(~) Bible Readings for Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-2,12-17
or Isaiah 58:1-12
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Old Testament                     Joel 2:1-2,12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
          sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
          for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near--
a day of darkness and gloom,
          a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
          a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
          nor will be again after them
          in ages to come.
Yet even now, says the LORD,
          return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
          rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the LORD, your God,
          for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
          and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
          and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
          for the LORD, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
          sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
          gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
          assemble the aged;
gather the children,
          even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
          and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar
          let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD,
          and do not make your heritage a mockery,
          a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
          `Where is their God?'"

or

Old Testament                     Isaiah 58:1-12

Thus says the high and lofty one
          who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
          to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
          and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
          and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
          they delight to draw near to God.
"Why do we fast, but you do not see?
          Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?"
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
          and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
          and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
          will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
          a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
          and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
          a day acceptable to the LORD?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
          to loose the bonds of injustice,
          to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
          and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
          and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
          and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
          and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
          the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
          you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
          the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
          and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
          and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
          and satisfy your needs in parched places,
          and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
          like a spring of water,
          whose waters never fail.
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 live in.

The Epistle                     2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he
made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.  As we work together with him, we urge you also not
to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,  "At an acceptable time I
have listened to you,
          and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are
putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with
our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every
way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by
purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness
for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute
and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as
unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as
punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor,
yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.


The Gospel                     Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be
seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  "So
whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be
praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But
when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees
in secret will reward you.  "And whenever you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the
street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they
have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and
shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father
who sees in secret will reward you.  "And whenever you fast, do not look
dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show
others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their
reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so
that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  "Do not store
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and
where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not
break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.

Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian

http://Ninure-Saunders.tk

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