Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand—
2 a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. A great people and a strong, there hath not been ever the like; neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
12 “Therefore also now,” saith the Lord, “turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him—even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast! Call a solemn assembly,
16 gather the people! Sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber and the bride out of her retreat.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; and let them say, “Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them.Why should they say among the people, ‘Where is their God?’”
58 “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet! And show My people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek Me daily and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and Thou seest not? Why have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no note?’ Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?—when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, ‘Here I am.’ If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and speaking vanity,
10 and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Paths to dwell in.
51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, Thou desirest truth in my inward parts; in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.
16 For Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were beseeching you by us: we pray you on Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For He hath made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
6 We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 (For He saith, “I have heard thee at an accepted time, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee.” Behold, now is the accepted time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!)
3 Give no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed;
4 but in all things commending ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience: in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
6 by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left;
8 through honor and dishonor, through evil report and good report; though counted as deceivers and yet true,
9 as unknown and yet well known, as dying and yet behold we live, as chastened and not killed,
10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
6 “Take heed that ye do not your almsgiving before men, to be seen by them; otherwise ye have no reward from your Father who is in Heaven.
2 Therefore when thou givest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
3 But when thou givest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth,
4 that thine almsgiving may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, Himself shall reward thee openly.
5 “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
16 “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face,
18 that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.