Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
50 (B)The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
(C)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (D)the perfection of beauty,
(E)God shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he (F)does not keep silence;[a]
before him is a devouring (G)fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 (H)He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made (I)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 (J)The heavens declare his righteousness,
for (K)God himself is judge! Selah
7 (L)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
(M)I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices (N)do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 (O)I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
(P)for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 (Q)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and (R)perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and (S)call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will (T)deliver you, and you shall (U)glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 (V)For you hate discipline,
(W)and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, (X)you are pleased with him,
(Y)and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
(Z)and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother's son.
21 These things you have done, and I (AA)have been silent;
you thought that I[c] was one like yourself.
But now I (AB)rebuke you and (AC)lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who (AD)forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be (AE)none to deliver!
23 The one who (AF)offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who (AG)orders his way rightly
I will show the (AH)salvation of God!”
Nehemiah's Final Reforms
13 On that day (A)they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written (B)that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, (C)they separated from Israel all (D)those of foreign descent.
23 In those days also I saw the Jews (A)who had married women (B)of Ashdod, (C)Ammon, and (D)Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 25 (E)And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. (F)And I made them swear in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 (G)Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? (H)Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was (I)beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and (J)act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 And one of the sons of (K)Jehoiada, the son of (L)Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of (M)Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29 (N)Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood (O)and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30 (P)Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided (Q)for the wood offering (R)at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.
(S)Remember me, O my God, for good.
9 I wrote to you in my letter (A)not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 (B)not at all meaning (C)the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, (D)since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone (E)who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging (F)outsiders? (G)Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges[a] those outside. (H)“Purge the evil person from among you.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.