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.
A Call for Justice and Mercy
7 (A)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 (B)Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men (C)to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 (D)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and (E)the prophets, “Should I weep and (F)abstain in (G)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in (H)the fifth month and in (I)the seventh, for these (J)seventy years, (K)was it (L)for me that you fasted? 6 (M)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 (N)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed (O)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, (P)with her cities around her, and the (Q)South and the (R)lowland were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, (S)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 (T)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, (U)or the poor, and (V)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But (W)they refused to pay attention (X)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.[a] 12 (Y)They made their hearts diamond-hard (Z)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent (AA)by his Spirit through (AB)the former prophets. (AC)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 (AD)“As I[b] called, and they would not hear, (AE)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 (AF)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all (AG)the nations that they had not known. (AH)Thus the land they left was desolate, (AI)so that no one went to and fro, (AJ)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”
5 Now I want (A)to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that (B)Jesus, who saved[a] a people out of the land of Egypt, (C)afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (D)the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as (E)Sodom and Gomorrah and (F)the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and (G)pursued unnatural desire,[b] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and (H)blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when (I)the archangel (J)Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing (K)about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, (L)“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 (M)But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in (N)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain (O)to Balaam's error and (P)perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs[c] (Q)at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, (R)shepherds feeding themselves; (S)waterless clouds, (T)swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, (U)uprooted; 13 (V)wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of (W)their own shame; (X)wandering stars, (Y)for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, (Z)the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, (AA)“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 (AB)to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have (AC)committed in such an ungodly way, and of all (AD)the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, (AE)following their own sinful desires; (AF)they are loud-mouthed boasters, (AG)showing favoritism to gain advantage.
A Call to Persevere
17 But you must (AH)remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They[d] said to you, (AI)“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, (AJ)devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, (AK)building yourselves up in your most holy faith and (AL)praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 (AM)keep yourselves in the love of God, (AN)waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.