Lenten Season · Ash Wednesday · Year C
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12
Blow the Trumpet: A Call to Return to the Lord
March 1, 2028
Overview & Insights
"Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart... rend your hearts and not your clothing." (Joel 2:12-13)
Joel sounds the alarm for an approaching day of the Lord pictured as a locust army, then calls the whole community, priests included, to fast and return to a God who is gracious and merciful. The passage supplies Ash Wednesday's classic summons to communal repentance.
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Commentary
Commentary on Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Working Preacher
Working Preacher's reading of Joel's alarm and call to communal fasting.
Joel 2 - David Guzik Enduring Word · David Guzik
Verse by verse commentary on the locust-army imagery and the call to rend hearts.
Joel 2 Commentary Precept Austin
Detailed word study on the day of the Lord and Joel's summons to repentance.
Joel 2:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregated classic commentaries on the trumpet alarm that opens the passage.
Joel 2 (Barnes' Notes) StudyLight
Barnes' notes on the locust-army image and the call to a solemn assembly.
Joel 2:1 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew text and parsing for the trumpet and day-of-the-Lord vocabulary.
Background & Word Study
Joel Video Overview BibleProject
Video overview of Joel's structure from locust plague to promised restoration.
Joel 2 (Hebrew-English) Sefaria
Hebrew-English parallel text of the chapter for direct comparison.
Joel Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's introduction to Joel's setting, structure, and theology.
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