Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry to Yahweh.
- BSB Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
- NKJV Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord.
- NASB Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord.
- NLT Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to him there.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joel calls for a sanctified fast and a solemn assembly where all the people cry out to Yahweh. Corporate repentance is the proper response to judgment.
Overview
The prophet directs the leaders to gather the whole community for a consecrated fast and assembly to plead with God. This formal, corporate seeking of the Lord acknowledges sin and dependence on His mercy. Such gathered repentance, marked by humility and earnest prayer, is the path Joel sets before a people under judgment, and it anticipates the gospel call for all to turn to God and find mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Joel 2:15–16Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
- Deut 29:10–11Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
- 2 Chr 20:13And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
- 2 Chr 20:3–4And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
- Lev 23:36Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
- Jonah 3:8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
- Neh 9:2–3And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
- Neh 8:18Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 1:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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