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Psalm 46

1  God is our refuge and strength, ♦︎
   a very present help in trouble;
2  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, ♦︎
   and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea;
3  Though the waters rage and swell, ♦︎
   and though the mountains quake at the towering seas.
4  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, ♦︎
   the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
5  God is in the midst of her;
      therefore shall she not be removed; ♦︎
   God shall help her at the break of day.
6  The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, ♦︎
   but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.
7  The Lord of hosts is with us; ♦︎
   the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
8  Come and behold the works of the Lord, ♦︎
   what destruction he has wrought upon the earth.
9  He makes wars to cease in all the world; ♦︎
   he shatters the bow and snaps the spear
      and burns the chariots in the fire.
10  ‘Be still, and know that I am God; ♦︎
   I will be exalted among the nations;
      I will be exalted in the earth.’
11  The Lord of hosts is with us; ♦︎
   the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Impending Judgement on Israel and Judah

5Hear this, O priests!
   Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
   For the judgement pertains to you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah,
   and a net spread upon Tabor,
² and a pit dug deep in Shittim;^*
   but I will punish all of them.

³ I know Ephraim,
   and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
   Israel is defiled.
⁴ Their deeds do not permit them
   to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
   and they do not know the Lord.

⁵ Israel’s pride testifies against him;
   Ephraim^* stumbles in his guilt;
   Judah also stumbles with them.
⁶ With their flocks and herds they shall go
   to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him;
   he has withdrawn from them.
⁷ They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
   for they have borne illegitimate children.
   Now the new moon shall devour them along with their fields.

14 Therefore, my dear friends,^* flee from the worship of idols. ¹⁵I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸Consider the people of Israel;^* are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? ¹⁹What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. ²¹You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²²Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Do All to the Glory of God

23 ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up. ²⁴Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others. ²⁵Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, ²⁶for ‘the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.’ ²⁷If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁸But if someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice’, then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— ²⁹I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgement of someone else’s conscience? ³⁰If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. ³²Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, ³³just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. 11¹Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.