rots in the ground and the empty granaries and barns fall into ruin. Even the hope of future harvest has failed.
Overview
Beyond the destroyed crops, Joel notes that the very seed for next season has perished in the dried soil, leaving storehouses desolate and crumbling. The judgment touches not only the present but the future, removing hope of recovery by ordinary means. The scene underscores total dependence on God, who alone can reverse such ruin and restore fruitfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Isa 17:10–11Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
- Gen 23:16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 1:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.