Discovery BoxJoel 1:14 
Contextproclaim a sacred assembly.
Gather the elders and 2 all the inhabitants of the land
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Joel 2:16
Context2:16 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. 3
1 tn Heb “consecrate a fast” (so NASB).
2 tc The conjunction “and” does not appear in MT or LXX, but does appear in some Qumran texts (4QXIIc and 4QXIIg).
3 sn Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.
