A melody of Aʹsaph.+
50 The God of gods, Jehovah,+ has spoken;
He summons the earth
From the rising of the sun until its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,+ God shines forth.
3 Our God will come and cannot remain silent.+
Before him is a consuming fire,+
And a great storm rages all around him.+
4 He summons the heavens above and the earth,+
So as to judge his people:+
5 “Gather to me my loyal ones,
Those making a covenant with me over sacrifice.”+
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
For God himself is Judge.+ (Selah)
7 “Listen, O my people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will bear witness against you.+
I am God, your God.+
8 I do not reprove you because of your sacrifices,
Nor because of your whole burnt offerings that are constantly before me.+
9 I do not need to take a bull from your house,
Nor goats from your pens.+
10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine,+
Even the beasts upon a thousand mountains.
11 I know every bird of the mountains;+
The countless animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
For the productive land and everything in it is mine.+
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls
And drink the blood of goats?+
14 Offer thanksgiving as your sacrifice to God,+
And pay your vows to the Most High;+
15 Call on me in the time of distress.+
I will rescue you, and you will glorify me.”+
16 But God will say to the wicked:
“What right do you have to relate my regulations+
Or to speak about my covenant?+
17 For you hate discipline,
And you keep turning your back on my words.+
18 When you see a thief, you approve of him,+
And you keep company with adulterers.
19 You use your mouth to spread what is bad,
And deception is attached to your tongue.+
20 You sit and speak against your own brother;+
You reveal the faults of your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things, I remained silent,
So you thought that I would be just like you.
But now I will reprove you,
And I will state my case against you.+
22 Please consider this, you who forget God,+
So that I may not tear you to pieces with no one to rescue you.
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me,+
And as for the one who follows a set course,
I will cause him to see salvation by God.”+