Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 82
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God stands among the divine council;
He renders judgment among the gods.
2 “How long will you all judge unjustly
and accept partiality of the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless;
vindicate the afflicted and needy.
4 Grant escape to the abused and the destitute,
pluck them out of the hand of the false.
5 “They have neither knowledge nor understanding;
they walk in darkness:
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”
6 I have said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you,
7 but you all shall die like men,
and fall like a man, O princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,
for You shall inherit all nations.
Judgment Against Israel’s Neighbors
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion
and utters His voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds languish,
the top of Carmel withers.
3 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 So I will send fire against the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
5 I will break the gate bar of Damascus;
from the Valley of Aven I will cut off the one enthroned,
and from Beth Eden the one who holds the scepter.
The people of Aram will go into captivity to Kir,
says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried away into exile an entire deportation,
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send fire against the wall of Gaza,
and it will devour its fortresses.
8 From Ashdod I will cut off the one enthroned
and from Ashkelon the one who holds the scepter.
I will turn My hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,
says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up an entire deportation to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of kinship.
10 So I will send fire against the wall of Tyre,
and it will devour its fortresses.
11 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword,
and repressed all pity;
his anger tore with no ceasing,
and his wrath persisted with no end.
12 So I will send fire against Teman,
and it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.
13 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead,
in order to enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah,
and it will devour its fortresses,
with a war cry on the day of battle,
with a tempest on the day of the whirlwind.
15 Their king shall go into captivity,
he and his princes together,
says the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send fire against Moab,
and it will devour the fortresses of Kerioth;
Moab will die in uproar,
with a war cry and the alarm of the trumpet.
3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will slay all its princes with him,
says the Lord.
Faith and Works
14 What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacking daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” and yet you give them nothing that the body needs, what does it profit? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
18 But a man may say, “You have faith and I have works.”
Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God; you do well. The demons also believe and tremble.
20 But do you want to be shown, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 Do you see how faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 The Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”[a] and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then how by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.