Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, April 5th, 2025
the Fourth Week of Lent
There are 15 days til Easter!
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Joel 2:16

Gather the people, hallow a convocation, collect the elders, gather the children, and the sucklings of the breasts, - let the bridegroom, come forth, from his chamber, and the bride from her bower:

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Church;   Government;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Repentance;   Worship;   Thompson Chain Reference - Closet;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Fasting;   Sacrifice;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Joel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Chamber;   Infant Baptism;   Joel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Closet;   Elder;   Joel, Book of;   Marriage;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Judgment Damnation;   Marriage (I.);   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Fasting;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Canopy;   Chamber;   Closet;   Joel (2);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Congregation;   ḥuppah;   Shabbat Shubah;   Targum;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Gather the people;sanctify the congregation;assemble the aged;gather the infants,even babies nursing at the breast.Let the groom leave his bedroom,and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
Hebrew Names Version
Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the Zakenim. Gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, And the bride out of her chamber.
King James Version
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
English Standard Version
gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
New American Standard Bible
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Have the groom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
New Century Version
Bring the people together and make the meeting holy for the Lord . Bring together the elders, as well as the children, and even babies that still feed at their mothers' breasts. The bridegroom should come from his room, the bride from her bedroom.
Amplified Bible
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. [No one is excused from the assembly.]
Geneva Bible (1587)
Gather the people: sanctifie the congregation, gather the elders: assemble the children, & those that sucke the breastes: let the bridegrome go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her bride chamber.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
Legacy Standard Bible
Gather the people, set apart the congregation as holy,Assemble the elders,Gather the infants and the nursing babies.Let the bridegroom come out of his roomAnd the bride out of her bridal chamber.
Berean Standard Bible
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
Contemporary English Version
Make sure that everyone is fit to worship me. Bring adults, children, babies, and even bring newlyweds from their festivities.
Complete Jewish Bible
Gather the people; consecrate the congregation; assemble the leaders; gather the children, even infants sucking at the breast; let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride the bridal chamber.
Darby Translation
gather the people, hallow the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her closet.
Easy-to-Read Version
Bring the people together. Call for a special meeting. Bring together the old men, the children, and the small babies still at their mothers' breasts. Let the bride and her new husband come from their bedroom.
George Lamsa Translation
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the young men and those who suck the breasts; let the bridegroom leave his bedchamber, and the bride come out of her bridal chamber.
Good News Translation
Gather the people together; prepare them for a sacred meeting; bring the old people; gather the children and the babies too. Even newly married couples must leave their homes and come.
Lexham English Bible
gather the people, consecrate the assembly; assemble the elders, gather the children, even those who are breast-feeding; let the bridegroom come out from his private room, and the bride from her canopy.
Literal Translation
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, gather the elders, gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go out of his room, and the bride out of her room.
American Standard Version
gather the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Bible in Basic English
Get the people together, make the mass of the people holy, send for the old men, get together the children and babies at the breast: let the newly married man come out of his room and the bride from her tent.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her pavilion.
King James Version (1611)
Gather the people: sanctifie the congregation: assemble the elders: gather the children, and those that sucke the breasts: let the bridegroome goe forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Gather the people, gather the elders, assemble the children & suckyng babes: let the bridegrome come foorth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
English Revised Version
gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
World English Bible
Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, And the bride out of her chamber.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
gadere ye togidere elde men, gadere ye togidere litle children, and soukynge the brestis; a spouse go out of his bed, and a spousesse of hir chaumbre.
Update Bible Version
gather the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that are nursed by the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Webster's Bible Translation
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
New English Translation
Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters.
New King James Version
Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.
New Living Translation
Gather all the people— the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room.
New Life Bible
Gather the people and make them holy. Gather together the leaders, the children, and the nursing babies. Let the man to be married come out of his room, and the bride come out of her room.
New Revised Standard
gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bridal chamber.
Revised Standard Version
gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
Young's Literal Translation
Gather the people, sanctify an assembly, Assemble the aged, Gather infants and sucklings of the breasts, Go out let a bridegroom from his inner chamber, And a bride out of her closet.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& gather the people together: warne the congregacion, gather the elders, bringe the children & suclynges together. Let ye brydegrome go forth of his chabre, & the bryde out of her closet.

Contextual Overview

12 Even now, therefore, urgeth Yahweh, Turn ye unto me, with all your heart, - and with fasting and with weeping, and with lamentation; 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, turn therefore, unto Yahweh your God, - for, gracious and full of compassion, is he, slow to anger, and abundant in loving- kindness, and will grieve over calamity. 14 Who knoweth, he may turn and grieve, - and leave behind him, a blessing, a meal-offering and a drink-offering, to Yahweh your God? 15 Blow ye a horn, in Zion, - hallow a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16 Gather the people, hallow a convocation, collect the elders, gather the children, and the sucklings of the breasts, - let the bridegroom, come forth, from his chamber, and the bride from her bower: 17 Between the porch and the altar, let the priests, weep, the attendants of Yahweh, - and let them say - Look with pity, O Yahweh, upon thy people, and do not deliver thine inheritance to reproach, that the nations, should mock them, Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sanctify: Exodus 19:10, Exodus 19:15, Exodus 19:22, Joshua 7:13, 1 Samuel 16:5, 2 Chronicles 29:5, 2 Chronicles 29:23, 2 Chronicles 29:24, 2 Chronicles 30:17, 2 Chronicles 30:19, 2 Chronicles 35:6, Job 1:5

assemble: Joel 1:14, Deuteronomy 29:10, Deuteronomy 29:11, 2 Chronicles 20:13, Jonah 3:7, Jonah 3:8

let: Zechariah 12:11-14, Matthew 9:15, 1 Corinthians 7:5

Reciprocal: Numbers 10:3 - General Joshua 3:5 - Sanctify Joshua 8:35 - women 1 Samuel 7:5 - Gather 1 Chronicles 15:14 - sanctified Ezra 10:1 - a very great Ecclesiastes 3:5 - a time to embrace Zechariah 12:12 - and their Mark 10:13 - disciples

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
Thus were finished the heavens and the earth and all their host.
Genesis 2:2
Thus God finished, on the seventh day his work which he had made, and rested, on the seventh day, from all his work which he had made.
Genesis 2:9
And Yahweh God, caused to spring up, out of the ground, every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, - and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
1 Samuel 15:22
Then said Samuel - Doth that which is pleasing unto Yahweh consist in ascending-offerings and sacrifices, So much as in hearkening unto the voice of Yahweh? Lo! to hearken, is, better, than, sacrifice. And, to give heed, than, the fat of rams;
1 Timothy 4:4
Because, every creature of God, is good, and nothing to be cast away, if, with thanksgiving, it be received, -
1 Timothy 6:17
Upon them who are rich in the present age, lay thou charge - not to be high-minded, nor to have set their hope on, riches', uncertainty, - but on God, who offereth us all things richly for enjoying,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Gather the people,.... The common people, all the inhabitants of the land, Joel 1:14; summon them to meet together in the temple, in order to humble themselves before God for their sins, and implore his mercy, and seek his face to remove his judgments, or avert them:

sanctify the congregation; see that they are sanctified and prepared for a fast, as the law directs in such cases; that they may be clean and free from all ceremonial impurities; that their bodies and clothes be washed, and that they abstain from their wives, and from all lawful pleasures, as well as sinful ones:

assemble the elders; both in age and authority; that they, by their presence and example, might influence others to attend such a service:

gather the children and those that suck the breast; who were involved in the common calamity and distress, were obliged to fasting and whose cries might affect parents, and engage them the more to humiliation and repentance for their sins, which brought such, miseries, not only upon themselves, but upon their tender infants; and they might think their cries would move the pity and compassion of God; all which is suggested in the note of Kimchi:

let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet; where they are adorning themselves and preparing for an interview with each other; or where they are enjoying each other's embraces and the pleasures of the matrimonial state. The sense is, let them put off their nuptial robes, and deny themselves their lawful pleasures, and betake themselves to fasting mourning, and prayer; see 1 Corinthians 7:5. This refers to a custom among the Jews at the time of espousals when the bridegroom and bride were introduced into the nuptial chamber, where the marriage was completed; and, according to the Jewish writes it was not finished before: the blessing of the bridegroom and bride did not complete the marriage but the bringing of them into the chamber did; and then they were said to he married, though as yet they had not cohabited and then, and not before a man might enjoy his wife x: and the marriage chamber was nothing else but a linen cloth or garment spread upon four poles over the head of the bridegroom and bride; this they called חופה y; the word is here rendered a "closet" and the same with the "chamber"; and their leaving and coming out of this signifies their abstaining from the lawful enjoyment of each other, which now they had a right unto.

x Maimon. Hilchot Ishot, c. 10. sect. 2, 4. Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. Eben Hezer, c. 55. sect. 2, 3. y R. Elias Levita, Tishbi in חפה p. 119.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Sanctify the congregation - o: “Do what in you lies, by monishing, exhorting, threatening, giving the example of a holy life, that the whole people present itself holy before its God” , “lest your prayers be hindered, and a little leaven corrupt the whole lump.”

Assemble the elders - o: “The judgment concerned all; all then were to join in seeking mercy from God. None were on any pretence to be exempted; not the oldest, whose strength was decayed, or the youngest, who might seem not yet of strength.” The old also are commonly freer from sin and more given to prayer.

Gather the children - o: “He Who feedeth the young ravens when they cry, will not neglect the cry of poor children. He assigns as a reason, why it were fitting to spare Nineveh, the “six-score thousand persons that could not discern between their right hand and their left” Jonah 4:11. The sight of them who were involved in their parents’ punishment could not but move the parents to greater earnestness. So when Moab and Ammon 2 Chronicles 20:1-4, 2 Chronicles 20:13, a great multitude, came against Jehoshaphat, he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, and Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. And all Judah was standing before the Lord, their little ones also, their wives, and their children.” So it is described in the book of Judith, how “with great vehemency did they humble their souls, both they and their wives and their children - and every man and woman and the little children - fell before the temple, and cast ashes upon their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Face of the Lord” (Judith 4:9-11).

Let the bridegroom go forth - He says not even, the married, or the newly married, he who had taken a new wife, but he uses the special terms of the marriage-day, “bridegroom” and “bride.” The new-married man was, during a year, exempted from going out to war, or from any duties which might “press upon him” Deuteronomy 24:5. But nothing was to free from this common affliction of sorrow. Even the just newly married, although it were the very day of the bridal, were to leave the marriage-chamber and join in the common austerity of repentance. It was mockery of God to spend in delights time consecrated by Him to sorrow. He says, “In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth. And behold joy and gladness - surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you until ye die, saith the Lord God of Hosts” Isaiah 22:12-14. Whence, in times of fasting or prayer, the Apostle suggests the giving up of pure pleasures, “that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer” 1 Corinthians 7:5.

: “He then who, by chastisement in food and by fasting and alms, says that he is doing acts of repentance, in vain doth he promise this in words, unless he “go forth out of his chamber” and fulfill a holy and pure fast by a chaste penitence.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 16. Gather the children — Let all share in the humiliation, for all must feel the judgment, should it come. Let no state nor condition among the people be exempted. The elders, the young persons, the infants, the bridegroom, and the bride; let all leave their houses, and go to the temple of God.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile