Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 53[a]
For the choir director; according to mahalath,[b] a maskil by David.
1 Godless fools say in their hearts,
“There is no Elohim.”
They are corrupt.
They do disgusting things.
There is no one who does good things.
2 Elohim looks down from heaven on Adam’s descendants
to see if there is anyone who acts wisely,
if there is anyone who seeks help from Elohim.
3 Everyone has fallen away.
Together they have become rotten to the core.
No one, not even one person, does good things.
4 Are all those troublemakers,
those who devour my people as if they were devouring food,
so ignorant that they do not call on Elohim?
5 There they are—panic-stricken—
but there was no reason to panic,
because Elohim has scattered the bones
of those who set up camp against you.[c]
You put them to shame.
After all, Elohim has rejected them.
6 If only salvation for Israel would come from Zion!
When Elohim restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice.
Israel will be glad.
The Year to Honor the Lord
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Tell the Israelites: When you come into the land I’m giving you, the land will celebrate a year to honor Yahweh. 3 Then, for six years you may plant crops in your fields, prune your vineyards, and gather what they produce. 4 However, the seventh year will be a festival year for the land. It will be a year to honor Yahweh. Don’t plant crops in your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Don’t harvest what grows by itself or harvest grapes from your vines. That year will be a festival for the land. 6 Whatever the land produces during that year is for all of you to eat—for you, your male and female slaves, your hired workers, foreigners among you, 7 your animals and the wild animals in your land. Everything the land produces will be yours to eat.
The Jubilee for the Land
8 “Count seven of these years seven times for a total of 49 years. 9 On the tenth day of the seventh month, the special day for the payment for sin, sound rams’ horns throughout the country. 10 Set apart the fiftieth year as holy, and proclaim liberty to everyone living in the land. This is your jubilee year. Every slave will be freed in order to return to his property and to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee year. Don’t plant or harvest what grows by itself or pick grapes from the vines in the land. 12 The jubilee year will be holy to you. You will eat what the field itself produces.
13 “In this jubilee year every slave will be freed in order to return to his property. 14 If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from him, don’t take advantage of him. 15 When you buy property from your neighbor, take into account the number of years since the jubilee. Your neighbor must sell it to you taking into account the number of crops until the next jubilee. 16 If there are still many years until the jubilee, you will pay more for it. If there are only a few years until the jubilee, you will pay less for it because he is selling you only the number of crops. 17 Never take advantage of each other. Fear your Elohim, because I am Yahweh your Elohim.
18 “Obey my laws, and carefully follow my rules. Then you will live securely in the land. 19 The land will give you its products, and you will eat all you want and live there securely.
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the lamb’s wedding banquet.’” He also told me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 I bowed at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Don’t do that! I am your coworker and a coworker of the Christians who hold on to the testimony of Yeshua. Worship God, because the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy!”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.