Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
- KJV Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
- NKJV Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth.
- NASB Awake, you heavy drinkers, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, Because of the sweet wine, For it has been eliminated from your mouth.
- NLT Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine-drinkers! All the grapes are ruined, and all your sweet wine is gone.
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
Joel rouses the drunkards to weep because the wine supply has been cut off. Even those absorbed in pleasure must feel the weight of God's judgment.
Overview
The prophet first addresses those least likely to notice spiritual realities, the drinkers, because the locusts have destroyed the vineyards and the new wine is gone. Their loss of indulgence becomes an unexpected summons to grief. The verse exposes how judgment strips away false comforts, a sobering reminder that earthly pleasures cannot stand when God acts and that true gladness is found only in Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jas 5:1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Luke 21:34–36But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Isa 32:10–12In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
- Jer 4:8So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
- Isa 24:7–11The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.
- Joel 1:11Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
- Ezek 30:2“Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Wail, ‘Alas for that day!’
- Luke 16:19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Joel 1:13Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
- Joel 3:3They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.
- Amos 6:3–7You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
- Rom 13:11–14And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
- Luke 16:23–25In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 1:5 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.