A psalm written by Asaph

1God, the all-powerful one, speaks;
he summons all people, from the east to the west.

2His glory shines from Zion Hill in Jerusalem, an extremely beautiful city.

3Our God comes to us, and he is not silent. A great fire is in front of him, and a storm is around him.

4He comes to judge his people.
He shouts to the angels in heaven and to the people on the earth.

5He says, “Summon those who faithfully worship me, those who made an agreement with me by offering sacrifices to me.”

6The angels in heaven declare, “God is righteous,
and he is the supreme judge.” (Think about that!)

7God says, “My people, listen! You Israeli people, listen, as I, your God, say what you have done that is wrong.

8I am not rebuking you for making sacrifices to me, for the offerings that you completely burn on the altar.

9But I do not really need you to sacrifice the bulls from your barns and the goats from your pens,

10because all the animals in the forest belong to me, and all the cattle on 1,000 hills also belong to me.

11I own and know all the birds and all the creatures that move around in the fields.

12So, if I were hungry, I would not tell you to bring me some food, because everything in the world belongs to me!

13I 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.

14The sacrifice that I really want is that you thank me and do all that you have promised to do.

15And pray to me when you have troubles. If you do that, I will rescue you, and then you will praise me.

16But 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,

17because you have refused to allow me to discipline you, and you have rejected what I told you to do.

18Every time that you see a thief, you become his friend, and you spend much time with those who commit adultery.

19You are always talking [MTY] about doing wicked things, and you are always trying to deceive people.

20You are always accusing members of your own family of doing wrong, and slandering them.

21You 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.

22So, 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.

23The 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.”