Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song of Asaph.
The Acceptable Sacrifice
50 God, the Lord,[a] has spoken.
He has summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting place.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined forth.
3 Our God has appeared and he has not been silent;
a devouring fire blazed before him,
and a mighty storm swirled around him.
4 He summoned the heavens above
and the earth below,[b]
to sit in judgment on his people.
5 “Assemble before me, my saints,
who have entered into my covenant by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens revealed his justice,
for God is himself the judge.
7 “Listen, my people,
for I am making a pronouncement:
Israel, I, God, your God, am testifying against you.
8 I do not rebuke you because of your sacrifices;
indeed, your burnt offerings are continuously before me.
22 Consider this, you who have forgotten God—
Otherwise, I will tear you in pieces
and there will be no deliverer:
23 Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and I will reveal the salvation of God
to whomever continues in my way.”[a]
A Rebuke to Jacob and Israel
8 “The Lord[a] has sent a plague[b] against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all of the people were evil[c]—
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
saying proudly with arrogant hearts:
10 ‘The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed[d] stones;
the sycamore[e] trees have been cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.’[f]
11 But the Lord has raised adversaries[g] from Rezin[h] against him,
and he stirs up his enemies—
12 Arameans from the east
and Philistines from the west—
and they devour Israel with open mouths!
“Yet[i] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”[j]
Judgment for Not Repenting
13 “But the people have not returned to rely[k] on[l] him who struck them,
nor have they sought the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
14 So the Lord has cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed
in[m] a single day—
15 the elder and the dignitary is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
16 For those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not have pity on[n] their young men,
and has no compassion on their orphans[o] and widows,
because each of them was godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth spoke folly.
Paul’s Concern for the Jewish People
9 I am telling the truth because I belong to[a] the Messiah[b]—I am not lying, and my conscience confirms it by means of the Holy Spirit. 2 I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, 3 for I could wish that I myself were condemned[c] and cut off from the Messiah[d] for the sake of my brothers, my own people,[e] 4 who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants,[f] the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To the Israelis[g] belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah[h] descended,[i] who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all Israelis truly belong to Israel, 7 and not all of Abraham’s descendants are his true descendants. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you.”[j] 8 That is, it is not merely the children born through natural descent who were regarded as God’s children, but it is the children born through the promise who were regarded as descendants. 9 For this is the language of the promise: “At this time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[k]
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