Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, Sanctify ye a fast - appoint a solemn fast.
Call a solemn assembly, х `ªtsaaraah (H6116)] - literally, a day of restraint or cessation from work, so that all, young and old, might give themselves to supplication (Joel 2:15-16; 1 Samuel 7:5-6; as in the fast which Jehoshaphat proclaimed, "All Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children," 2 Chronicles 20:3-13).
Elders. The opposition to "children" (Joel 2:16, "Assemble the elders, gather the children") requires age to be intended, though probably elders in office are included. Being the people's leaders in guilt, they ought to be their leaders also in repentance.