Joel 2:12-17
New Living Translation
A Call to Repentance
12 That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
14 Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
to the Lord your God as before.
15 Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together
for a solemn meeting.
16 Gather all the people—
the elders, the children, and even the babies.
Call the bridegroom from his quarters
and the bride from her private room.
17 Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”
Joel 2:12-17
English Standard Version
Return to the Lord
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
(A)“return to me with all your heart,
(B)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and (C)rend your hearts and not (D)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
(E)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
(F)and he relents over disaster.
14 (G)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and (H)leave a blessing behind him,
(I)a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 (J)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
(K)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
(L)Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
(M)gather the children,
even nursing infants.
(N)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17 (O)Between the (P)vestibule and the (Q)altar
(R)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.[a]
(S)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Footnotes
- Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
