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.
18 (A)For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the (B)fury of the Lord of hosts the (C)land is burned up,
And the (D)people are like fuel for the fire;
No (E)man spares his brother.
20 [a]They slice off what is on the right hand but still are (F)hungry,
And [b]they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the (G)flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
(H)And together they are against Judah.
(I)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
Assyria Is God’s Instrument
10 Woe to those who (J)enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record [c]unjust decisions,
2 So as (K)to [d]deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of their rights,
So (L)that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the [e]orphans.
3 Now (M)what will you do in the (N)day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come (O)from afar?
(P)To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your [f]wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch [g]among the (Q)captives
Or fall [h]among the (R)slain.
(S)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
Stephen’s Defense
7 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, (A)brethren and fathers! (B)The God of glory (C)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [a]Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘(D)Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 (E)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [b]Haran. (F)From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, (G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But (H)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would [c]be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and (I)after that they will come out and [d]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (J)gave him [e]the covenant of circumcision; and so (K)Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (L)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and (M)Jacob of the twelve (N)patriarchs.
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