Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth (B)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone forth.
3 May our God (E)come and not keep silence;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And it is very (G)tempestuous around Him.
4 He (H)summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My (I)godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. [b]Selah.
7 “(N)Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify [c]against you;
I am God, (O)your God.
8 “I do (P)not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 “I shall take no (Q)young bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 “For (R)every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 “I know every (S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is [d]Mine.
12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the (T)world is Mine, and [e]all it contains.
13 “Shall I eat the flesh of [f](U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 “Offer to God (V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And (W)pay your vows to the Most High;
15 (X)Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take (AA)My covenant in your mouth?
17 “For you (AB)hate discipline,
And you (AC)cast My words behind you.
18 “When you see a thief, you [g](AD)are pleased with him,
And [h]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 “You [i](AF)let your mouth loose in evil
And your (AG)tongue frames deceit.
20 “You sit and (AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 “These things you have done and (AI)I kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
Hearts like Flint
7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is (A)Chislev. 2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and [a]their men to [b](B)seek the favor of the Lord, 3 speaking to the (C)priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the (D)fifth month [c]and abstain, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months [d]these (E)seventy years, was it actually for (F)Me that you fasted? 6 When you eat and drink, [e]do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? 7 Are not these the words which the Lord (G)proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and [f](H)prosperous along with its cities around it, and the [g](I)Negev and the [h]foothills were inhabited?’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, 9 “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘(J)Dispense true justice and practice (K)kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and (L)do not oppress the widow or the [i]orphan, the [j]stranger or the poor; and do (M)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they (N)refused to pay attention and [k](O)turned a stubborn shoulder and [l](P)stopped their ears from hearing. 12 They made their (Q)hearts like [m](R)flint [n]so that they could not hear the law and the (S)words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the (T)former prophets; therefore great (U)wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 And just as (V)He called and they would not listen, so (W)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts; 14 “but I [o](X)scattered them with a (Y)storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is (Z)desolated behind them [p]so that (AA)no one went back and forth, for they (AB)made the pleasant land desolate.”
5 Now I desire to (A)remind you, though (B)you know all things once for all, that [a]the Lord, (C)after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, [b]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (D)angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has (E)kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as (F)Sodom and Gomorrah and the (G)cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and (H)went after [c]strange flesh, are exhibited as an [d](I)example in undergoing the (J)punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, (K)defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile [e]angelic majesties. 9 But (L)Michael (M)the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about (N)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “(O)The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But (P)these men revile the things which they do not understand; and (Q)the things which they know by instinct, (R)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are [f]destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone (S)the way of Cain, and for pay [g]they have rushed headlong into (T)the error of Balaam, and (U)perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the men who are [h]hidden reefs (V)in your love feasts when they feast with you (W)without fear, caring for themselves; (X)clouds without water, (Y)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, [i]doubly dead, (Z)uprooted; 13 (AA)wild waves of the sea, casting up (AB)their own [j]shame like foam; wandering stars, (AC)for whom the [k]black darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these men that (AD)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “(AE)Behold, the Lord came with [l]many thousands of His holy ones, 15 (AF)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which (AG)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are (AH)grumblers, finding fault, (AI)following after their own lusts; [m]they speak (AJ)arrogantly, flattering people (AK)for the sake of gaining an advantage.
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
17 But you, (AL)beloved, (AM)ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by (AN)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “(AO)In the last time there will be mockers, (AP)following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, [n](AQ)worldly-minded, [o]devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, (AR)beloved, (AS)building yourselves up on your most holy (AT)faith, (AU)praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, (AV)waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.