Luther's Lectionary Toolbox – Live in the rhythm of the Church year.

Ash Wednesday

One-Year Lectionary

First Reading: Joel 2:12–19 or Jonah 3:1–10 (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)

KJV Scripture text

Joel 2:12–19

¹² Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: ¹³ And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. ¹⁴ Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: ¹⁶ Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. ¹⁷ Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

¹⁸ Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. ¹⁹ Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

Jonah 3:1–10

¹ And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, ² Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. ³ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. ⁴ And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

⁵ So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. ⁶ For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: ⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. ⁹ Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

¹⁰ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Psalm: Psalm 51:1–13 (14–19) (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)

KJV Scripture text

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

¹ Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶ Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸ Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Epistle: 2 Peter 1:2–11 (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)

KJV Scripture text

² Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, ³ According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: ⁴ Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. ⁵ And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; ⁶ And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; ⁷ And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. ⁸ For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. ¹⁰ Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: ¹¹ For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Gospel: Matt. 6:(1–6) 16–21 (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)

KJV Scripture text

¹ Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. ² Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ³ But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: ⁴ That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

⁵ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

¹⁶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ¹⁷ But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; ¹⁸ That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: ²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: ²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Ash Wednesday

One-Year Lectionary

About this service

Return to the Lord Your God with All Your Heart, for He Has Reconciled You to Himself

“Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people” (Joel 2:15–16). Lent, with its corporate fast, begins today. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Imposition of Ashes, from Gen. 3:19). “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger” (Jonah 3:9). We know. Faith believes that, for Christ’s sake, “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). He is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13); therefore, we do not hesitate to return to Him “with all [our] heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning” (v. 12). He raises the dead, as we shall see in 40 days’ time. Satan opposes such reconciliation and life. He would twist our discipline into self-serving pride (Matt. 6:1–12), leading us into unbelief and unfruitfulness until we fall from the Lord’s “precious and very great promises” (2 Peter 1:4, 8). For this reason, our Lenten discipline not only gives something up but also takes up the sustenance and exercise of faith: hearing His Word and turning from ourselves—to God in prayer and to our neighbor with charity. “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (v. 5–7).

Source: LCMS Worship, Lectionary Summaries — One-Year Lectionary (opens in a new tab). Used by permission. These pages may be reproduced for congregational use only. Commercial reproduction, or reproduction for sale of this work or any portion of this work, without the written permission of the copyright holder, is prohibited. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Scripture quoted in the summary is from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Introit, Gradual and Verse

Introit: Psalm 57:1–3a (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab), c
Antiphon: Wisdom 11:24–26
Gradual: Psalm 57:1a, 3a (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)
Verse: Psalm 103:10 (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab); 79:8a, 9a (read in KJV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)

Source: LCMS One-Year Series Propers Chart (opens in a new tab). Citations only; no liturgical or Scripture text is reproduced.

Collect

Historical Collect — Ash Wednesday

ALMIGHTY and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Source: Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (Baltimore, 1893), Introits and Collects for the Church Year (opens in a new tab). Public-domain text (published 1893), transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of the Princeton Theological Seminary Library copy.

Prayers of the Church

Prayers of the Church for February 18, 2026 — Responsive Form

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

The sacrifices of a broken spirit and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Grant that we might live lives that are honorable and pure before You, and that our fasting might be a blessed chastening. Deliver us from all gluttony, greed and hypocrisy, which may turn penitent fasting into a sinful excuse for boasting. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, care for those who implore us on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to You. Provide for the earthly needs of our pastors, sustain them in faith, grant them strength and diligence in their work, and show Your lovingkindness to their families. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Lord, look graciously on the families of our congregation. Defend Your holy estate of marriage against every enemy that would divide. Strengthen parents for their duties, especially bringing up their children in the fear and instruction of the Lord, and preserve us all faithful to the end. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, remember in mercy all who bear office in our land. Give them wisdom, protect them from danger and help them serve our people according to Your gracious will. Help us to become a people that guards the rights of the weakest and most vulnerable, especially the unborn. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Comfort Your people, dear Lord, in their many and various afflictions. Relieve the sick, the suffering, the addicted, the troubled and the dying [including _____________]. Give to them healing, peace and recovery as You so will. Keep us mindful that by Christ’s wounds we are healed, both in this life and, ultimately, in the resurrection on the Last Day. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Holy Father, by the gift of Your Son’s body and blood we are given to taste Your abundant pardon. Grant that all who receive the Lord’s Supper this day might return to You and forsake sinful ways and thoughts, that they might have joy in Your salvation. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Give us patience in tribulation, O Lord, and restore to us the joy of Your salvation. Comfort the weeping with Your lovingkindness, console the grieving with the hope of the resurrection, and help us to live in harmony with one another. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray all these things in the name of our crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Source: LCMS Worship, Prayers of the Church — One-Year 2025–2026 (opens in a new tab). Prepared by LCMS Worship for congregational use. Used by permission. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Prayers of the Church for February 18, 2026 — Ektene Form

In peace, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For honorable and pure lives before God that abhor all gluttony, greed and hypocrisy; and for our fasting, that it might be a blessed chastening that reminds us that a broken and contrite spirit the Lord will not despise, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For all pastors who implore us on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to God, that they would be sustained in faith and granted strength and diligence in their work; and that the earthly needs of their families may be well provided for, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the families of our congregation, that God would defend His holy estate of marriage against every enemy that would divide; that He would strengthen parents for their duties, especially bringing up their children in the fear and instruction of the Lord; and that all may be preserved faithful to the end, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For all who bear office in our land, that God would give them wisdom, protect them from danger and lead them to serve others according to His gracious will, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For our nation, that we may become a people that guards the rights of the weakest and most vulnerable among us, especially the unborn, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For comfort for God’s people in their many and various afflictions, [especially _____________,] that they may be granted healing, peace and recovery according to His will and given sure confidence that in Christ’s wounds we are healed, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For those who receive the Lord’s Supper this day, that by God’s grace and power they would return to the Lord and forsake sinful ways and thoughts; and that in receiving Christ’s body and blood they would taste with joy God’s abundant pardon, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the grieving and sorrowful, that they might have patience in tribulation and the joy of God’s salvation, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

We pray all these things in the name of our crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymn of the Day

LSB 607 From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee

The LCMS Hymn of the Day list appoints this hymn as the Hymn of the Day for Ash Wednesday (One-Year and Series A, B and C) and Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity (One-Year).

Source: LCMS Worship, Hymn of the Day — Arranged by Church Year, pp. 167, 170 (opens in a new tab). Appointment identity only. Lutheran Service Book text and LCMS study content are not reproduced.

Suggested hymns

Distribution LSB 619 Thy Body, Given for Me, O Savior
Distribution LSB 615 When in the Hour of Deepest Need
Distribution LSB 714 Who Trusts in God a Strong Abode
Closing LSB 418 O Lord, throughout These Forty Days

Source: LCMS Worship, Hymn Suggestions — One-Year Lectionary Series 2025–26 (opens in a new tab). Hymn numbers and titles only; hymn texts are not reproduced. Reproduction for individual, church or school use does not require permission. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Browse LCMS Hymn of the Day lists and studies