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 Living Translation (NLT)That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Context of Joel 2:12

10The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness. 11The Lord gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 13So 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. 14Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him— A grain offering and a drink offering 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

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 seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
• 1 Samuel 7:3Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
• 1 Kings 8:47yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’;
• 2 Chronicles 6:38and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:
• 2 Chronicles 7:13When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
• Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
• Jeremiah 4:1“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.
• Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
• Lamentations 3:40Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord;
• Hosea 6:1Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
• Hosea 12:6So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually.
• Hosea 14:1O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
• Zechariah 1:3Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.
• Acts 26:20but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
• Judges 20:26Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
• 1 Samuel 7:6So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel 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