Psalms 50
1 A Melody of Asaph. El, Elohim, Yahweh, hath spoken, and culled the earth, From the rising of the sun, unto the going in thereof:
God, the all-powerful one, speaks; he summons all people, from the east to the west.
2 Out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God, hath shone forth.
His glory shines from Zion [Hill in Jerusalem], an extremely beautiful city.
3 Let our God come, and let him not keep silence! A fire—before him, shall devour, And, around him, hath it become exceeding tempestuous:
Our God comes to us, and he is not silent. A great fire is in front of him, and a storm is around him.
4 He calleth, Unto the heavens above, And unto the earth, That he may judge his people.
He comes to judge his people. He shouts to the [angels in] heaven and to [the people on] the earth.
5 Gather yourselves unto me—ye my men of lovingkindness, Who have solemnised my covenant over sacrifice.
He says, “Summon those who faithfully [worship] me, those who made an agreement with me by offering sacrifices to me.”
6 Now have the heavens declared his righteousness, Because, God, is, about to judge. (Selah)
The [angels in] heaven declare, “God is righteous, and he is the supreme judge.”
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will adjure thee, God, thine own God, I am: —
God says, “My people, listen! You Israeli people, listen, as I, your God, say what you have done that is wrong.
8 Not, for thy sacrifices, will I reprove thee, Nor for thine ascending-offerings, before me continually:
I am not rebuking you for making sacrifices to me, for the offerings that you completely burn [on the altar].
9 I will not take out of thy house—a bullock, Nor out of thy folds—he-goats;
But I do not really need [you to sacrifice] the bulls from your barns and the goats from your pens,
10 For, mine, is every wild-beast of the forest, The cattle on the mountains, in their thousands;
because all the animals in the forest belong to me, [and all] the cattle on 1,000 hills also belong to me.
11 I know every bird of the mountains, And, the moving things of the plain, are with me:
I [own and] know all the birds and all [the creatures] that move around in the fields.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, For, mine, is the world, and the fulness thereof.
[So], if I were hungry, I would not tell you [to bring me some food], because everything in the world belongs to me!
13 Will I eat the flesh of mighty oxen? Or, the blood of he-goats, will I drink?
I do not eat the flesh of the bulls [that you sacrifice], and I do not drink the blood of the goats [that you offer to me].
14 Sacrifice to God a thankoffering, And pay to the Most High thy vows;
The sacrifice [that I really want is that] you thank me and do all that you have promised to do.
15 Call upon me, then, in the day of distress, I will deliver thee, that thou mayest glorify me.
And pray to me when you have troubles. [If you do that], I will rescue you, and [then] you will praise me.
16 But, to the lawless one, God saith, What hast, thou, to do, to recount my statutes? Or that thou hast taken up my covenant upon thy mouth?
But I say this to the wicked people: (Why do you/It does not benefit you at all to) [RHQ] recite my commandments or talk about the agreement that I made with you,
17 Seeing that, thou, hast hated correction, And hast cast my words behind thee;
because you have refused to allow me to discipline you, and you have rejected what I told you to do.
18 If thou sawest a thief, then didst thou run with him, —And, with adulterers, hath been thy chosen life;
Every time that you see a thief, you become his friend, and you spend [much] time with those who commit adultery.
19 Thy mouth, hast thou thrust into wickedness, And, thy tongue, kept weaving deceit;
You are [always] talking [MTY] about doing wicked things, and you are [always] to deceive people.
20 Thou wouldst sit down—Against thine own brother, wouldst thou speak, Against thine own mother’s son, wouldst thou expose a fault: —
You are always accusing members of your own family [of doing wrong], and slandering them.
21 These things, hast thou done, and I have kept silence, Thou thoughtest that I should really be like thyself, I will convict thee, yea I will set [thine offences] in order before thine eyes.
You did [all] those things, and I did not say anything to you, [so] you thought that I was [a sinner] just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you, right in front of you.
22 Understand this, I pray you, ye forgetters of GOD, Lest I tear in pieces, and there be none to deliver: —
So, all you who have ignored me, pay attention to this, because if you do not, I will tear you to pieces, and there will be no one to rescue you.
23 He that sacrificeth a thankoffering, will glorify me, —And will prepare a way by which I may show him the salvation of God.
The sacrifice that [truly] honors me is to thank me [for what I have done]; and I will save those who always do the things that I want them to.”
