Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 50[a]
A psalm by Asaph.
50 El, God, the Lord[b] has spoken,
and summoned the earth to come from the east and west.[c]
2 From Zion, the most beautiful of all places,[d]
God has come in splendor.[e]
3 “May our God come
and not be silent.”
Consuming fire goes ahead of him,
and all around him a storm rages.[f]
4 He summons the heavens above,
as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people.[g]
5 He says:[h]
“Assemble my covenant people before me,[i]
those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice.”[j]
6 The heavens declare his fairness,[k]
for God is judge.[l] (Selah)
7 He says:[m]
“Listen, my people. I am speaking!
Listen, Israel. I am accusing you.[n]
I am God, your God!
8 I am not condemning[o] you because of your sacrifices,
or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.[p]
18 For[a] evil burned like a fire,[b]
it consumed thorns and briers;
it burned up the thickets of the forest,
and they went up in smoke.[c]
19 Because of the anger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the land was scorched,[d]
and the people became fuel for the fire.[e]
People had no compassion on one another.[f]
20 They devoured[g] on the right, but were still hungry;
they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.
People even ate[h] the flesh of their own arm![i]
21 Manasseh fought against[j] Ephraim,
and Ephraim against Manasseh;
together they fought against Judah.
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.[k]
10 Beware, those who enact unjust policies;[l]
those who are always instituting unfair regulations,[m]
2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,
and to deprive[n] the oppressed among my people of justice,
so they can steal what widows own,
and loot what belongs to orphans.[o]
3 What will you do on judgment day,[p]
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed.[q]
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.[r]
Stephen’s Defense Before the Council
7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?”[a] 2 So he replied,[b] “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather[c] Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your country and from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you.’[d] 4 Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God[e] made him move[f] to this country where you now live. 5 He[g] did not give any of it to him for an inheritance,[h] not even a foot of ground,[i] yet God[j] promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him,[k] even though Abraham[l] as yet had no child. 6 But God spoke as follows: ‘Your[m] descendants will be foreigners[n] in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for 400 years.[o] 7 But I will punish[p] the nation they serve as slaves,’ said God, ‘and after these things they will come out of there[q] and worship[r] me in this place.’[s] 8 Then God[t] gave Abraham[u] the covenant[v] of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old,[w] and Isaac became the father of[x] Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.[y]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.