Joel 2:13-14

2:13 Return to the Lord your God,

for he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ¹  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ² 

2:14 Who knows?

Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, ³ 

and leave blessing in his wake ⁴  –

a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! ⁵ 

Jonah 3:7

3:7 He issued a proclamation and said, ⁶  “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water.

Matthew 6:16-18

Proper Fasting

6:16 “When ⁷  you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive ⁸  so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, ⁹  they have their reward. 6:17 When ¹⁰  you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

[2:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”

[2:13]  ² tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”

[2:14]  ³ tn Heb “turn” or “turn back.”

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “leave a blessing behind him.”

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The phrase “for you to offer” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Contrary to many modern English versions, the present translation understands the king’s proclamation to begin after the phrase “and he said” (rather than after “in Nineveh”), as do quotations in 1:14; 2:2, 4; 4:2, 8, 9. In Jonah where the quotation does not begin immediately after “said” (אָמַר, ’amar), it is only the speaker or addressee or both that come between “said” and the start of the quotation (1:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 4:4, 9, 10; cf. 1:1; 3:1).

[6:16]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:16]  ⁸ tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”

[6:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[6:17]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.