Old/New Testament
Psalm 49[a]
Confidence in God Rather than in Riches
1 For the leader. A psalm of the Korahites.[b]
2 Hear this, all you peoples!
Give ear, all who inhabit the world,
3 You of lowly birth or high estate,
rich and poor together.
4 My mouth shall speak words of wisdom,
my heart shall offer insights.(A)
5 I will turn my ear to a riddle,[c]
expound my question on a lyre.
I
6 Why should I fear in evil days,
with the iniquity of my assailants surrounding me,
7 Of those who trust in their wealth
and boast of their abundant riches?(B)
8 [d]No man can ransom even a brother,
or pay to God his own ransom.(C)
9 The redemption of his soul is costly;
and he will pass away forever.
10 Will he live on forever, then,
and never see the Pit of Corruption?
11 Indeed, he will see that the wise die,
and the fool will perish together with the senseless,(D)
and they leave their wealth to others.(E)
12 Their tombs are their homes forever,
their dwellings through all generations,
“They named countries after themselves”
13 —but man does not abide in splendor.
He is like the beasts—they perish.(F)
II
14 This is the way of those who trust in themselves,
and the end of those who take pleasure in their own mouth.
Selah
15 Like a herd of sheep they will be put into Sheol,
and Death will shepherd them.
Straight to the grave they descend,
where their form will waste away,
Sheol will be their palace.
16 But God will redeem my life,
will take me[e] from the hand of Sheol.(G)
Selah
17 Do not fear when a man becomes rich,
when the wealth of his house grows great.
18 At his death he will not take along anything,
his glory will not go down after him.(H)
19 During his life his soul uttered blessings;
“They will praise you, for you do well for yourself.”
20 But he will join the company of his fathers,
never again to see the light.(I)
21 In his prime, man does not understand.
He is like the beasts—they perish.
Psalm 50[f]
The Acceptable Sacrifice
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(J)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.(K)
3 Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
it rages strongly around him.(L)
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth to judge his people:
5 “Gather my loyal ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is the judge.(M)
Selah
II
7 “Listen, my people, I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I will not take a bullock from your house,
or he-goats from your folds.(N)
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
11 I know every bird in the heights;
whatever moves in the wild is mine.
12 Were I hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine is the world and all that fills it.(O)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of he-goats?
14 Offer praise as your sacrifice to God;(P)
fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then call on me on the day of distress;(Q)
I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.”
III
16 But to the wicked God says:
“Why do you recite my commandments
and profess my covenant with your mouth?
17 You hate discipline;
you cast my words behind you!
18 If you see a thief, you run with him;
with adulterers you throw in your lot.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil;
you yoke your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.
21 When you do these things should I be silent?
Do you think that I am like you?
I accuse you, I lay out the matter before your eyes.
IV
22 “Now understand this, you who forget God,
lest I start ripping apart and there be no rescuer.
23 Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me;
I will let him whose way is steadfast
look upon the salvation of God.”(R)
I. Address
Chapter 1
Greeting.[a] 1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus,[b] called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,(A) 2 which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures,(B) 3 [c]the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh,(C) 4 but established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.(D) 5 [d]Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,(E) 6 among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;(F) 7 to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.[e] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.(G)
Thanksgiving. 8 First, I give thanks[f] to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is heralded throughout the world.(H) 9 God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in proclaiming the gospel of his Son, that I remember you constantly,(I) 10 [g]always asking in my prayers that somehow by God’s will I may at last find my way clear to come to you.(J) 11 For I long to see you, that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened,(K) 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith, yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[h] that I often planned to come to you, though I was prevented until now, that I might harvest some fruit among you, too, as among the rest of the Gentiles.(L) 14 To Greeks[i] and non-Greeks alike, to the wise and the ignorant, I am under obligation; 15 that is why I am eager to preach the gospel also to you in Rome.(M)
II. Humanity Lost Without the Gospel
God’s Power for Salvation.[j] 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek.(N) 17 For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith;[k] as it is written, “The one who is righteous by faith will live.”(O)
Punishment of Idolaters. 18 [l]The wrath[m] of God[n] is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness(P) of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.(Q) 20 Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.(R) As a result, they have no excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.(S) 22 While claiming to be wise,(T) they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.(U)
24 Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts[o] for the mutual degradation of their bodies.(V) 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.(W) 26 Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.(X) 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper. 29 (Y)They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips 30 and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents. 31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.(Z)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.