Old Testament: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

¹¹At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— ¹²a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them. ²²“For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.” ²³I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. ²⁴I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. ²⁵I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. ²⁶I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger. ²⁷For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. ²⁸Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back.

Psalm: Psalm 14

¹ The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” *
        All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;
        there is none who does any good.
² The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, *
        to see if there is any who is wise,
        if there is one who seeks after God.
³ Every one has proved faithless;
  all alike have turned bad; *
        there is none who does good; no, not one.
⁴ Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers *
        who eat up my people like bread
        and do not call upon the Lord?
⁵ See how they tremble with fear, *
        because God is in the company of the righteous.
⁶ Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, *
        but the Lord is their refuge.
⁷ Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! *
        when the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
        Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

Old Testament: Exodus 32:7-14

⁷The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; ⁸they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I have commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” ⁹The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.¹⁰Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” ¹¹But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-11

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your
                            loving-kindness; *
        in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
² Wash me through and through from my wickedness *
        and cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I know my transgressions, *
        and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you only have I sinned *
        and done what is evil in your sight.
⁵ And so you are justified when you speak *
        and upright in your judgment.
⁶ Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
        a sinner from my mother’s womb.
⁷ For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
        and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
⁸ Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
        wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.
⁹ Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
        that the body you have broken may rejoice.
¹⁰ Hide your face from my sins *
        and blot out all my iniquities.
¹¹ Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
        and renew a right spirit within me.