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 [b]the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone.
3 May our God (E)come and not keep silent;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And a storm is violently (G)raging 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. Selah
God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8 The Lord sends a [a]message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
9 And all the people know it,
That is, (A)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Asserting in pride and in (B)arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will (C)rebuild with smooth stones;
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord raises superior adversaries against them from (D)Rezin
And provokes their enemies,
12 The Arameans from the east and the (E)Philistines from the west;
And they (F)devour Israel with [b]gaping jaws.
(G)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away,
And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people (H)do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they (I)seek the Lord of armies.
14 So the Lord cuts off (J)head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush (K)in a single day.
15 The head is (L)the elder and esteemed man,
And the prophet who teaches (M)falsehood is the tail.
16 (N)For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are [c]confused.
17 Therefore the Lord does (O)not rejoice over their young men,
(P)Nor does He have compassion on their [d]orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is (Q)godless and an (R)evildoer,
And every (S)mouth is speaking foolishness.
(T)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away,
And His hand is still stretched out.
Deep Concern for Israel
9 (A)I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For (B)I could [a]wish that I myself were (C)accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen (D)according to the flesh, 4 who are (E)Israelites, to whom belongs (F)the adoption as sons and daughters, (G)the glory, (H)the covenants, (I)the giving of the Law, (J)the temple service, and (K)the promises; 5 whose are (L)the fathers, and (M)from whom is the [b]Christ according to the flesh, (N)who is over all, (O)God (P)blessed [c]forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though (Q)the word of God has failed. (R)For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children (S)because they are Abraham’s [d](T)descendants, but: “[e](U)through Isaac your [f]descendants shall be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh [g]who are (V)children of God, but the (W)children of the promise are regarded as [h](X)descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: “(Y)At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
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