Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Day of Yahweh is Near
2 Blow the trumpet[a] in Zion,
and sound the alarm on my holy mountain![b]
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of Yahweh is coming
—it is indeed near.
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
a day of cloud and thick darkness,
like the dawn spreads on the mountains,
a great and strong army!
There has been nothing like it from old,
and after it nothing will be again for generations to come.[c]
A Call to Repentance
12 “And even now,” declares[a] Yahweh,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and wailing.”
13 Rend your hearts[b] and not your garments,
and return to Yahweh your God,
because he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger[c] and great in loyal love,
and relenting from harm.
14 Who knows whether he will turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
an offering and a libation,
for Yahweh your God?
15 Blow the trumpet[d] in Zion,
sanctify a fast, call an assembly;
16 gather the people, consecrate the assembly;
assemble the elders, gather the children,
even those who are breast-feeding;
let the bridegroom come out from his private room,
and the bride from her canopy.
17 Between the colonnade and the altar,
let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep.
And let them say, “Take pity, Yahweh, on your people.
Do not make your inheritance a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the nations,
‘Where is their God?’”
True Fasts and Sabbaths
58 “Call with the throat; you must not keep back!
lift up your voice like a trumpet,
and declare[a] to my people their rebellion,
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet[b] they seek me day by day,
and they desire the knowledge of my ways
like a nation that practiced[c] righteousness,
and had not forsaken the judgment of its God;
they ask me for righteous judgments,[d]
they desire the closeness of God.
3 ‘Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice it?’
Look! You find delight on the day of your fast,
and you oppress all your workers!
4 Look! You fast to quarrel and strife,
and to strike with a wicked fist.[e]
You shall not fast as you do today,[f]
to make your voice heard[g] on the height.
5 Is the fast I choose like this,
a day for humankind to humiliate himself[h]?
To bow his head like a reed,
and make[i] his bed on sackcloth and ashes;
you call this a fast
and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
6 Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and tear[j] every yoke to pieces?
7 Is it not to break your bread for the hungry?
You must bring home[k] the poor, the homeless.
When you see the naked, you must cover him,
and you must not hide yourself from your relatives.[l]
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall grow quickly.
And your salvation shall go before you;
the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer.
You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’
If you remove from among you the yoke,
the finger-pointing[m] and evil speech,[n]
10 if[o] you offer your soul to the hungry,
and you satisfy the appetite of the afflicted,
then[p] your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your darkness will be like noon.
11 And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land,
and he will strengthen your bones,
and you shall be like a well-watered garden,
and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.
12 And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you;
you shall erect the foundations of many generations,[q]
and you shall be called[r] the bricklayer of the breach,
the restorer of paths to live in.
A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy
For the music director. A psalm of David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[a]
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love.
According to your abundant mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I myself know[b] my transgressions,[c]
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, only you, I have sinned
and have done this evil[d] in your eyes,
so that you are correct when you speak,
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Behold, in iniquity I was born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities blot out.
10 Create a clean heart for me, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[e]
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and with a willing spirit sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.
With a burnt offering you are not pleased.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
20 Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as if[a] God were imploring you through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we could become the righteousness of God in him.
Afflictions of God’s Servants
6 Now because we[b] are fellow workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“At the acceptable time I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”[c]
Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are giving no one an occasion for taking offense in anything, in order that our ministry will not have fault found with it, 4 but commending ourselves as servants of God in every way, in much endurance, in afflictions, in distresses, in difficulties, 5 in beatings, in prisons, in disturbances, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in going hungry, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love without hypocrisy, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and left hand, 8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and good repute, regarded as deceivers and yet truthful, 9 as unknown and yet known completely, as dying, and behold, we go on living, as disciplined, and yet not put to death, 10 as grieving, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and possessing everything.
The Sermon on the Mount: Charitable Giving
6 “And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; otherwise[a] you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 3 But you, when you[b] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Sermon on the Mount: How to Pray
5 And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand and[c] pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 6 But whenever you pray, enter into your inner room and shut your door and[d] pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Sermon on the Mount: How to Fast
16 “Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 17 But when[a] you are fasting, put olive oil on your head[b] and wash your face 18 so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Sermon on the Mount: Treasure in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and consuming insect[c] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor consuming insect[d] destroy and where thieves do not break in or steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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