Joel 2:14
“Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Joel holds out hope that God may turn from judgment and leave behind a blessing, restoring even the offerings.
What Does Joel 2:14 Mean?
Joel adds a note of humble hope: who knoweth if God will return and relent, leaving a blessing behind Him. The blessing he imagines is fitting, a restored harvest of grain and wine so that the meat offering and drink offering, cut off in chapter one, may be brought to the LORD again. Repentance might mean the renewal of worship itself.
The phrase who knows is not doubt about God's mercy but reverence before His freedom. It refuses to presume upon God while fully trusting His goodness. The people are to repent because it is right, leaving the outcome in His hands, yet quietly hopeful that the gracious God just described may well turn and bless. Notice that the hoped-for blessing centers on renewed fellowship with God, the offerings restored. True repentance longs most for the return of nearness to Him, and that is the very thing God most delights to give.