Joel 2:12

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

10Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. 11The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it? “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” 13So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster. 14Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him— grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.

Joel 2:12 word by word

וְגַם־עַתָּה֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה שֻׁ֥בוּ עָדַ֖י בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וּבְצ֥וֹם וּבְבְכִ֖י וּבְמִסְפֵּֽד׃Read the interlinear

• Yet evenגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• nowעַתָּ֫ה‛attâh · nowH6258
• declaresנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
• the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• to Meעַד‛ad · tillH5704
• with allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• your heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• with fastingצוֹםtsôm tsôm · fastH6685
• weepingבְּכִיbekîy · weepingH1065
• and mourningמִסְפֵּדmispêd · mourningH4553

Cross-references for Joel 2:12

• Deuteronomy 4:29But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with 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 hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
• 1 Kings 8:47and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
• 2 Chronicles 6:38and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,
• 2 Chronicles 7:13If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,
• Isaiah 55:6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
• Jeremiah 4:1“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,
• Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
• Lamentations 3:40Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
• Hosea 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
• Hosea 12:6But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and always wait on your God.
• Hosea 14:1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
• Zechariah 1:3So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
• Acts 26:20First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
• Judges 20:26Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
• 1 Samuel 7:6When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “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

• Fasting
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Nation
• Repentance
• Seekers
• Weeping

In the dictionaries

• Darkness
• Fat
• Pour
• Rend
• Reproach
• Thrust
• Conversion
• Eschatology of the Old Testament
• Joel (2)
• Fasts

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