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

Psalm 51:1-12

English Standard Version

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^(A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 ^(B)Have mercy on me,^[a] O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your ^(C)abundant mercy
    ^(D)blot out my transgressions.
²^(E)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and ^(F)cleanse me from my sin!

³^(G)For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
⁴^(H)Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil ^(I)in your sight,
^(J)so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
⁵Behold, ^(K)I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, you delight in truth in ^(L)the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me ^(M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    ^(N)wash me, and I shall be ^(O)whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    ^(P)let the bones ^(Q)that you have broken rejoice.
⁹^(R)Hide your face from my sins,
    and ^(S)blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰^(T)Create in me a ^(U)clean heart, O God,
    and ^(V)renew a right^[b] spirit within me.
¹¹^(W)Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not ^(X)your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

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Footnotes

Psalm 51:1 Or Be gracious to me
Psalm 51:10 Or steadfast

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.