Amplified Bible
Joel 2:12
12“Even now,” says the Lord, “Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance], With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
Joel 2:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
- New International Version (NIV)“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
Context of Joel 2:12
10The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. 11The Lord utters His voice before His army, For His camp is very great, Because strong and powerful is he who [obediently] carries out His word. For the day of the Lord is indeed great and very terrible [causing dread]; Who can endure it? “Even now,” says the Lord, “Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance], With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored]; 13Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.” Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people]; And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent]. 14Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence], And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you] For the Lord your God?
Read all of Joel 2Joel 2:12 word by word
וְגַם־עַתָּה֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה שֻׁ֥בוּ עָדַ֖י בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וּבְצ֥וֹם וּבְבְכִ֖י וּבְמִסְפֵּֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore also now, saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- to me with all your heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
- and with fastingצוֹםtsôm tsôm · fastH6685
- and with weepingבְּכִיbekîy · weepingH1065
- and with mourningמִסְפֵּדmispêd · mourningH4553
Cross-references for Joel 2:12
- Deuteronomy 4:29But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
- 1 Samuel 7:3Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth (pagan goddesses) from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only; and He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.”
- 1 Kings 8:47if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and they repent and pray to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong and we have acted wickedly;’
- 2 Chronicles 6:38if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, and pray facing their land which You have given to their fathers and toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your Name;
- 2 Chronicles 7:13If I shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or if I command locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence and plague among My people,
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call on Him [for salvation] while He is near.
- Jeremiah 4:1“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “If you will return to Me, And if you will put away your detestable things and remove your man-made gods from My sight, And not stray or waver,
- Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you.
- Lamentations 3:40Let us test and examine our ways, And let us return to the Lord.
- Hosea 6:1“Come and let us return [in repentance] to the Lord, For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
- Hosea 12:6Therefore, return [in repentance] to your God, Observe and highly regard kindness and justice, And wait [expectantly] for your God continually.
- Hosea 14:1O Israel, return [in repentance] to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.
- Zechariah 1:3Therefore say to the Jews, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts (armies), “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I shall return to you.
- Acts 26:20but I openly proclaimed first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent [change their inner self—their old way of thinking] and turn to God, doing deeds and living lives which are consistent with repentance.
- Judges 20:26Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 7:6So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
Commentaries on Joel 2:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Turn ye even to me - Three means of turning are recommended: Fasting, weeping, mourning, i.e., continued sorrow.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Therefore - (And) now also All this being so, one way of escape there is, true repentance. As if God said, “All this I have therefore spoken, in order to terrify you by My threats. Wherefore “turn unto Me with all your hearts,” and show the penitence of your minds “by fasting and weeping and mourning,” that, fasting now, ye may “be filled” hereafter “weeping now,” ye may laugh hereafter; mourning now, ye may hereafter “be comforted” Luke 6:21; Matthew…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12This verse starts with declares the LORD a phrase often used for divine messages in the prophets. It is the only time it appears in Joel. This shows that the invitation came directly from God. return to Me with all your heart: The Lord urged his people to repent because judgment day was near. They still had a chance to avoid destruction by truly returning to the Lord their God. Unlike other prophets, Joel does not list the sins of Judah and Jerusalem…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. With such judgments impending over the Jews, Jehovah Himself urges them to repentance. also now--Even now, what none could have hoped or believed possible, God still invites you to the hope of salvation. fasting ... weeping ... mourning--Their sin being most heinous needs extraordinary humiliation. The outward marks of repentance are to signify the depth of their sorrow for sin.Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 2:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Joel 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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