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Pentecost Season · Proper 15 · Year C

Psalm 82

God Judges the Unjust Judges

August 20, 2028

The Last Judgment, Michelangelo Buonarroti
The Last Judgment, Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1537–1541Sistine Chapel, Vatican
On the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, painted thirty years after the ceiling. The nudity was painted over after Michelangelo's death; Bartolomeo's skin carries the artist's own face.Matthew 25 is the separating of sheep from goats, and this is the painting that has shaped how the West pictures it.Michelangelo BuonarrotiSculptor first and painter under protest, who spent four years on his back on the Sistine ceiling and produced the most consequential painting in Europe.Sistine Chapel, VaticanThe pope's chapel, where conclaves are held, decorated by Perugino, Botticelli and Ghirlandaio before Michelangelo was ever asked.Sistine Chapel, Vatican
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 12:49-56Lk 12:49-56
EpistleHeb. 11:29-12:2Heb 11:29-12:2
Old TestamentIsa. 5:1-7Is 5:1-7Alt. OTJer. 23:23-29Jer 23:23-29
PsalterPs. 80:1-2, 8-19Ps 80:1-2, 8-19Alt. PsalmPs. 82Ps 82

Overview & Insights

"Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!" (Psalm 82:8)

God takes a stand in the divine council to judge the rulers and judges who have failed to defend the weak and the orphan. The psalm ends with a prayer that God himself would rise up to judge the whole earth.

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Take it further: Psalm 82

Commentary

Commentary on Psalm 82:1-8Commentary on Ps 82:1-8 Working Preacher

Calls Psalm 82 the shortest and most theologically profound of the psalms on divine justice.

Psalm 82 CommentaryPs 82 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Homiletical treatment of God's judgment on unjust rulers.

Psalm 82 CommentaryPs 82 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

Verse-by-verse treatment of earthly judges standing before the great Judge.

Background & Word Study

Psalm 82Ps 82 Sefaria

Hebrew text of the psalm alongside classic Jewish commentators.

Psalm 82:1 InterlinearPs 82:1 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew text and parsing for God taking his stand in the divine council.

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