Joel 2:13

God desires torn hearts, not torn garments, and reveals Himself as gracious, merciful, and slow to anger. True repentance rests on God's compassionate character.

Cross-references · 35

• Ps 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
• Ps 34:18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
• Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
• Exod 34:6–7Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
• Matt 5:3–4“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Mic 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
• Ps 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
• Jas 1:19–20My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
• Jer 18:7–8At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
• Ps 103:8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
• Isa 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
• Jonah 4:2So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
• Ps 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
• 2 Sam 1:11Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.
• Eph 2:4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
• Rom 5:20–21The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
• 2 Kgs 22:19because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
• Ps 106:45And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
• Rom 2:4Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
• Num 14:18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
• Ps 145:7–9They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
• Job 1:20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
• Neh 9:17They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.
• 1 Tim 4:8For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
• Nah 1:3The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
• Matt 6:16–18When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
• 1 Kgs 21:27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
• Gen 37:29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
• Gen 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
• Isa 58:5Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?
• 2 Kgs 6:30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
• 2 Kgs 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
• Ezek 9:4“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”
• 2 Kgs 22:11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes
• Amos 7:2–6And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.