Lam 3:39-42, Joe 2:11-18, Amo 4:6-12, Jon 3:5-10, Hag 1:5-7, Rev 3:19 | ESV | STEP | Why should a living man complain , a man , about the punishment of his sins ?

39 ^aWhy should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
^band return to the Lord!
41 ^cLet us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 ^d“We have transgressed and ^erebelled,
and you have not forgiven.

Joel 2:11-18

11 ^fThe Lord utters his voice
before ^ghis army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
^hhe who executes his word is powerful.
ⁱFor the day of the Lord is ^jgreat and very awesome;
^kwho can endure it?

Return to the Lord

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
^l“return to me with all your heart,
^mwith fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and ⁿrend your hearts and not ^oyour garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
^pfor he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
^qand he relents over disaster.
14 ^rWho knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and ^sleave a blessing behind him,
^ta grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 ^uBlow the trumpet in Zion;
^vconsecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
^wConsecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
^xgather the children,
even nursing infants.
^yLet the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17 ^zBetween the ^aavestibule and the ^abaltar
^aclet the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations. ^{▼▼Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them}
^aeWhy should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

18 ^afThen the Lord became jealous for his land
^agand had pity on his people.

Amos 4:6-12

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and ^ahlack of bread in all your places,
^aiyet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.
7 “I also ^ajwithheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
^akI would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities ^alwould wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
^amyet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.
9 ^an“I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees ^aothe locust devoured;
^apyet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence ^aqafter the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and ^arcarried away your horses, ^{▼▼Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses}
and ^atI made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
^auyet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
^avas when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were ^awas a brand ^{▼▼That is, a burning stick} plucked out of the burning;
^ayyet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

Jonah 3:5-10

5 ^azAnd the people of Nineveh believed God. ^baThey called for a fast and ^bbput on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

6 The word reached ^{▼▼Or had reached} the king of Nineveh, and ^bdhe arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, ^beand sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ^bf“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor ^bgbeast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and ^bhbeast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. ^biLet everyone turn from his evil way and from ^bjthe violence that is in his hands. 9 ^bkWho knows? God may turn and relent ^bland turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did, ^bmhow they turned from their evil way, ^bnGod relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Haggai 1:5-7

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^boConsider your ways. 6 ^bpYou have sown much, and harvested little. ^bqYou eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who ^brearns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^bsConsider your ways.

Revelation of John 3:19

19 ^btThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.