Psalm 50:7-15
New Catholic Bible
7 [a]“Listen, my people, and I will speak.
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
for your burnt offerings are constantly before me.
9 “I will not accept a young bull from your homes
or goats from your folds.
10 For all the living creatures of the forest are mine,
animals by the thousands on my hills.
11 I know every bird of the air,
and whatever moves in the fields belongs to me.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that it holds.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then if you cry out to me in time of trouble,
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 50:7 Pagans might have imagined that they owed food subsidies to their gods; the Lord has no need of our earthly goods, for everything belongs to him. This diatribe against purely external worship occurs often in the Bible, notably in the Prophets (see 1 Sam 15:22; 1 Chr 29:16-19; Isa 1:10-16; 29:13f; 58:1-8; Jer 6:20; 7:21; Hos 6:6; Joel 2:12; Mic 6:5-8; Zec 7:4-6; Mal 1:10) and is also found elsewhere in the Psalter (see Pss 40:7-9; 51:18f, etc.). The passages do not condemn sacrifices or worship in general, but only the formalism that is satisfied with performing external rites. We cannot bribe God; we can only acknowledge him by prayer and thanksgiving: this was the constant attitude of Jesus toward his Father. Truly religious persons are aware of their limitations; they await everything from God and realize that they owe him everything. The Gospel will lay a heavy emphasis on this teaching (see Mt 5:23; 12:7; Mk 12:33), and Paul will in turn repeat it in his instruction on worship in spirit (Rom 12:1; Phil 2:17; 3:3).
Psalm 50:7-15
New International Version
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify(A) against you, Israel:
I am God, your God.(B)
8 I bring no charges(C) against you concerning your sacrifices
or concerning your burnt offerings,(D) which are ever before me.
9 I have no need of a bull(E) from your stall
or of goats(F) from your pens,(G)
10 for every animal of the forest(H) is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.(I)
11 I know every bird(J) in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields(K) are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world(L) is mine, and all that is in it.(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
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