Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
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.
God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8 The Lord sends a [a]message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
9 And all the people know it,
That is, (A)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Asserting in pride and in (B)arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will (C)rebuild with smooth stones;
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord raises against them adversaries from (D)Rezin
And spurs their enemies on,
12 The Arameans on the east and the (E)Philistines on the west;
And they (F)devour Israel with [b]gaping jaws.
(G)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people (H)do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they (I)seek the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cuts off (J)head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush (K)in a single day.
15 The head is (L)the elder and honorable man,
And the prophet who teaches (M)falsehood is the tail.
16 (N)For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are [c]brought to confusion.
17 Therefore the Lord does (O)not take pleasure in their young men,
(P)Nor does He have pity on their [d]orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is (Q)godless and an (R)evildoer,
And every (S)mouth is speaking foolishness.
(T)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
Solicitude for Israel
9 (A)I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For (B)I could [a]wish that I myself were (C)accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen (D)according to the flesh, 4 who are (E)Israelites, to whom belongs (F)the adoption as sons, and (G)the glory and (H)the covenants and (I)the giving of the Law and (J)the temple service and (K)the promises, 5 whose are (L)the fathers, and (M)from whom is [b]the Christ according to the flesh, (N)who is over all, (O)God (P)blessed [c]forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though (Q)the word of God has failed. (R)For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children (S)because they are Abraham’s [d]descendants, but: “[e](T)through Isaac your [f]descendants will be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are (U)children of God, but the (V)children of the promise are regarded as [g]descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: “(W)At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.