◀ All Reading Plans / Book of Common Prayer / Ps. 146 147; Ps. 111 112 113; Isa. 43:8–13; 1 Pet. 2:2–10; John 14:1–7 (New English Translation)

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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.

Duration: 861 days

Psalm 146-147

Psalm 146^[a]

146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
²I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
³Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.^[b]
⁴Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.^[c]
⁵How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,^[d]
⁷vindicates the oppressed,^[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
⁸The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.^[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
⁹The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,^[g]
but he opposes the wicked.^[h]
¹⁰The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.^[i]
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147^[j]

147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,^[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
²The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
³He heals^[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
⁴He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
⁵Our Lord is great and has awesome power;^[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.^[n]
⁶The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks^[o] the wicked to the ground.
⁷Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.^[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
⁸He covers^[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.^[r]
⁹He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.^[s]
¹⁰He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.^[t]
¹¹The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,^[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
¹²Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
¹³For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children^[v] within you.
¹⁴He^[w] brings peace to your territory.^[x]
He abundantly provides for you^[y] the best grain.
¹⁵He^[z] sends his command through the earth;^[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.^[ab]
¹⁶He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.^[ac]
¹⁷He throws his hailstones^[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?^[ae]
¹⁸He then orders it all to melt;^[af]
he breathes on it,^[ag] and the water flows.
¹⁹He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
²⁰He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 146:1 sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the Lord, the just king of the world who cares for the needy.
Psalm 146:3 tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”
Psalm 146:4 tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.
Psalm 146:6 tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”
Psalm 146:7 tn Heb “executes justice for the oppressed.”
Psalm 146:8 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
Psalm 146:9 sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by resident foreigners, the fatherless, and widows. Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19; 24:14, 17; 27:19; Jer 22:3; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5.
Psalm 146:9 tn Heb “he makes the way of the wicked twisted.” The “way of the wicked” probably refers to their course of life (see Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1). God makes their path tortuous in the sense that he makes them pay the harmful consequences of their actions.
Psalm 146:10 tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.”
Psalm 147:1 sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people.
Psalm 147:1 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 147:3 tn Heb “the one who heals.”
Psalm 147:5 tn Heb “and great of strength.”
Psalm 147:5 tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”
Psalm 147:6 tn Heb “brings down.”
Psalm 147:7 tn Heb “sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.”
Psalm 147:8 tn Heb “the one who covers.”
Psalm 147:8 tn Heb “hills.”
Psalm 147:9 tn Heb “which cry out.”
Psalm 147:10 tn Heb “he does not desire the strength of the horse, he does not take delight in the legs of the man.” Here “the horse” refers to the war horse used by ancient Near Eastern chariot forces, and “the man” refers to the warrior whose muscular legs epitomize his strength.
Psalm 147:11 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 147:13 tn Heb “your sons.”
Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “the one who.”
Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “he makes your boundary peace.”
Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “satisfies you with.”
Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “the one who.”
Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “the one who sends his word, the earth.” The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “earth”) is an adverbial accusative; one must supply a preposition before it (such as “through” or “to”) in the English translation.
Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “swiftly his word runs.”
Psalm 147:16 tn Heb “the one who gives snow like wool, frost like ashes he scatters.”
Psalm 147:17 tn Heb “his ice.”
Psalm 147:17 tn Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?”
Psalm 147:18 tn Heb “he sends his word and melts them.”
Psalm 147:18 tn Heb “he blows his breath.”

Psalm 111-113

Psalm 111^[a]

111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
²The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited^[b] by all who desire them.
³His work is majestic and glorious,^[c]
and his faithfulness endures^[d] forever.
⁴He does^[e] amazing things that will be remembered;^[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
⁵He gives^[g] food to his faithful followers;^[h]
he always remembers his covenant.^[i]
⁶He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.^[j]
⁷His acts are characterized by^[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.^[l]
⁸They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.^[m]
⁹He delivered his people;^[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.^[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
¹⁰To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;^[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.^[q]
He will receive praise forever.^[r]

Psalm 112^[s]

112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one^[t] who obeys^[u] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.^[v]
²His descendants^[w] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly^[x] will be blessed.
³His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.^[y]
⁴In the darkness a light^[z] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.^[aa]
⁵It goes well for the one^[ab] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.^[ac]
⁶For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.^[ad]
⁷He does not fear bad news.
He^[ae] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
⁸His resolve^[af] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
⁹He generously gives^[ag] to the needy;
his integrity endures.^[ah]
He will be vindicated and honored.^[ai]
¹⁰When the wicked^[aj] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration^[ak] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.^[al]

Psalm 113^[am]

113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
²May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
³From east to west^[an]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
⁴The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.^[ao]
⁵Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?^[ap]
⁶He bends down to look^[aq]
at the sky and the earth.
⁷He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,^[ar]
⁸that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
⁹He makes the barren woman of the family^[as]
a happy mother of children.^[at]
Praise the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 111:1 sn Psalm 111. The psalmist praises God for his marvelous deeds, especially the way in which he provides for and delivers his people. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 111:2 tn Heb “sought out.”
Psalm 111:3 tn For other uses of the Hebrew phrase וְהָדָרהוֹד (hod v^ehadar, “majesty and splendor”) see 1 Chr 16:27; Job 40:10; Pss 21:5; 96:6; 104:1.
Psalm 111:3 tn Or “stands.”
Psalm 111:4 tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).
Psalm 111:4 tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”
Psalm 111:5 tn Or “gave,” if the events of the exodus and conquest period (see v. 6, 9) are primarily in view.
Psalm 111:5 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 111:5 tn Or “he remembers his covenant forever” (see Ps 105:8).
Psalm 111:6 tn Heb “the strength of his deeds he proclaimed to his people, to give to them an inheritance of nations.”
Psalm 111:7 tn Heb “the deeds of his hands [are].”
Psalm 111:7 tn That is, fair and for man’s good.
Psalm 111:8 tn Heb “done in faithfulness and uprightness.” The passive participle probably has the force of a gerund. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 89.
Psalm 111:9 tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”
Psalm 111:9 tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”
Psalm 111:10 tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the Lord.”
Psalm 111:10 tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (sekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.
Psalm 111:10 tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”
Psalm 112:1 sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “fears.”
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.
Psalm 112:2 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
Psalm 112:2 tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.
Psalm 112:3 tn Heb “stands forever.”
Psalm 112:4 tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.
Psalm 112:4 tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.
Psalm 112:5 tn Heb “man.”
Psalm 112:5 tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”
Psalm 112:6 tn Heb “for an eternal memorial a just [one] will be.”
Psalm 112:7 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).
Psalm 112:8 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “stands forever.”
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
Psalm 112:10 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).
Psalm 112:10 tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.
Psalm 112:10 tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).
Psalm 113:1 sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.
Psalm 113:3 tn Heb “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The extent is not temporal (“from sunrise to sunset”) but spatial (“from the place where the sun rises [the east] to the place where it sets [the west].” In the phenomenological language of OT cosmology, the sun was described as rising in the east and setting in the west.
Psalm 113:4 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
Psalm 113:5 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
Psalm 113:6 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
Psalm 113:7 sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.
Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “of the house.”
Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “sons.”

Isaiah 43:8-13

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

⁸Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
⁹All nations gather together,
the peoples assemble.
Who among them announced this?
Who predicted earlier events for us?^[a]
Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;
let them listen and affirm, “It is true.”
¹⁰You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider^[b] and believe in me,
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and none will outlive me.^[c]
¹¹I, I am the Lord,
and there is no deliverer besides me.
¹²I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,
and there was no other god among you.
You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³From this day forward I am he;
no one can deliver from my power;^[d]
I will act, and who can prevent it?”

1 Peter 2:2-10

²And^[a] yearn^[b] like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk,^[c] so that by it you may grow up to^[d] salvation,^[e] ³if you have experienced^[f] the Lord’s kindness.^[g]

A Living Stone, a Chosen People

⁴So as you come to him,^[h] a living stone rejected by men but^[i] chosen and precious^[j] in God’s sight, ⁵you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer^[k] spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it says^[l] in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone,^[m] and whoever believes^[n] in him^[o] will never^[p] be put to shame.”^[q] ⁷So you who believe see^[r] his value,^[s] but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the^[t] cornerstone,^[u] ⁸and a stumbling-stone^[v] and a rock to trip over.^[w] They stumble^[x] because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.^[y] ⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues^[z] of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰You^[aa] once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy,^[ab] but now you have received mercy.

Footnotes

1 Peter 2:2 tn Here “And” has been supplied in the translation to show clearly the connection between vv. 1 and 2.
1 Peter 2:2 tn Grk “getting rid of…yearn for.”
1 Peter 2:2 tn The word for spiritual in Greek is λογικός (logikos), which is a play on words with the reference in 1:23-25 to the living and enduring word (λόγος, logos) of God, through which they were born anew. This is a subtle indication that the nourishment for their growth must be the word of God.
1 Peter 2:2 tn Or “in, in regard to.” But the focus of “salvation” here, as in 1:5, 9, is the future deliverance of these who have been born anew and protected by God’s power.
1 Peter 2:2 tc The Byzantine text lacks εἰς σωτηρίαν (eis sōtērian, “to salvation”), while the words are found in the earliest and best witnesses, along with others (P⁷² א A B C K P Ψ 33 81 630 1241 1505 1739 al latt sy co). Not only is the longer reading superior externally, but since the notion of growing up [in]to salvation may have seemed theologically objectionable, it is easy to see why some scribes would omit it.
1 Peter 2:3 tn Grk “have tasted that the Lord is kind.”
1 Peter 2:3 sn A quotation from Ps 34:8.
1 Peter 2:4 tn Grk “to whom coming…you are built up…” as a continuation of the reference to the Lord in v. 3.
1 Peter 2:4 tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two phrases more than can be easily expressed in English.
1 Peter 2:4 tn Grk “chosen, precious.”
1 Peter 2:5 tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”
1 Peter 2:6 tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”
1 Peter 2:6 tn Grk “chosen, precious.”
1 Peter 2:6 tn Grk “the one who believes.”
1 Peter 2:6 tn Grk either “in him” or “in it,” but the OT and NT uses personify the stone as the King, the Messiah whom God will establish in Jerusalem.
1 Peter 2:6 tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mē) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”
1 Peter 2:6 sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.
1 Peter 2:7 tn Grk “to you who believe is the value,” referring to their perception of the stone in contrast to those who reject (vv. 7b-8). But the expression may also be translated as “to you who believe is this honor,” referring to the lack of shame cited in v. 6b.
1 Peter 2:7 tn Grk “the value” or “the honor,” but the former is preferred since it comes from the same root as “priceless” in vv. 4, 6, and it is in contrast to the negative estimate of the stone by those who reject (vv. 7b-8).
1 Peter 2:7 tn Grk “the head of the corner.”
1 Peter 2:7 sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 (cf. Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11).
1 Peter 2:8 tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” The latter phrase uses the term σκάνδαλον (skandalon), denoting an obstacle to faith, something that arouses anger and rejection.
1 Peter 2:8 sn A quotation from Isa 8:14.
1 Peter 2:8 tn Grk “who stumble,” referring to “those who do not believe” in vs. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
1 Peter 2:8 tn Grk “to which they were also destined.”
1 Peter 2:9 sn This verse contains various allusions and quotations from Exod 19:5-6; 23:22 (LXX); Isa 43:20-21; and Mal 3:17.
1 Peter 2:10 tn Grk “who,” continuing the description of the readers from vs. 9. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
1 Peter 2:10 sn The quotations in v. 10 are from Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.

John 14:1-7

Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be distressed.^[a] You believe in God;^[b] believe also in me. ²There are many dwelling places^[c] in my Father’s house.^[d] Otherwise, I would have told you, because^[e] I am going away to make ready^[f] a place for you.^[g] ³And if I go and make ready^[h] a place for you, I will come again and take you^[i] to be with me,^[j] so that where I am you may be too. ⁴And you know the way where I am going.”^[k]

⁵Thomas said,^[l] “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus replied,^[m] “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.^[n] No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you have known me, you will know my Father too.^[o] And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Footnotes

John 14:1 sn The same verb is used to describe Jesus’ own state in John 11:33; 12:27, and 13:21. Jesus is looking ahead to the events of the evening and the next day, his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death, which will cause his disciples extreme emotional distress.
John 14:1 tn Or “Believe in God.” The translation of the two uses of πιστεύετε (pisteuete) is difficult. Both may be either indicative or imperative, and as L. Morris points out (John [NICNT], 637), this results in a bewildering variety of possibilities. To complicate matters further, the first may be understood as a question: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” Morris argues against the KJV translation which renders the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative on the grounds that for the writer of the Fourth Gospel, faith in Jesus is inseparable from faith in God. But this is precisely the point that Jesus is addressing in context. He is about to undergo rejection by his own people as their Messiah. The disciples’ faith in him as Messiah and Lord would be cast into extreme doubt by these events, which the author makes clear were not at this time foreseen by the disciples. After the resurrection it is this identification between Jesus and the Father which needs to be reaffirmed (cf. John 20:24-29). Thus it seems best to take the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative, producing the translation “You believe in God; believe also in me.”
John 14:2 tn Many interpreters have associated μοναί (monai) with an Aramaic word that can refer to a stopping place or resting place for a traveler on a journey. This is similar to one of the meanings the word can have in secular Greek (Pausanius 10.31.7). Origen understood the use here to refer to stations on the road to God. This may well have been the understanding of the Latin translators who translated μονή (monē) by mansio, a stopping place. The English translation “mansions” can be traced back to Tyndale, but in Middle English the word simply meant “a dwelling place” (not necessarily large or imposing) with no connotation of being temporary. The interpretation put forward by Origen would have been well suited to Gnosticism, where the soul in its ascent passes through stages during which it is gradually purified of all that is material and therefore evil. It is much more likely that the word μονή should be related to its cognate verb μένω (menō), which is frequently used in the Fourth Gospel to refer to the permanence of relationship between Jesus and the Father and/or Jesus and the believer. Thus the idea of a permanent dwelling place, rather than a temporary stopping place, would be in view. Luther’s translation of μοναί by Wohnungen is very accurate here, as it has the connotation of a permanent residence.
John 14:2 sn Most interpreters have understood the reference to my Father’s house as a reference to heaven, and the dwelling places (μονή, monē) as the permanent residences of believers there. This seems consistent with the vocabulary and the context, where in v. 3 Jesus speaks of coming again to take the disciples to himself. However, the phrase in my Father’s house was used previously in the Fourth Gospel in 2:16 to refer to the temple in Jerusalem. The author in 2:19-22 then reinterpreted the temple as Jesus’ body, which was to be destroyed in death and then rebuilt in resurrection after three days. Even more suggestive is the statement by Jesus in 8:35, “Now the slave does not remain (μένω, menō) in the household forever, but the son remains (μένω) forever.” If in the imagery of the Fourth Gospel the phrase in my Father’s house is ultimately a reference to Jesus’ body, the relationship of μονή to μένω suggests the permanent relationship of the believer to Jesus and the Father as an adopted son who remains in the household forever. In this case the “dwelling place” is “in” Jesus himself, where he is, whether in heaven or on earth. The statement in v. 3, “I will come again and receive you to myself,” then refers not just to the parousia, but also to Jesus’ postresurrection return to the disciples in his glorified state, when by virtue of his death on their behalf they may enter into union with him and with the Father as adopted sons. Needless to say, this bears numerous similarities to Pauline theology, especially the concepts of adoption as sons and being “in Christ” which are prominent in passages like Eph 1. It is also important to note, however, the emphasis in the Fourth Gospel itself on the present reality of eternal life (John 5:24; 7:38-39, etc.) and the possibility of worshiping the Father “in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24) in the present age. There is a sense in which it is possible to say that the future reality is present now. See further J. McCaffrey, The House With Many Rooms (AnBib 114).
John 14:2 tc A number of significant mss (P^66c א A B C* D K L W Ψ ƒ¹³ 33 565 579 892 al lat) have ὅτι (hoti) here, while the majority lack it (P^66* C² Θ M). Should the ὅτι be included or omitted? The external evidence is significantly stronger for the longer reading. Most Alexandrian and Western mss favor inclusion (it is a little unusual for the Alexandrian to favor the longer reading), while most Byzantine mss favor omission (again, a little unusual). However, the reading of P^66*, which aligns with the Byzantine, needs to be given some value. At the same time, the scribe of this papyrus was known for freely omitting and adding words, and the fact that the ms was corrected discounts its testimony here. But because the shorter reading is out of character for the Byzantine text, the shorter reading (omitting the ὅτι) may well be authentic. Internally, the question comes down to whether the shorter reading is more difficult or not. And here, it loses the battle, for it seems to be a clarifying omission (so TCGNT 206). R. E. Brown is certainly right when he states: “all in all, the translation without ὅτι makes the best sense” (John [AB], 2:620). But this tacitly argues for the authenticity of the word. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, the ὅτι should be regarded as authentic. tn If the ὅτι (hoti) is included (see tc above), there are no less than four possible translations for this sentence: The sentence could be either a question or a statement, and in addition the ὅτι could either indicate content or be causal. How does one determine the best translation? (1) A question here should probably be ruled out because it would imply a previous statement by Jesus that either there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house (if the ὅτι is causal) or he was going off to make a place ready for them (if the ὅτι indicates content). There is no indication anywhere in the Fourth Gospel that Jesus had made such statements prior to this time. So understanding the sentence as a statement is the best option. (2) A statement with ὅτι indicating content is understandable but contradictory. If there were no dwelling places, Jesus would have told them that he was going off to make dwelling places. But the following verse makes clear that Jesus’ departure is not hypothetical but real—he is really going away. So understanding the ὅτι with a causal nuance is the best option. (3) A statement with a causal ὅτι can be understood two ways: (a) “Otherwise I would have told you” is a parenthetical statement, and the ὅτι clause goes with the preceding “There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house.” This would be fairly awkward syntactically, however; it would be much more natural for the ὅτι clause to modify what directly preceded it. (b) “Otherwise I would have told you” is explained by Jesus’ statement that he is going to make ready a place. He makes a logical, necessary connection between his future departure and the reality of the dwelling places in his Father’s house. To sum up, all the possibilities for understanding the verse with the inclusion of ὅτι present some interpretive difficulties, but last option given seems best: “Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going to make ready a place.” Of all the options it provides the best logical flow of thought in the passage without making any apparent contradictions in the context.
John 14:2 tn Or “to prepare.”
John 14:2 tn Or “If not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” What is the meaning of the last clause with or without the ὅτι? One of the questions that must be answered here is whether or not τόπος (topos) is to be equated with μονή (monē). In Rev 12:8 τόπος is used to refer to a place in heaven, which would suggest that the two are essentially equal here. Jesus is going ahead of believers to prepare a place for them, a permanent dwelling place in the Father’s house (see the note on this phrase in v. 2).
John 14:3 tn Or “prepare.”
John 14:3 tn Or “bring you.”
John 14:3 tn Grk “to myself.”
John 14:4 tc Most mss (P^66* A C³ D Θ Ψ ƒ^1,13 M lat sy sa) read “You know where I am going, and you know the way” (καὶ ὅπου [ἐγὼ] ὑπάγω οἴδατε καὶ τὴν ὁδόν οἴδατε, kai hopou egō hupagō oidate kai tēn hodon oidate). The difference between this reading and the wording in NA²⁸ (supported by P^66c א B C* L Q W 33 579) is the addition of καί before τὴν ὁδόν and οἴδατε after. Either assertion on the part of Jesus would be understandable: “you know the way where I am going” or “you know where I am going and you know the way,” although the shorter reading is a bit more awkward syntactically. In light of this, and in light of the expansion already at hand in v. 5, the longer reading appears to be a motivated reading. The shorter reading is thus preferred because of its superior external and internal evidence.sn Where I am going. Jesus had spoken of his destination previously to the disciples, most recently in John 13:33. Where he was going was back to the Father, and they could not follow him there, but later he would return for them and they could join him then. The way he was going was via the cross. This he had also mentioned previously (e.g., 12:32) although his disciples did not understand at the time (cf. 12:33). As Jesus would explain in v. 6, although for him the way back to the Father was via the cross, for his disciples the “way” to where he was going was Jesus himself.
John 14:5 tn Grk “said to him.”
John 14:6 tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”
John 14:6 tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”
John 14:7 tc There is a difficult textual problem here: The statement reads either “If you have known (ἐγνώκατε, egnōkate) me, you will know (γνώσεσθε, gnōsesthe) my Father” or “If you had really known (ἐγνώκειτε, egnōkeite) me, you would have known (ἐγνώκειτε ἄν or ἂν ἤδειτε [egnōkeite an or an ēdeite]) my Father.” The division of the external evidence is difficult, but can be laid out as follows: The mss that have the perfect ἐγνώκατε in the protasis (P⁶⁶ [א D* W] 579 it) also have, for the most part, the future indicative γνώσεσθε in the apodosis (P⁶⁶ א D W [579] sa bo), rendering Jesus’ statement as a first-class condition. The mss that have the pluperfect ἐγνώκειτε in the protasis (A B C D¹ L Θ Ψ ƒ^1,13 33 M) also have, for the most part, a pluperfect in the apodosis (either ἂν ἤδειτε in B C* [L] Q Ψ 1 33 565 al, or ἐγνώκειτε ἄν in A C³ Θ ƒ¹³ M), rendering Jesus’ statement a contrary-to-fact second-class condition. The external evidence slightly favors the first-class condition, since there is an Alexandrian-Western alliance supported by P⁶⁶. As well, the fact that the readings with a second-class condition utilize two different verbs with ἄν in different positions suggests that these readings are secondary. However, it could be argued that the second-class conditions are harder readings in that they speak negatively of the apostles (so K. Aland in TCGNT 207); in this case, the ἐγνώκειτε…ἐγνώκειτε ἄν reading should be given preference. Although a decision is difficult, the first-class condition is to be slightly preferred. In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7b) which asserts that “from the present time you know him and have seen him” (cf. John 1:18).

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 146[a]

Psalm 147[j]

Footnotes

Psalm 111[a]

Psalm 112[s]

Psalm 113[am]

Footnotes

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

Footnotes

A Living Stone, a Chosen People

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Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

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Psalm 146^[a]

Psalm 147^[j]

Psalm 111^[a]

Psalm 112^[s]

Psalm 113^[am]