Psalm 50
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 50
The Acceptable Sacrifice
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(A)
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.(B)
3 Our God comes and does not keep silent;
before him is a devouring fire
and a mighty tempest all around him.(C)
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:(D)
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”(E)
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah(F)
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.(G)
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.(H)
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.(I)
10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.(J)
11 I know all the birds of the air,[a]
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all that is in it is mine.(K)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and pay your vows to the Most High.(L)
15 Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”(M)
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?(N)
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.(O)
18 You make friends with a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.(P)
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own mother’s child.(Q)
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.(R)
Psalm 73
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Book III
(Psalms 73–89)
Psalm 73
Plea for Relief from Oppressors
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.(A)
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.(B)
3 For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(C)
4 For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.(D)
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.(E)
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.(F)
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.(G)
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them[a]
and find no fault in them.[b]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”(H)
12 Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.(I)
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.(J)
14 For all day long I have been plagued
and am punished every morning.(K)
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,(L)
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.(M)
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.(N)
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!(O)
20 They are[c] like a dream when one awakes;
on awaking you despise their phantoms.(P)
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like a brute beast toward you.(Q)
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me with honor.[d](R)
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.(S)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[e] of my heart and my portion forever.(T)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.