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

10The earth quakes before them; the sky shakes. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars cease their shining. 11The Lord makes his voice heard in the presence of his army. His camp is very large; those who carry out his command are powerful. Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful — who can endure it? Even now — this is the Lord’s declaration — turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster. 14Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God.

Joel 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 search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.
• 1 Samuel 7:3Samuel told them, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, set your hearts on the Lord, and worship only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”
• 1 Kings 8:47and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land: “We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,”
• 2 Chronicles 6:38and when they return to you with all their mind and all their heart in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive, and when they pray in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, and the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name,
• 2 Chronicles 7:13If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people,
• Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near.
• Jeremiah 4:1If you return, Israel — this is the Lord’s declaration — you will return to me, if you remove your abhorrent idols from my presence and do not waver,
• Jeremiah 29:12You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
• Lamentations 3:40Let’s examine and probe our ways, and turn back to the Lord.
• Hosea 6:1Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds.
• Hosea 12:6But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God.
• Hosea 14:1Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
• Zechariah 1:3So tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: Return to me — this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies — and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.
• Acts 26:20Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
• Judges 20:26The whole Israelite army went to Bethel where they wept and sat before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.
• 1 Samuel 7:6When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that day, 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