Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes his stand in the divine council;
he gives judgment among the gods:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
by granting favor to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the lowly and the orphan;
maintain the right of the poor and the destitute!
4 Rescue the lowly and the needy.
Deliver them from the power of the wicked!
5 They don’t know; they don’t understand;
they wander around in the dark.
All the earth’s foundations shake.
6 I hereby declare, “You are gods,
children of the Most High—all of you!
7 But you will die like mortals;
you will fall down like any prince.”
8 Rise up, God! Judge the earth
because you hold all nations in your possession!
Introduction
1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He perceived these things concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days of Judah’s King Uzziah and in the days of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Joash’s son.
Proclamation of divine judgment
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion.
He shouts from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds wither,
and the top of Carmel dries up.
A word to Damascus
3 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Damascus,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have harvested Gilead
with sharp iron tools.
4 I will send down fire on the house of Hazael;
it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break the fortified gates of Damascus,
and eliminate the people from the Aven Valley,
including the one who rules from Beth-eden;
the people of Aram will be forced to live in Kir,
says the Lord.
A word to Gaza and Ashdod
6 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Gaza,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they rounded up entire communities,
to hand them over to Edom.
7 I will send down a fire on the wall of Gaza;
it will devour Gaza’s palaces.
8 I will eliminate the people from Ashdod,
the one who rules from Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the Philistines who remain will perish,
says the Lord God.
A word to Tyre
9 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Tyre,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have delivered up entire communities over to Edom,
and neglected their covenantal obligations.
10 So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre;
it will devour their palaces.
A word to Edom
11 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Edom,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because he chased after his brother with the sword,
denied all compassion,
kept his anger alive,
and fueled his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire on Teman;
it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.
A word to Ammon
13 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of the Ammonites,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
in order to possess more land.
14 So I will start a fire at the wall of Rabbah;
the fire will devour its palaces,
with a war cry on the day of battle,
with strong wind on the day of the storm.
15 Then their king will be taken away,
he and his officials together,
says the Lord.
A word to Moab
2 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Moab,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send down a fire on Moab;
it will devour the palaces of Kerioth.
Moab will die in a great uproar,
with a war cry, with the sound of the ram’s horn.
3 I will remove their judge from them
and slay all their officials with him,
says the Lord.
Showing faith
14 My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? 15 Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. 16 What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? 17 In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.
18 Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. 19 It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. 20 Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? 21 What about Abraham, our father? Wasn’t he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions. 23 So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous.[a] What is more, Abraham was called God’s friend. 24 So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road? 26 As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible