I know all the birds in the sky

 

Office of the Reading, Monday 15 July 2024

Psalm 50
Genuine love of God
I have come not to abolish the law but to bring it to perfection (see Matthew 5:17).

II

“Listen, my people, I will speak; *
Israel, I will testify against you,
for I am God your God. *
I accuse you, lay the charge before you.

I find no fault with your sacrifices, *
your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms, *
nor goats from among your herds.

For I own all the beasts of the forest, *
beasts in their thousands on my hills.
I know all the birds in the sky, *
all that moves in the field belongs to me.

Were I hungry, I would not tell you, *
for I own the world and all it holds.
Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
or drink the blood of goats?

Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God *
and render him your votive offerings.
Call on me in the day of distress. *
I will free you and you shall honor me.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

Ant. 3 I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.