Psalm 50

New International Version

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God, the Lord,^(A)
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.^(B)
²From Zion,^(C) perfect in beauty,^(D)
    God shines forth.^(E)
³Our God comes^(F)
    and will not be silent;^(G)
a fire devours^(H) before him,^(I)
    and around him a tempest^(J) rages.
⁴He summons the heavens above,
    and the earth,^(K) that he may judge his people:^(L)
⁵“Gather to me this consecrated people,^(M)
    who made a covenant^(N) with me by sacrifice.”
⁶And the heavens proclaim^(O) his righteousness,
    for he is a God of justice.^[a]^[b]^(P)

⁷“Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify^(Q) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.^(R)
⁸I bring no charges^(S) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,^(T) which are ever before me.
⁹I have no need of a bull^(U) from your stall
    or of goats^(V) from your pens,^(W)
¹⁰for every animal of the forest^(X) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.^(Y)
¹¹I know every bird^(Z) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields^(AA) are mine.
¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world^(AB) is mine, and all that is in it.^(AC)
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴“Sacrifice thank offerings^(AD) to God,
fulfill your vows^(AE) to the Most High,^(AF)
¹⁵and call^(AG) on me in the day of trouble;^(AH)
I will deliver^(AI) you, and you will honor^(AJ) me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked person, God says:

“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant^(AK) on your lips?^(AL)
¹⁷You hate^(AM) my instruction
    and cast my words behind^(AN) you.
¹⁸When you see a thief, you join^(AO) with him;
    you throw in your lot with adulterers.^(AP)
¹⁹You use your mouth for evil
    and harness your tongue to deceit.^(AQ)
²⁰You sit and testify against your brother^(AR)
    and slander your own mother’s son.
²¹When you did these things and I kept silent,^(AS)
    you thought I was exactly^[c] like you.
But I now arraign^(AT) you
    and set my accusations^(AU) before you.

²²“Consider this, you who forget God,^(AV)
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:^(AW)
²³Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless^[d] I will show my salvation.^(AX)”

Footnotes

Psalm 50:6 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text for God himself is judge
Psalm 50:6 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Psalm 50:21 Or thought the ‘I am’ was
Psalm 50:23 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; the meaning of the Masoretic Text for this phrase is uncertain.

Zechariah 7

New International Version

Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah^(A) on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.^(B) ²The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat^(C) the Lord^(D) ³by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn^(E) and fast in the fifth^(F) month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: ⁵“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted^(G) and mourned in the fifth and seventh^(H) months for the past seventy years,^(I) was it really for me that you fasted? ⁶And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?^(J) ⁷Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets^(K) when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest^(L) and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills^(M) were settled?’”^(N)

⁸And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ⁹“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;^(O) show mercy and compassion to one another.^(P) ¹⁰Do not oppress the widow^(Q) or the fatherless, the foreigner^(R) or the poor.^(S) Do not plot evil against each other.’^(T)

¹¹“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly^(U) they turned their backs^(V) and covered their ears.^(W) ¹²They made their hearts as hard as flint^(X) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.^(Y) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.^(Z)

¹³“‘When I called, they did not listen;^(AA) so when they called, I would not listen,’^(AB) says the Lord Almighty.^(AC) ¹⁴‘I scattered^(AD) them with a whirlwind^(AE) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.^(AF) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.^(AG)’”

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Jude 5-21

New International Version

⁵Though you already know all this,^(A) I want to remind you^(B) that the Lord^[a] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.^(C) ⁶And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.^(D) ⁷In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah^(E) and the surrounding towns^(F) gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.^(G)

⁸In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.^(H) ⁹But even the archangel^(I) Michael,^(J) when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,^(K) did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”^[b]^(L) ¹⁰Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.^(M)

¹¹Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;^(N) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;^(O) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.^(P)

¹²These people are blemishes at your love feasts,^(Q) eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.^(R) They are clouds without rain,^(S) blown along by the wind;^(T) autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted^(U)—twice dead. ¹³They are wild waves of the sea,^(V) foaming up their shame;^(W) wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.^(X)

¹⁴Enoch,^(Y) the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming^(Z) with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones^(AA) ¹⁵to judge^(AB) everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”^[c]^(AC) ¹⁶These people are grumblers^(AD) and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires;^(AE) they boast^(AF) about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A Call to Persevere

¹⁷But, dear friends, remember what the apostles^(AG) of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.^(AH) ¹⁸They said to you, “In the last times^(AI) there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”^(AJ) ¹⁹These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.^(AK)

²⁰But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up^(AL) in your most holy faith^(AM) and praying in the Holy Spirit,^(AN) ²¹keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait^(AO) for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.^(AP)

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Footnotes

Jude 1:5 Some early manuscripts Jesus
Jude 1:9 Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century a.d.).
Jude 1:15 From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century b.c.)