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23 Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off?(A) 24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.(B) 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, “I have dreamed! I have dreamed!”(C) 26 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 27 They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.(D) 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord.(E) 29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?(F)

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Psalm 82

A Plea for Justice

A Psalm of Asaph.

God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:(A)
“How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah(B)
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.(C)
Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”(D)

They have neither knowledge nor understanding;
    they walk around in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.(E)

I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;(F)
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals
    and fall like any prince.”[a](G)

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
    for all the nations belong to you!(H)

Footnotes

  1. 82.7 Or fall as one man, O princes

Jesus the Cause of Division

49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!(A) 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!(B) 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:

father against son
    and son against father,
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”(C)

Interpreting the Time

54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens.(D) 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.(E) 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?(F)

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