Joel 1:13 (KJV)

Words Then and Now

Gird to bind on, as with a belt Still heard today: gird yourself for battle, get ready Webster’s 1828 · Gird
ministers a servant; an attendant Still heard today: minister to the sick, serve and care for them Webster’s 1828 · Minister
meat food of any kind Still heard today: sweetmeats, candies and sweets Webster’s 1828 · Meat

What these words mean in the King James Bible, and where you’ll still hear them today.

Thou and Ye

yourselves, ye, your more than one

In the King James Bible, thee, thou, thy, and thine always mean one person, and ye, you, and your more than one: a difference modern English lost. Why keep these words?

Matthew Henry

All sorts of people are called to lament itAll who labour only for the meat that perishes, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their labour. Those that place their happiness in the delights of sense,...

Thompson Chains

Lamentations (2)See the chain from Jeremiah 4:8 · 5 links
Repentance (1)See the chain from 2 Kings 17:13 · 18 links
SackclothSee the chain from Genesis 37:34 · 11 links
MinistersSee the chain from 2 Corinthians 3:6 · 6 links
Sin-offeringsSee the chain from Leviticus 2:1 · 13 links
Drink-offeringsSee the chain from Genesis 35:14 · 7 links
House of GodSee the chain from Psalms 134:1 · 6 links

Parallel Passages

Joel 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

From Thompson’s Chain-Reference Bible (1908).

Cross References

Jeremiah 4:8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
Joel 1:8–9 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. …
1 Kings 21:27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
Jeremiah 9:10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
Ezekiel 7:18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
Joel 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
Jonah 3:5–8 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. …
Leviticus 2:8–10 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. …
Numbers 29:6 Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.
2 Samuel 12:16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1 Corinthians 9:13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
2 Corinthians 6:4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
2 Corinthians 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Hebrews 7:13–14 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. …

From OpenBible.info, most relevant first.

Topics

Afflictions and adversities National lessons from
Joel Declares the terribleness of God’s judgments
Minister, Christian Duties of
Nation Chastised

Bible Dictionary

God(A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew ’El, from a word meaning...

Hebrew and Strong’s

Gird חִגְרוּ ḥigrû חָגַר Verb · qal imperative, second person masculine plural
yourselves, and lament וְסִפְדוּ wĕsipdû סָפַד Verb · qal imperative, second person masculine plural · with and
ye priests הַכֹּהֲנִים hakkōhănîm כֹּהֵן Noun · masculine plural · with the
howl הֵילִילוּ hêlîlû יָלַל Verb · hiphil imperative, second person masculine plural
ye ministers מְשָׁרְתֵי mĕšārĕtê שָׁרַת Verb · piel active participle, masculine plural construct
of the altar מִזְבֵּחַ mizbēaḥ מִזְבֵּחַ Noun · masculine singular
come בֹּאוּ bōʾww בּוֹא Verb · qal imperative, second person masculine plural
lie all night לִינוּ lînû לוּן Verb · qal imperative, second person masculine plural
in sackcloth בַשַּׂקִּים baśśaqqîm שַׂק Noun · masculine plural · with preposition with the
ye ministers מְשָׁרְתֵי mĕšārĕtê שָׁרַת Verb · piel active participle, masculine plural construct
of my God אֱלֹהָי ʾĕlōhāy אֱלֹהִים Noun · masculine plural construct · with suffix: first person common singular
for the meat offering מִנְחָה minḥâ מִנְחָה Noun · feminine singular
and the drink offering וָנָסֶךְ wānāsek נֶסֶךְ Noun · masculine singular · with and
is withholden כִּי kî Conjunction נִמְנַע nimnaʿ מָנַע Verb · niphal perfect, third person masculine singular
from the house מִבֵּית mibbêt בַּיִת Noun · masculine singular construct · with preposition
of your God אֱלֹהֵיכֶם ʾĕlōhêkem אֱלֹהִים Noun · masculine plural construct · with suffix: second person masculine plural

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex, Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible · CC BY 4.0