Psalm 48-50

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁴ Then the kings assembled;
    they came on together.^(D)
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight;^(E)
6 trembling took hold of them there,
    pains as of a woman in labor,
⁷ as when an east wind shatters
    the ships of Tarshish.^(F)
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
    which God establishes forever. Selah

⁹ We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
¹⁰ Your name, O God, like your praise,
    reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.^(G)
11     Let Mount Zion be glad;
let the towns^[a] of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments.^(H)

¹² Walk about Zion; go all around it;
    count its towers;
¹³ consider well its ramparts;
    go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation^(I)
14     that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will be our guide forever.^(J)

⁵ Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,^(N)
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?^(O)
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life;^[b]
    there is no price one can give to God for it.^(P)
8 For the ransom of life is costly
    and can never suffice,^(Q)
9 that one should live on forever
    and never see the Pit.^(R)

¹⁰ When we look at the wise, they die;
    fool and dolt perish together
    and leave their wealth to others.^(S)
11 Their graves^[c] are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they named lands their own.^(T)
12 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
    they are like the animals that perish.^(U)

¹³ Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
    the end of those^[d] who are pleased with their lot. Selah^(V)
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,^[e]
    and their form shall waste away;
    Sheol shall be their home.^[f](W)
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah^(X)

¹⁶ Do not be afraid when some become rich,
    when the wealth of their houses increases.^(Y)
17 For when they die they will carry nothing away;
    their wealth will not go down after them.^(Z)
18 Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
    —for you are praised when you do well for yourself—^(AA)
19 they^[g] will go to the company of their ancestors,
    who will never again see the light.^(AB)
20 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
    they are like the animals that perish.^(AC)

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

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

¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    for the world and all that is in it is mine.^(AN)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^[i]
    and pay your vows to the Most High.^(AO)
15 Call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”^(AP)

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says,
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?^(AQ)
17 For you hate discipline,
    and you cast my words behind you.^(AR)
18 You make friends with a thief when you see one,
    and you keep company with adulterers.^(AS)

¹⁹ You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰ You sit and speak against your kin;
    you slander your own mother’s child.^(AT)
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
    you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.^(AU)

²² Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.^(AV)
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me;
    to those who go the right way,^[j]
    I will show the salvation of God.”