The Lord announces to his people,“ Return to me with all your heart. There is still time. Do not eat any food. Weep and mourn.”

耶和华说：“虽然如此，你们应当禁食、哭泣、悲哀，一心归向我。”

然而你们现在要禁食，哭泣，哀号，一心归向我。这是耶和华说的。

然而你们现在要禁食，哭泣，哀号，一心归向我。这是耶和华说的。

耶和华说：“现在，你们要禁食、哭泣、哀号，全心回转归向我。”

耶和华说：“现在虽然如此，你们仍要全心全意，以禁食、哭泣、哀号，归向我。”

耶和華說：雖然如此，你們應當禁食、哭泣、悲哀，一心歸向我。

然而你們現在要禁食，哭泣，哀號，一心歸向我。這是耶和華說的。

然而你們現在要禁食，哭泣，哀號，一心歸向我。這是耶和華說的。

耶和華說：「現在，你們要禁食、哭泣、哀號，全心回轉歸向我。」

耶和華說：“現在雖然如此，你們仍要全心全意，以禁食、哭泣、哀號，歸向我。”

永恆主發神諭說：『如今雖如此，你們還要全心全意來歸向我，以禁食哀哭及號咷來返回。

耶和華曰、爾其專心歸我、禁食、哭泣、悲哀、

耶和華曰、爾當一心歸誠乎我、禁食、號哭、悲哀、

主曰、今爾當一心歸誠於我、禁食號哭悲哀、

“ Even now,” declares the Lord,“ return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

“ Yet even now,” declares the Lord,“ return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

That is why the Lord says,“ Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Even now— this is the LORD’s declaration— turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

“ Yet even now,” declares the Lord,“ Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;

“ Now, therefore,” says the Lord,“ Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

Even now— this is the Lord’s declaration— turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye[ even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

“ Yet even now,” the LORD says,“ return to me with all your heart– with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments!”

“ Yet even now,” says Yahweh,“ turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”

People of Jacob, you must return to your God. You must hold on to love and do what is fair. You must trust in your God always.

Turn to the Lord before it’s too late. Call out to him while he’s still ready to help you.Let those who are evil stop doing evil things. And let them quit thinking evil thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord. The Lord will show them his tender love. Let them turn to our God. He is always ready to forgive.

Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can’t make up your minds.Be full of sorrow. Cry and weep. Change your laughter to mourning. Change your joy to sadness.

“ If you, Israel, will return,” announces the Lord,“ then return to me. Put the statues of your gods out of my sight. I hate them. Stop going astray.

“ Suppose I close up the sky and there isn’t any rain. Suppose I command locusts to eat up the crops. And I send a plague among my people.But they make themselves humble in my sight. They pray and look to me. And they turn from their evil ways. Then I will listen to them from heaven. I will forgive their sin. And I will heal their land. After all, they are my people.

Perhaps while you are there, you will seek the Lord your God. You will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.All the things I’ve told you about might happen to you. And you will be in trouble. But later you will return to the Lord your God. You will obey him.

Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you.When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.

The people of Nineveh believed God’s warning. So they decided not to eat any food for a while. And all of them put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. That’s what everyone did, from the least important of them to the most important.Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh. He got up from his throne. He took off his royal robes. He also dressed himself in the clothing of sadness. And then he sat down in the dust.Here is the message he sent out to the people of Nineveh.“ I and my nobles give this order. Don’t let people or animals taste anything. That includes your herds and flocks. People and animals must not eat or drink anything.Let people and animals alike be covered with the clothing of sadness. All of you must call out to God with all your hearts. Stop doing what is evil. Don’t harm others.

And now he says to us,“ Return to me. Then I will return to you,” announces the Lord.“ Do not be like your people of long ago. The earlier prophets gave them my message. I said,‘ Stop doing what is evil. Turn away from your sinful practices.’ But they would not listen to me. They would not pay any attention,” announces the Lord.

When the people had come together at Mizpah, they went to the well and got water. They poured it out in front of the Lord. On that day they didn’t eat any food. They admitted they had sinned. They said,“ We’ve sinned against the Lord.” Samuel was serving as the leader of Israel at Mizpah.

The people say,“ Come. Let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces. But he will heal us. He has wounded us. But he’ll bandage our wounds.

First I preached to people in Damascus. Then I preached in Jerusalem and in all Judea. And then I preached to the Gentiles. I told them to turn away from their sins to God. The way they live must show that they have turned away from their sins.

Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living. Let’s return to the Lord.Let’s lift up our hands to God in heaven. Let’s pray to him with all our hearts.

So Samuel spoke to all the Israelites. He said,“ Do you really want to return to the Lord with all your hearts? If you do, get rid of your false gods. Get rid of your statues of female gods that are named Ashtoreth. Commit yourselves to the Lord. Serve him only. Then he will save you from the power of the Philistines.”

They went to the prophets and priests at the Lord’ s temple. They asked them,“ Should we mourn and go without eating in the fifth month? That’s what we’ve done for many years.”

Jehoshaphat was alarmed. So he decided to ask the Lord for advice. He told all the people of Judah to go without eating.The people came together to ask the Lord for help. In fact, they came from every town in Judah to pray to him.

It was the 24th day of the seventh month. The Israelites gathered together again. They didn’t eat any food. They wore the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. They put dust on their heads.The Israelites separated themselves from everyone else. They stood and admitted they had sinned. They also admitted that their people before them had sinned.

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They sat there and wept in front of the Lord. They didn’t eat anything that day until evening. Then they brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.

The Lord who rules over all called out to you at that time. The Lord told you to weep and cry. He told you to tear your hair out. And he told you to put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad.

Israel, return to the Lord your God. Your sins have destroyed you!

But suppose your people change their ways in the land where they are held as prisoners. They turn away from their sins. They beg you to help them in the land of those who won the battle over them. They say,‘ We have sinned. We’ve done what is wrong. We’ve done what is evil.’And they turn back to you with all their heart and soul. Suppose it happens in the land of their enemies who took them away as prisoners. There they pray to you toward the land you gave their people long ago. They pray toward the city you have chosen. And they pray toward the temple I’ve built for your Name.Then listen to them from heaven. It’s the place where you live. Listen to their prayer. Listen to them when they ask you to help them. Stand up for them.

And they turn back to you with all their heart and soul. Suppose it happens in the land where they were taken as prisoners. There they pray toward the land you gave their people long ago. They pray toward the city you have chosen. And they pray toward the temple I’ve built for your Name.Then listen to them from heaven. It’s the place where you live. Listen to their prayer. Listen to them when they ask you to help them. Stand up for them. Your people have sinned against you. Please forgive them.

“ Ask the priests and all the people in the land a question for me. Say to them,‘ You mourned and fasted in the fifth and seventh months. You did it for the past 70 years. But did you really do it for me?

“ I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on David’s family line. I will also send it on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look to me. I am the one they have pierced. They will mourn over me as someone mourns over an only child who has died. They will be full of sorrow over me. Their sorrow will be just like someone’s sorrow over an oldest son.At that time there will be a lot of weeping in Jerusalem. It will be as great as the weeping of the people at Hadad Rimmon. Hadad Rimmon is in the valley of Megiddo. They were weeping over Josiah’s death.Everyone in the land will mourn. Each family will mourn by themselves and their wives by themselves. That will include the family lines of David, Nathan,Levi, Shimei andall the others.