1 A psalm of Asaph. I The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 From Zion God shines forth. perfect in beauty.
3 Our God comes and will not be silent! Devouring fire precedes, storming fiercely round about.
4 God summons the heavens above and the earth to the judgment of his people:
5 "Gather my faithful ones before me, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
6 The heavens proclaim divine justice, for God alone is the judge. Selah
7 "Listen, my people, I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you; God, your God, am I.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, nor for your holocausts, set before me daily.
9 I need no bullock from your house, no goats from your fold.
10 For every animal of the forest is mine, beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
11 I know every bird of the heavens; the creatures of the field belong to me.
12 Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for mine is the world and all that fills it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me."
16 But to the wicked God says: "Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your lips?
17 You hate discipline; you cast my words behind you!
18 When you see thieves, you befriend them; with adulterers you throw in your lot.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil; you harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit maligning your own kin, slandering the child of your own mother.
21 When you do these things should I be silent? Or do you think that I am like you? I accuse you, I lay the charge before you.
22 "Understand this, you who forget God, lest I attack you with no one to rescue.
23 Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me; to the obedient I will show the salvation of God."