Joel 1:10
“The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Field, grain, wine, and oil all fail together, and the land itself is pictured as mourning.
What Does Joel 1:10 Mean?
Joel lists the threefold staples of the land, grain, new wine, and oil, the very gifts God had promised a faithful people. All three have failed at once. The field is wasted, and in a striking turn the land itself is said to mourn, as if creation joins the grief of its people. The oil languishes, the wine dries up, the corn is gone.
When Scripture says the land mourns, it reminds us that human sin and its consequences ripple outward into the created world. Grain, wine, and oil were meant to be tokens of God's daily kindness; their loss exposes how utterly the people depend on Him for bread itself. The mourning land becomes a kind of preacher, calling its inhabitants to recognize the Giver behind every gift and to seek His face before any harvest can return.