Joel 2:12-20

New King James Version

A Call to Repentance

¹²“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
^(A)“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
¹³So ^(B)rend your heart, and not ^(C)your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^(D)gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
¹⁴^(E)Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave ^(F)a blessing behind Him—
^(G)A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(H)Blow the ^[a]trumpet in Zion,
^(I)Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
¹⁶Gather the people,
^(J)Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
^(K)Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
¹⁷Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
Weep ^(L)between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, ^(M)“Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should ^[b]rule over them.
^(N)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”

The Land Refreshed^(O)

¹⁸Then the Lord will ^(P)be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.
¹⁹The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you ^(Q)grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them;
I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“But ^(R)I will remove far from you ^(S)the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back ^(T)toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done ^[c]monstrous things.”