Psalm 50

English Standard Version

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

50 ^(B)The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    ^(C)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
²Out of Zion, ^(D)the perfection of beauty,
    ^(E)God shines forth.

³Our God comes; he ^(F)does not keep silence;^[a]
    before him is a devouring ^(G)fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
⁴^(H)He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵“Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made ^(I)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
⁶^(J)The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for ^(K)God himself is judge! Selah

⁷^(L)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    ^(M)I am God, your God.
⁸Not for your sacrifices ^(N)do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹^(O)I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    ^(P)for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴^(Q)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^[b]
    and ^(R)perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵and ^(S)call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will ^(T)deliver you, and you shall ^(U)glorify me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
¹⁷^(V)For you hate discipline,
    ^(W)and you cast my words behind you.
¹⁸If you see a thief, ^(X)you are pleased with him,
    ^(Y)and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    ^(Z)and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother's son.
²¹These things you have done, and I ^(AA)have been silent;
    you thought that I^[c] was one like yourself.
But now I ^(AB)rebuke you and ^(AC)lay the charge before you.

²²“Mark this, then, you who ^(AD)forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be ^(AE)none to deliver!
²³The one who ^(AF)offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who ^(AG)orders his way rightly
    I will show the ^(AH)salvation of God!”