God Himself Is Judge

¹The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken,

And called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God has shone forth.

³May our God come and not be silent;

Fire devours before Him,

And a storm whirls around Him.

⁴He calls the heavens above,

And the earth, to render justice to His people:

⁵“Gather My holy ones to Me,

Those who have cut a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

⁶And the heavens declare His righteousness,

For God Himself is judge. Selah.

⁷¶“Hear, O My people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you;

I am God, your God.

⁸“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices,

And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

⁹“I shall take no young bull out of your house

Nor male goats out of your folds.

¹⁰“For every beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹“I know every bird of the mountains,

And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

¹²“If I were hungry I would not tell you,

For the world is Mine, as well as its fullness.

¹³“Shall I eat the flesh of bulls[#50:13 Lit strong ones]

Or drink the blood of male goats?

¹⁴“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving

And pay your vows to the Most High;

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of distress;

I shall rescue you, and you will glorify Me.”

¹⁶¶But to the wicked God says,

“What right have you to recount My statutes

And to take My covenant in your mouth?

¹⁷“For you hate discipline,

And you cast My words behind you.

¹⁸“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,[#50:18 Some ancient versions run together]

And you associate with adulterers.

¹⁹“You let your mouth loose in evil[#50:19 Lit send]

And you harness your tongue for deceit.

²⁰“You sit and speak against your brother;

You slander your own mother’s son.

²¹“These things you have done and I kept silent;

You thought that I was just like you;

I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

²²¶“Now consider this, you who forget God,

Lest I tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

²³“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies Me;

And he who orders his way,

I shall show the salvation of God.”