Joel 2:12-17

God's Call for Repentance

12 Even now- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- turn to Me with all your heart,[a] with fasting, weeping, and mourning.[b]
13 Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster.[c]
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent[d] and leave a blessing behind Him, [so you can] offer grain and wine to the Lord your God.
15 Blow the horn in Zion! Announce a sacred fast; proclaim an assembly.
16 Gather the people; sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged;[e][f] gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom, and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
17 Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, weep between the portico[g] and the altar.[h] Let them say: "Have pity on Your people, Lord, and do not make Your inheritance a disgrace, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "[i]

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Footnotes 9

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