First Reading

Joel 2:1-1, 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—

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, abounding in steadfast love,
  and relenting from punishment.
 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;
  consecrate a fast;
 call a solemn assembly;
  gather the people.
 Consecrate 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?’ ”

Second Reading

Psalm 51:1-17

 Have mercy on me, O God,
  according to your steadfast love;
 according to your abundant mercy,
  blot out my transgressions.
 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
  and cleanse me from my sin.
 For I know my transgressions,
  and my sin is ever before me.
 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
  and done what is evil in your sight,
 so that you are justified in your sentence
  and blameless when you pass judgment.
 Indeed, I was born guilty,
  a sinner when my mother conceived me.
 You desire truth in the inward being;
  therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
  wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 Let me hear joy and gladness;
  let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
 Hide your face from my sins,
  and blot out all my iniquities.
 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
  and put a new and right spirit within me.
 Do not cast me away from your presence,
  and do not take your holy spirit from me.
 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
  and sustain in me a willing spirit.
 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
  and sinners will return to you.
 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
  O God of my salvation,
  and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
 O Lord, open my lips,
  and my mouth will declare your praise.
 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
  if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
  a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

The Gospel

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
 ‘One does not live by bread alone,
  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
  Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
 ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
  and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
 so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
 ‘Worship the Lord your God,
  and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.