A psalm written by Asaph

50 God, the all-powerful one, speaks;

he summons all people,

from the east to the west.

2 His glory shines from Zion Hill in Jerusalem,

an extremely beautiful city.

3 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 comes to judge his people.

He shouts to the angels in heaven

and to the people on the earth.

5 He says, “Summon those who faithfully worship me,

those who made an agreement with me by offering sacrifices to me.”

6 The angels in heaven declare,

“God is righteous,

and he is the supreme judge.”

(Think about that!)

7 God says, “My people, listen!

You Israeli people, listen,

as I, your God, say what you have done that is wrong.

8 I am not rebuking you for making sacrifices to me,

for the offerings that you completely burn on the altar.

9 But I do not really need you to sacrifice

the bulls from your barns and the goats from your pens,

10 because all the animals in the forest belong to me,

and all the cattle on 1,000 hills also belong to me.

11 I own and know all the birds

and all the creatures that move around in the fields.

12 So, if I were hungry, I would not tell you to bring me some food,

because everything in the world belongs to me!

13 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 The sacrifice that I really want is that you thank me

and do all that you have promised to do.

15 And pray to me when you have troubles.

If you do that, I will rescue you, and then you will praise me.

16 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 because you have refused to allow me to discipline you,

and you have rejected what I told you to do.

18 Every time that you see a thief, you become his friend,

and you spend much time with those who commit adultery.

19 You are always talking [MTY] about doing wicked things,

and you are always trying to deceive people.

20 You are always accusing members of your own family of doing wrong,

and slandering them.

21 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 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 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.”