A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Joel 2:12-18
Even now, says the Lord,/ return to me with your whole heart,/ with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;/ Rend your hearts, not your garments,/ and return to the Lord, your God./ For gracious and merciful is he,/ slow to anger, rich in kindness,/ and relenting in punishment./ Perhaps he will again relent/ and leave behind him a blessing,/ Offerings and libations/ for the Lord, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!/ proclaim a fast,/ call an assembly;/ Gather the people,/ notify the congregation;/ Assemble the elders,/ gather the children/ and the infants at the breast;/ Let the bridegroom quit his room/ and the bride her chamber./ Between the porch and the altar/ let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep,/ And say, “Spare, O Lord, your people,/ and make not your heritage a reproach,/ with the nations ruling over them!/ Why should they say among the peoples,/ ‘Where is their God?’”
Then the Lord was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.
The word of the Lord.
