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Psalm 7

1  O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; ♦︎
   save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me,
2  Lest they rend me like a lion and tear me in pieces ♦︎
   while there is no one to help me.
3  O Lord my God, if I have done these things: ♦︎
   if there is any wickedness in my hands,
4  If I have repaid my friend with evil, ♦︎
   or plundered my enemy without a cause,
5  Then let my enemy pursue me and overtake me, ♦︎
   trample my life to the ground,
      and lay my honour in the dust.
6  Rise up, O Lord, in your wrath;
      lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies. ♦︎
   Awaken, my God, the judgement that you have commanded.
7  Let the assembly of the peoples gather round you; ♦︎
   be seated high above them: O Lord, judge the nations.
8  Give judgement for me
      according to my righteousness, O Lord, ♦︎
   and according to the innocence that is in me.
9  Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
      but establish the righteous; ♦︎
   for you test the mind and heart, O righteous God.
10  God is my shield that is over me; ♦︎
   he saves the true of heart.
11  God is a righteous judge; ♦︎
   he is provoked all day long.
12  If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; ♦︎
   he has bent his bow and made it ready.
13  He has prepared the weapons of death; ♦︎
   he makes his arrows shafts of fire.
14  Behold those who are in labour with wickedness, ♦︎
   who conceive evil and give birth to lies.
15  They dig a pit and make it deep ♦︎
   and fall into the hole that they have made for others.
16  Their mischief rebounds on their own head; ♦︎
   their violence falls on their own scalp.
17  I will give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness, ♦︎
   and I will make music to the name of the Lord Most High.

⁹ Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod,
   and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, ‘Assemble yourselves on Mount^* Samaria,
   and see what great tumults are within it,
   and what oppressions are in its midst.’
¹⁰ They do not know how to do right, says the Lord,
   those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.
¹¹ Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
An adversary shall surround the land,
   and strip you of your defence;
   and your strongholds shall be plundered.

12 Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part^* of a bed.

¹³ Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,
   says the Lord God, the God of hosts:
¹⁴ On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,
   I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
   and fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;
   and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses^* shall come to an end,

says the Lord.

4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
   who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
   who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’
² The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
   The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
   even the last of you with fish-hooks.
³ Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
   each one straight ahead;
   and you shall be flung out into Harmon,^*

says the Lord.
⁴ Come to Bethel—and transgress;
   to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
   your tithes every three days;
⁵ bring a thank-offering of leavened bread,
   and proclaim freewill-offerings, publish them;
   for so you love to do, O people of Israel!

says the Lord God.

Warning against Partiality

2My brothers and sisters,^* do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?^{* 2}For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, ³and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’,^{* 4}have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.^* Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? ⁷Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?