Ash Wednesday Readings

Joel 2

Locusts Invade like an Army

 ¹ Sound the alarm in Jerusalem^[a]!
      Raise the battle cry on my holy mountain!
   Let everyone tremble in fear
      because the day of the Lord is upon us.
 ² It is a day of darkness and gloom,
      a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
   Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains,
      a great and mighty army appears.
   Nothing like it has been seen before
      or will ever be seen again. ³ Fire burns in front of them,
      and flames follow after them.
   Ahead of them the land lies
      as beautiful as the Garden of Eden.
   Behind them is nothing but desolation;
      not one thing escapes.
 ⁴ They look like horses;
      they charge forward like warhorses.^[b]
 5 Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops.
      Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots,
   like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble,
      or like a mighty army moving into battle.
 ⁶ Fear grips all the people;
      every face grows pale with terror.
 ⁷ The attackers march like warriors
      and scale city walls like soldiers.
   Straight forward they march,
      never breaking rank.
 ⁸ They never jostle each other;
      each moves in exactly the right position.
   They break through defenses
      without missing a step.
 ⁹ They swarm over the city
      and run along its walls.
   They enter all the houses,
      climbing like thieves through the windows.
 ¹⁰ The earth quakes as they advance,
      and the heavens tremble.
   The sun and moon grow dark,
      and the stars no longer shine.
 ¹¹ The Lord is at the head of the column.
      He leads them with a shout.
   This is his mighty army,
      and they follow his orders.
   The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing.
      Who can possibly survive?

A Call to Repentance

 ¹² That is why the Lord says,
      “Turn to me now, while there is time.
   Give me your hearts.
      Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
 ¹³ Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
      but tear your hearts instead.”
   Return to the Lord your God,
      for he is merciful and compassionate,
   slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
      He is eager to relent and not punish.
 ¹⁴ Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
      sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
   Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
      to the Lord your God as before. ¹⁵ Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
      Announce a time of fasting;
   call the people together
      for a solemn meeting.
 ¹⁶ Gather all the people—
      the elders, the children, and even the babies.
   Call the bridegroom from his quarters
      and the bride from her private room.
 ¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
      stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
   Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
      Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
   Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
      ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

The Lord’s Promise of Restoration

 ¹⁸ Then the Lord will pity his people
      and jealously guard the honor of his land.
 ¹⁹ The Lord will reply,
   “Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil,
      enough to satisfy your needs.
   You will no longer be an object of mockery
      among the surrounding nations.
 ²⁰ I will drive away these armies from the north.
      I will send them into the parched wastelands.
   Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea,
      and those at the rear into the Mediterranean.^[c]
   The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”   Surely the Lord has done great things!
    ²¹ Don’t be afraid, my people.
   Be glad now and rejoice,
      for the Lord has done great things

 Thus saith the Lord through the prophet Joel. Thanks be to God.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21
¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,^[e] so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
The reading of the second Epistle to the Corinthians, thanks be to God.

 Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are repentant: make in me a clean heart, a heart that hates...laments sins and readily acknowledges my wretchedness, grant your perfect cleansing and forgiveness of sin; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.