Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 82[a]
The Downfall of Unjust Gods
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
God takes a stand in the divine council,
gives judgment in the midst of the gods.(A)
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and favor the cause of the wicked?(B)
Selah
3 “Defend the lowly and fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Rescue the lowly and poor;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”(C)
II
5 [b]The gods neither know nor understand,
wandering about in darkness,
and all the world’s foundations shake.
6 I declare: “Gods though you be,[c](D)
offspring of the Most High all of you,
7 Yet like any mortal you shall die;
like any prince you shall fall.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,[d]
for yours are all the nations.
Judah
4 [a]Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Judah, and now four—
I will not take it back—
Because they spurned the instruction of the Lord,(A)
and did not keep his statutes;
Because the lies[b] which their ancestors followed
have led them astray,
5 I will send fire upon Judah,
and it will devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Israel,[c] and now four—
I will not take it back—
Because they hand over the just for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals;(B)
7 They trample the heads of the destitute
into the dust of the earth,
and force the lowly out of the way.
Son and father sleep with the same girl,[d]
profaning my holy name.
8 Upon garments taken in pledge
they recline beside any altar.[e](C)
Wine at treasury expense
they drink in their temples.
9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,
who were as tall as cedars,
and as strong as oak trees.
I destroyed their fruit above
and their roots beneath.(D)
10 It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and who led you through the desert for forty years,
to occupy the land of the Amorites;
11 I who raised up prophets among your children,
and nazirites[f] among your young men.
Is this not so, Israelites?—
oracle of the Lord.
9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him(A) 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who put him in charge of Egypt and [of] his entire household.(B) 11 Then a famine and great affliction struck all Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food;(C) 12 but when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there a first time.(D) 13 The second time, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.(E) 14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob, inviting him and his whole clan, seventy-five persons;(F) 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. And he and our ancestors died(G) 16 and were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor at Shechem.(H)
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