Psalm 50

³From where the sun rises to where it sets, the name of the Lord is praised.

³²All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

²²“The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today.

⁸The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken—who will not prophesy?

¹⁸You show loving devotion to thousands but lay the iniquity of the fathers into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of Hosts,

¹⁹the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

²Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.

²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

²Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

¹⁶He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

¹⁵Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

²He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

³⁵And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

¹⁰A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.

²So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the Lord.

¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

³Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side.

⁴His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.

¹“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

²⁸Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

¹Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

²Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.

²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

¹⁹I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,

¹Hear now what the Lord says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

²Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

³When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the Lord, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”

⁴And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁸This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

³Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—

⁴Sing to the Lord, O you His saints, and praise His holy name.

⁶The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory.

⁷but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

⁵The heavens praise Your wonders, O Lord—Your faithfulness as well—in the assembly of the holy ones.

²For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”

⁹For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

¹⁶The Lord is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

⁸Hear, O My people, and I will warn you: O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!

²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

⁹Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the Lord, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.

⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

⁶And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel.

⁵This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,

⁴because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.

⁶For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

¹¹“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

¹²When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts?

⁶Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.

⁷Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll:

¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

²¹This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!

²²For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,

⁶With what shall I come before the Lord when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

⁷Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁴because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.

²⁵Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

³¹And this will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

²³You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.

²⁴You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.

⁵By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.

⁶So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.

⁶You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:

⁷all sheep and oxen, and even the beasts of the field,

¹⁴He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:

³⁸Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

²⁴How many are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

²⁵Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.

¹⁴But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

¹⁵For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

²⁶Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”

²¹So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?

²⁷Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?

²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!

²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

⁹He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.

⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

¹⁴Behold, to the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.

¹A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.

²For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

²⁶for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”

²⁷If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.

¹¹Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to mankind.

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

¹²Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.

²¹If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

²¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

²²Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.

¹²How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?

¹³I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

²⁸Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.

¹⁵When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

³Magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.

⁴I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

¹⁹Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.

⁹This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

¹³Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

¹³Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

³⁶But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

³⁷Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

¹⁴The Lord confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

¹⁷Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;

¹⁸if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;

⁹It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded them, declares the Lord.

²⁶But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

³For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

⁴So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

²⁹For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord.

¹⁰and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

¹¹For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie,

⁹You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.

³²Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

²²Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

⁴Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.

²⁰He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.”

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

⁵Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.

⁸But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

³You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah

³For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.

⁴No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

²¹Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

¹⁶You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

¹⁸The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁰And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹⁸May lying lips be silenced—lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.

⁴Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

⁵But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

¹A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

¹¹Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?

⁷They say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”

⁸Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

⁸You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

¹³Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

¹⁷The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.

²or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

⁴In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

¹⁸You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.

⁵He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from the God of his salvation.

¹²I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.

¹⁴Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.