Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken,
And called 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 be silent;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And (G)a storm whirls around Him.
4 He (H)calls the heavens above,
And the earth, to render justice to His people:
5 “Gather My (I)holy ones to Me,
Those who have cut 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 Yahweh 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 back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
10 Woe to those who (J)enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record [c]mischief,
2 So as (K)to turn the poor away from their cause
And rob the afflicted of My people of their justice,
So (L)that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the [d]orphans.
3 Now (M)what will you do in the (N)day of visitation,
And in the devastation which will come (O)from afar?
(P)To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your [e]glory?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch [f]among the (Q)captives
Or fall [g]among those (R)killed.
(S)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back
And His hand is still stretched out.
Stephen’s Defense
7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, (A)brothers 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 (G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his seed after him, even when he had no child. 6 But (H)God spoke in this way, that his seed would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would [c]be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And I Myself will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved,’ 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 was the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (L)Isaac was the father of Jacob, and (M)Jacob of the twelve (N)patriarchs.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.