Return to Yahweh
12 “Yet even now,” declares Yahweh,
“aReturn to Me with all your heart
And with bfasting, weeping, and wailing;
13 And atear your heart and not byour garments.”
Now return to Yahweh your God,
For He is cgracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness,
And drelenting concerning evil.
14 Who knows awhether He will not turn and relent
And leave a bblessing behind Him,
Even ca grain offering and a drink offering
For Yahweh your God?
15 aBlow a trumpet in Zion,
bSet apart a fast as holy, call for a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, aset apart the congregation as holy,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the infants and the nursing babies.
Let the bbridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh,
Weep abetween the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “bPity Your people, O Yahweh,
And do not make Your inheritance a creproach,
A byword among the nations.
Why should they among the peoples say,
‘dWhere is their God?’”
Yahweh Will Spare His People
18 Then Yahweh will be azealous for His land
And will bspare His people.
19 Then Yahweh will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to asend you grain, new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will bnever again make you a reproach among the nations.
20 But I will remove the anorthern military force far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the beastern sea,
And its rear guard into the cwestern sea.
And its dstench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up,
For it has done great things.”
21 aDo not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For Yahweh has done bgreat things.
22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the apastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine have yielded their full force.
23 So rejoice, O asons of Zion,
And bbe glad in Yahweh your God,
For He has cgiven you the early rain in righteousness.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The early and dlate rains as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will aoverflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will pay back to you in full for the years
That the swarming alocust has consumed,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust,
My great military force which I sent among you.
26 And you will have plenty to aconsume and be satisfied
And bpraise the name of Yahweh your God,
Who has cdealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will dnever be put to shame.
27 Thus you will aknow that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am Yahweh your God,
And there is bno other;
And My people will never be cput to shame.