Joel 2:1-2

English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord

2 ^(A)Blow a trumpet in ^(B)Zion;
    sound an alarm on ^(C)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for ^(D)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
²^(E)a day of darkness and gloom,
    ^(F)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    ^(G)a great and powerful people;
^(H)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

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Joel 2:12-17

English Standard Version

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    ^(A)“return to me with all your heart,
^(B)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and ^(C)rend your hearts and not ^(D)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    ^(E)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    ^(F)and he relents over disaster.
¹⁴^(G)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and ^(H)leave a blessing behind him,
^(I)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(J)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(K)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶    gather the people.
^(L)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(M)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(N)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷^(O)Between the ^(P)vestibule and the ^(Q)altar
    ^(R)let 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.^[a]
^(S)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

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Footnotes

Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them

Isaiah 58:1-12

English Standard Version

True and False Fasting

58 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
    ^(A)lift up your voice like a trumpet;
^(B)declare to my people their transgression,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
²^(C)Yet they seek me daily
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
    and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they delight to draw near to God.
³^(D)‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,^[a]
    ^(E)and oppress all your workers.
⁴Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.
⁵^(F)Is such the fast that I choose,
    ^(G)a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    ^(H)to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps ^(I)of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not ^(J)to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    ^(K)and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸^(L)Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    ^(M)and your healing shall spring up speedily;
^(N)your righteousness shall go before you;
    ^(O)the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away ^(P)the yoke from your midst,
    ^(Q)the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰^(R)if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
^(S)then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be ^(T)like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
¹²^(U)And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 58:3 Or pursue your own business
Isaiah 58:6 Or bruised

Psalm 103

English Standard Version

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.

103 ^(A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
²^(B)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and ^(C)forget not all his benefits,
³who ^(D)forgives all your iniquity,
    who ^(E)heals all your diseases,
⁴who ^(F)redeems your life from the pit,
    who ^(G)crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵who ^(H)satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like ^(I)the eagle's.

⁶The Lord works ^(J)righteousness
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷He made known his ^(K)ways to Moses,
    his ^(L)acts to the people of Israel.
⁸The Lord is ^(M)merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹^(N)He will not always chide,
    nor will he ^(O)keep his anger forever.
¹⁰He does not deal with us ^(P)according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For ^(Q)as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his ^(R)steadfast love toward ^(S)those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he ^(T)remove our transgressions from us.
¹³As ^(U)a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion ^(V)to those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows our frame;^[a]
    he ^(W)remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are like ^(X)grass;
    he flourishes like ^(Y)a flower of the field;
¹⁶for ^(Z)the wind passes over it, and ^(AA)it is gone,
    and ^(AB)its place knows it no more.
¹⁷But ^(AC)the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on ^(AD)those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to ^(AE)children's children,
¹⁸to those who ^(AF)keep his covenant
    and ^(AG)remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹The Lord has ^(AH)established his throne in the heavens,
    and his ^(AI)kingdom rules over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, O you ^(AJ)his angels,
    you ^(AK)mighty ones who ^(AL)do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
²¹Bless the Lord, all his ^(AM)hosts,
    his ^(AN)ministers, who do his will!
²²^(AO)Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
^(AP)Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Footnotes

Psalm 103:14 Or knows how we are formed

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10

English Standard Version

²⁰Therefore, ^(A)we are ambassadors for Christ, ^(B)God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹^(C)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(D)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(E)the righteousness of God.

6 ^(F)Working together with him, then, ^(G)we appeal to you ^(H)not to receive the grace of God in vain. ²For he says,

^(I)“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, ^(J)now is the ^(K)favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ³We ^(L)put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴but ^(M)as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: ^(N)by great endurance, ^(O)in afflictions, ^(P)hardships, calamities, ⁵^(Q)beatings, imprisonments, ^(R)riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ⁶^(S)by purity, ^(T)knowledge, patience, kindness, ^(U)the Holy Spirit, ^(V)genuine love; ⁷by ^(W)truthful speech, and ^(X)the power of God; with ^(Y)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸through honor and dishonor, ^(Z)through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹as unknown, and ^(AA)yet well known; ^(AB)as dying, and behold, we live; ^(AC)as punished, and yet not killed; ¹⁰^(AD)as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; ^(AE)as poor, yet making many rich; ^(AF)as having nothing, ^(AG)yet possessing everything.

Matthew 6:1-6

English Standard Version

Giving to the Needy

6 “Beware of ^(A)practicing your righteousness before other people in order ^(B)to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

²^(C)“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^(D)be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^(E)received their reward. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. ^(F)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord's Prayer

⁵“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love ^(G)to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. ^(H)Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶But when you pray, ^(I)go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. ^(J)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

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Matthew 6:16-21

English Standard Version

Fasting

¹⁶“And ^(A)when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. ^(B)Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, ^(C)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. ^(D)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹^(E)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^(F)moth and rust^[a] destroy and where thieves ^(G)break in and steal, ²⁰^(H)but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.