Amplified Bible
Joel 2:13
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].
Joel 2:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
- New International Version (NIV)Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
Context of Joel 2:13
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? 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]; Rip 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? 15Blow a trumpet in Zion [warning of impending judgment], Dedicate a fast [as a day of restraint and humility], call a solemn assembly.
Read all of Joel 2Joel 2:13 word by word
וְקִרְע֤וּ לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַל־בִּגְדֵיכֶ֔ם וְשׁ֖וּבוּ אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־חַנּ֤וּן וְרַחוּם֙ ה֔וּא אֶ֤רֶךְ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ וְרַב־חֶ֔סֶד וְנִחָ֖ם עַל־הָרָעָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And rendקָרַעqâra‛ · to tearH7167
- your heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
- and not your garmentsבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
- and turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- graciousחַנּוּןchannûn · graciousH2587
- and mercifulרַחוּםrachûm · compassionateH7349
- slowאָרֵךְ'ârêk · slowH750
- to angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
- and of greatרַבrab · manyH7227
- kindnessחֶ֫סֶדchêsêd · kindnessH2617
- and repentethנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: relentH5162
- him of the evilרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: harmH7451
Cross-references for Joel 2:13
- 2 Kings 22:19because your heart was tender (receptive, penitent) and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,” declares the Lord.
- Psalms 34:18The Lord is near to the heartbroken And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).
- Psalms 51:17My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
- Isaiah 57:15For the high and exalted One He who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy says this, “I dwell on the high and holy place, But also with the contrite and humble in spirit In order to revive the spirit of the humble And to revive the heart of the contrite [overcome with sorrow for sin].
- Isaiah 66:2For all these things My hand has made, So all these things came into being [by and for Me],” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look [graciously], To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands.
- Ezekiel 9:4The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, throughout all of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh [in distress] and grieve over all the repulsive acts which are being committed in it.”
- Matthew 5:3“Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
- Genesis 37:29Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow].
- 2 Samuel 1:11Then David grasped his own clothes and tore them [in mourning]; so did all the men who were with him.
- 1 Kings 21:27Now when Ahab heard these words [of Elijah], he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly (mourning).
- 2 Kings 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes [in shock and outrage at the request] and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me [a request] to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider [what he is asking] and see how he is seeking an opportunity [for a battle] with me.”
- 2 Kings 6:30When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes—now he was still walking along on the wall—and the people looked [at him], and he had on sackcloth underneath [his royal robe] next to his skin.
- 2 Kings 22:11Now when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
- Job 1:20Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God].
- Isaiah 58:5Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]? Is it only to bow down his head like a reed And to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]? Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?
- Matthew 6:16“And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.
Commentaries on Joel 2:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Rend your heart - Let it not be merely a rending of your garments, but let your hearts be truly contrite. Merely external worship and hypocritical pretensions will only increase the evil, and cause God to meet you with heavier judgments. For he is gracious - Good and benevolent in his own nature. Merciful - Pitying and forgiving, as the effect of goodness and benevolence. Slow to anger - He is not easily provoked to punish, because he is gracious and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13And rend your hearts and not your garments - that is, “not your garments only” (see the note at Hosea 6:6). The rending of the clothes was an expression of extraordinary uncontrollable emotion, chiefly of grief, of terror, or of horror. At least, in Holy Scripture it is not mentioned as a part of ordinary mourning, but only upon some sudden overpowering grief, whether public or private. It was not used on occasion of death, unless there were something…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13In the ancient world, people showed grief by tearing their clothes (Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; 2 Kings 19:1). rend your hearts: In Hebrew culture, the heart represents thought, faith, and will. God wanted people to repent inwardly, not just outwardly. This meant changing their mindset, priorities, and attitudes. They could only do this by returning to the Lord. For He is gracious and compassionate … abounding in loving devotion: The people's only hope…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Let there be the inward sorrow of heart, and not the mere outward manifestation of it by "rending the garment" (Jos 7:6). the evil--the calamity which He had threatened against the impenitent.Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 2:13
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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