Some consider Joel 1:15–20 as conveying the prayer of the priests. In our opinion this is incorrect, since the announcement that the day of the LORD is near does not fit well in a prayer, but does fit in the mouth of Joel, as an exhortation to arouse to penance. We therefore see Joel as the speaker in these verses.1
15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.