Wednesday of the 1st week of Lent

1And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying: 2Rise, and go to Nineveh, the great city. And preach in it the preaching that I say to you. 3And Jonah rose, and he went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the Lord. And Nineveh was a great city of three days’ journey. 4And Jonah began to enter into the city one day’s journey. And he cried out and said, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” 5And the men of Nineveh believed in God. And they proclaimed a fast, and they put on sackcloth, from the greatest all the way to the least. 6And word reached the king of Nineveh. And he rose from his throne, and he threw off his robe from himself and was clothed in sackcloth, and he sat in ashes. 7And he cried out and spoke: “In Nineveh, from the mouth of the king and of his princes, let it be said: Men and beasts and oxen and sheep may not taste anything. Neither shall they feed or drink water. 8And let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry out to the Lord with strength, and may man be converted from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands. 9Who knows if God may turn and forgive, and may turn away from his furious wrath, so that we might not perish?” 10And God saw their works, that they had been converted from their evil way. And God took pity on them, concerning the harm that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

3Be merciful to me, O God, according to your great mercy. And, according to the plentitude of your compassion, wipe out my iniquity.

4Wash me once again from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

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12Create a clean heart in me, O God. And renew an upright spirit within my inmost being.

13Do not cast me away from your face; and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

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18For if you had desired sacrifice, I would certainly have given it, but with holocausts, you will not be delighted.

19A crushed spirit is a sacrifice to God. A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

29Then, as the crowds were quickly gathering, he began to say: “This generation is a wicked generation: it seeks a sign. But no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 30For just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of man be to this generation. 31The queen of the South will rise up, at the judgment, with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, more than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will rise up, at the judgment, with this generation, and they will condemn it. For at the preaching of Jonah, they repented. And behold, more than Jonah is here.