Joel 2:12-19

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?’”

The Lord Had Pity

¹⁸^(T)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    ^(U)and had pity on his people.
¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, ^(V)I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    ^(W)and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
    a reproach among the nations.

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Footnotes

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

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2

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.

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.