of repentance in the Old Testament. Later, we read, “ ‘Yet even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments’ ” (2:12–13a). The central concept of repentance in the Old Testament can be captured in one word: conversion. This word is frequently heard in the jargon that Christians use today and is the focal point of the prophetic call to repentance. No one is born biologically as a Christian. In