The Book of Psalms

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 50 -

The mighty one calls

A Psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord has spoken, and he has called the earth, from the rising of the sun even to its setting,

from Zion, the brilliance of his beauty.

God will arrive manifestly. Our God also will not keep silence. A fire will flare up in his sight, and a mighty tempest will surround him.

He will call to heaven from above, and to the earth, to discern his people.

Gather his holy ones to him, you who order his covenant above sacrifices.

And the heavens will announce his justice. For God is the judge.

Listen, my people, and I will speak. Listen, Israel, and I will testify for you. I am God, your God.

I will not reprove you for your sacrifices. Moreover, your holocausts are ever in my sight.

I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocks.

For all the wild beasts of the forest are mine: the cattle on the hills and the oxen.

I know all the flying things of the air, and the beauty of the field is with me.

If I should be hungry, I would not tell you: for the whole world is mine, and all its plentitude.

Shall I gnaw on the flesh of bulls? Or would I drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High.

And call upon me in the day of tribulation. I will rescue you, and you will honor me.

But to the sinner, God has said: Why do you discourse on my justices, and take up my covenant through your mouth?

Truly, you have hated discipline, and you have cast my sermons behind you.

If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and you have placed your portion with adulterers.(a)

Your mouth has abounded with malice, and your tongue has concocted deceits.

Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and you set up a scandal against your mother’s son.

These things you have done, and I was silent. You thought, unjustly, that I ought to be like you. But I will reprove you, and I will set myself against your face.

Understand these things, you who forget God; lest at any time, he might quickly take you away, and there would be no one to rescue you.

The sacrifice of praise will honor me. And in that place is the journey by which I will reveal to him the salvation of God.

Footnotes

(a)49:18 Some take part in adultery and other sins, not by committing those acts themselves, but by supporting and encouraging those who do so.(Conte)

The mighty one calls

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.

Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.

He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:

“Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.

“Hear, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.

I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me.

I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens.

For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills.

I know all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field are mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.

Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,

since you hate instruction, and throw my words behind you?

When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with adulterers.

“You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother’s son.

You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.

“Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.

Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”