Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 82
A psalm by Asaph.
1 Elohim takes his place in his own assembly.
He pronounces judgment among the gods:
2 “How long are you going to judge unfairly?
How long are you going to side with wicked people?” Selah
3 Defend weak people and orphans.
Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
4 Rescue weak and needy people.
Help them escape the power of wicked people.
5 Wicked people do not know or understand anything.
As they walk around in the dark,
all the foundations of the earth shake.
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of Elyon.
7 You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O Elohim!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.
12 You made the Nazirites drink wine.
You commanded the prophets to stop prophesying.
13 I am going to crush you as an overloaded wagon crushes a person.
14 Runners will not be able to escape.
Strong men will find that their strength is useless.
Soldiers will not be able to save themselves.
15 Archers will not stand their ground.
Fast runners will not be able to escape.
Horsemen will not be able to save themselves.
16 Brave soldiers will run away naked that day.
Yahweh has declared this.
The Lord Will Punish Israel for Its Immoral Behavior
3 Listen to this message which I, Yahweh, have spoken against you Israelites, against your whole family that I brought out of Egypt.
2 Out of all the families on earth, I have known no one else but you.
That is why I am going to punish you for all your sins.
3 Do two people ever walk together without meeting first?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl in its den unless it has caught something?
5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there’s no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has caught something?
6 If a ram’s horn sounds an alarm in a city, won’t the people be alarmed?
If there is a disaster in a city, hasn’t Yahweh done it?
7 Certainly, Adonay Yahweh doesn’t do anything
unless he first reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared. Who isn’t afraid?
Adonay Yahweh has spoken. Who can keep from prophesying?
16 God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. 18 Those who believe in him won’t be condemned. But those who don’t believe are already condemned because they don’t believe in God’s only Son.
19 This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil. 20 People who do what is wrong hate the light and don’t come to the light. They don’t want their actions to be exposed. 21 But people who do what is true come to the light so that the things they do for God may be clearly seen.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.