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 in their presence, and the sky shakes. The sun and the moon turn dark, and the stars no longer shine. 11The Lord shouts out orders to his army. His forces are very large. The troops that carry out his commands are mighty. The day of the Lord is extremely terrifying. Who can endure it? “But even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart— with fasting, crying, and mourning.” 13Tear your hearts, not your clothes. Return to the Lord your God. He is merciful and compassionate, patient, and always ready to forgive and to change his plans about disaster. 14Who knows? He may reconsider and change his plan and leave a blessing for you. Then you could give grain offerings and wine offerings 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 if you look for the Lord your God when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
• 1 Samuel 7:3Samuel told the entire nation of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord wholeheartedly, get rid of the foreign gods you have, including the statues of the goddess Astarte. Make a commitment to the Lord, and serve only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”
• 1 Kings 8:47If they come to their senses, are sorry for what they’ve done, and plead with you in the land where they are captives, saying, ‘We have sinned. We have done wrong. We have been wicked,’
• 2 Chronicles 6:38if they change their attitude toward you in the land where they are captives, if they pray to you toward the land that you gave their ancestors, and the city you have chosen, and the temple I have built for your name,
• 2 Chronicles 7:13I may shut the sky so that there is no rain, or command grasshoppers to devour the countryside, or send an epidemic among my people.
• Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
• Jeremiah 4:1The Lord declares, “If you come back, Israel, if you come back to me, if you take your disgusting idols out of my sight and you don’t wander away from me,
• Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
• Lamentations 3:40Let us look closely at our ways and examine them and then return to the Lord.
• Hosea 6:1Let’s return to the Lord. Even though he has torn us to pieces, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bandage our wounds.
• Hosea 12:6Return to your God. Be loyal and fair, and always wait with hope for your God.
• Hosea 14:1Israel, return to the Lord your God. You have stumbled because of your sins.
• Zechariah 1:3Tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: Return to me, declares the Lord of Armies, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.’
• Acts 26:20Instead, I spread the message that I first told to the ⌞Jewish⌟ people in Damascus and Jerusalem and throughout the whole country of Judea. I spread the same message to non-Jewish people. Both groups were expected to change the way they thought and acted and to turn to God. I told them to do things that prove they had changed their lives.
• Judges 20:26Then all the men of Israel and all the troops went to Bethel. They sat there and cried in the presence of the Lord and fasted that day until evening. Then they sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.
• 1 Samuel 7:6So the Israelites gathered together at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of the Lord, and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel judged Israel in 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