◀ All Reading Plans / Book of Common Prayer / Ps. 87 90; Ps. 136; Num. 13:31—14:25; Rom. 3:9–20; Matt. 19:1–12 (New English Translation)

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Book of Common Prayer

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

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Psalm 87

Psalm 87^[a]

Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.

87 The Lord’s city is in the holy hills.^[b]
²The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
³People say wonderful things about you,^[c]
O city of God. (Selah)
⁴I mention Rahab^[d] and Babylon to my followers.^[e]
Here are^[f] Philistia and Tyre, along with Ethiopia.^[g]
It is said of them, “This one was born there.”^[h]
⁵But it is said of Zion’s residents,^[i]
“Each one of these^[j] was born in her,
and the Most High^[k] makes her secure.”
⁶The Lord writes in the census book of the nations,^[l]
“This one was born there.”^[m] (Selah)
⁷As for the singers, as well as the pipers—
all of them sing within your walls.^[n]

Footnotes

Psalm 87:1 sn Psalm 87. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s presence in Zion and the special status of its citizens.
Psalm 87:1 tn Heb “his foundation [is] in the hills of holiness.” The expression “his foundation” refers here by metonymy to the Lord’s dwelling place in Zion. The “hills” are the ones surrounding Zion (see Pss 125:2; 133:3).
Psalm 87:3 tn Heb “glorious things are spoken about you.” The translation assumes this is a general reference to compliments paid to Zion by those who live within her walls and by those who live in the surrounding areas and lands. Another option is that this refers to a prophetic oracle about the city’s glorious future. In this case one could translate, “wonderful things are announced concerning you.”
Psalm 87:4 sn “Rahab,” which means “proud one,” is used here as a title for Egypt (see Isa 30:7).
Psalm 87:4 tn Heb “to those who know me” (see Ps 36:10). Apparently the Lord speaks here. The verbal construction (the Hiphil of זָכַר, zakhar, “remember” followed by the preposition ל [lamed] with a substantive) is rare, but the prepositional phrase is best understood as indicating the recipient of the announcement (see Jer 4:16). Some take the preposition in the sense of “among” and translate, “among those who know me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). In this case these foreigners are viewed as the Lord’s people and the psalm is interpreted as anticipating a time when all nations will worship the Lord (see Ps 86:9) and be considered citizens of Zion.
Psalm 87:4 tn Heb “Look.”
Psalm 87:4 tn Heb “Cush.”
Psalm 87:4 tn Heb “and this one was born there.” The words “It is said of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification and stylistic purposes (see v. 5). Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand “there” as referring to Zion, but it seems more likely that the adverb refers to the nations just mentioned. The foreigners are identified by their native lands.
Psalm 87:5 tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to translate, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of אָמַר (ʾamar), the preposition ל (lamed) can introduce the recipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10; Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num 23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).
Psalm 87:5 tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners mentioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand this as a reference to each of the nations, including those mentioned in v. 4.
Psalm 87:5 sn The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
Psalm 87:6 tn Heb “the Lord records in the writing of the nations.”
Psalm 87:6 tn As noted in v. 4, the translation assumes a contrast between “there” (the various foreign lands) and “in her” (Zion). In contrast to foreigners, the citizens of Zion have special status because of their birthplace (v. 5). In this case vv. 4 and 6 form a structural frame around v. 5.
Psalm 87:7 tc Heb “and singers, like pipers, all my springs [are] in you.” The participial form חֹלְלִים (khol^elim) appears to be from a denominative verb meaning “play the pipe,” though some derive the form from חוּל (khul, “dance”). In this case the duplicated ל (lamed) requires an emendation to מְחֹלְלִים (m^ekhol^elim, “a Polel form). The words are addressed to Zion. As it stands, the Hebrew text makes little, if any, sense. “Springs” are often taken here as a symbol of divine blessing and life”), but this reading does not relate to the preceding line in any apparent way. The present translation assumes an emendation of כָּל־מַעְיָנַי (kol maʿyanay, “all my springs”) to כֻּלָּם עָנוּ (kullam ʿanu, “all of them sing,” with the form עָנוּ being derived from עָנָה, ʿanah, “sing”).

Psalm 90

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90^[a]

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90 O Lord, you have been our protector^[b] through all generations.
²Even before the mountains came into existence,^[c]
or you brought the world into being,^[d]
you were the eternal God.^[e]
³You make mankind return^[f] to the dust,^[g]
and say, “Return, O people.”
⁴Yes,^[h] in your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.^[i]
⁵You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”^[j]
In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up:
⁶In the morning it glistens^[k] and sprouts up;
at evening time it withers^[l] and dries up.
⁷Yes,^[m] we are consumed by your anger;
we are terrified by your wrath.
⁸You are aware of our sins;^[n]
you even know about our hidden sins.^[o]
⁹Yes,^[p] throughout all our days we experience your raging fury;^[q]
the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.^[r]
¹⁰The days of our lives add up to seventy years,^[s]
or eighty, if one is especially strong.^[t]
But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression.^[u]
Yes,^[v] they pass quickly^[w] and we fly away.^[x]
¹¹Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?^[y]
Your raging fury causes people to fear you.^[z]
¹²So teach us to consider our mortality,^[aa]
so that we might live wisely.^[ab]
¹³Turn back toward us, O Lord.
How long must this suffering last?^[ac]
Have pity on your servants.^[ad]
¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning^[ae] with your loyal love.
Then we will shout for joy and be happy^[af] all our days.
¹⁵Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,
in proportion to the years we have experienced^[ag] trouble.
¹⁶May your servants see your work.^[ah]
May their sons see your majesty.^[ai]
¹⁷May our Sovereign God extend his favor to us.^[aj]
Make our endeavors successful.
Yes, make them successful.^[ak]

Footnotes

Psalm 90:1 sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.
Psalm 90:1 tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.
Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “were born.”
Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a Polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.
Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (ʾel, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (ʾal, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vatoʾmer, “and you said/say”), unless one reads the form as a simple vav plus imperfect as indicated by Aquila and Jerome.
Psalm 90:3 tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.
Psalm 90:3 tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (dakaʾ) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.
Psalm 90:4 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 90:4 sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”
Psalm 90:5 tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).
Psalm 90:6 tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.
Psalm 90:6 tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final ל [lamed] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.
Psalm 90:7 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 90:8 tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”
Psalm 90:8 tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.
Psalm 90:9 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 90:9 tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”
Psalm 90:9 tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”
Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”
Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”
Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רָהַב (rahav, “to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).
Psalm 90:10 tn or “for.”
Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.
Psalm 90:10 sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).
Psalm 90:11 tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”
Psalm 90:11 tc Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךָ (ukh^eyirʾat^ekha, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yirʾat^ekha, “your fear”), removing the כ (kaf) as dittography of the kaf ending the previous word. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.
Psalm 90:12 tn Heb “to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.
Psalm 90:12 tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.
Psalm 90:13 tn Heb “Return, O Lord. How long?”
Psalm 90:13 tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (ʿal) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.
Psalm 90:14 sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).
Psalm 90:14 tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.
Psalm 90:15 tn Heb “have seen.”
Psalm 90:16 tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form יֵרָאֶה (yeraʾeh) is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).
Psalm 90:16 tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
Psalm 90:17 tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (noʿam, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).
Psalm 90:17 tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”

Psalm 136

Psalm 136^[a]

136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his loyal love endures.^[b]
²Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his loyal love endures.
³Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his loyal love endures,
⁴to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,
for his loyal love endures,
⁵to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens,
for his loyal love endures,
⁶to the one who spread out the earth over the water,
for his loyal love endures,
⁷to the one who made the great lights,
for his loyal love endures,
⁸the sun to rule by day,
for his loyal love endures,
⁹the moon and stars to rule by night,
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁰to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his loyal love endures,
¹¹and led Israel out from their midst,
for his loyal love endures,
¹²with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his loyal love endures,
¹³to the one who divided^[c] the Red Sea^[d] in two,^[e]
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁴and led Israel through its midst,
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁵and tossed^[f] Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁶to the one who led his people through the wilderness,
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁷to the one who struck down great kings,
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁸and killed powerful kings,
for his loyal love endures,
¹⁹Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his loyal love endures,
²⁰Og, king of Bashan,
for his loyal love endures,
²¹and gave their land as an inheritance,
for his loyal love endures,
²²as an inheritance to Israel his servant,
for his loyal love endures,
²³to the one who remembered us when we were down,^[g]
for his loyal love endures,
²⁴and snatched us away from our enemies,
for his loyal love endures,
²⁵to the one who gives food to all living things,^[h]
for his loyal love endures.
²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his loyal love endures!

Numbers 13:31-14:25

³¹But the men^[a] who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!” ³²Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report^[b] of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through^[c] to investigate is a land that devours^[d] its inhabitants.^[e] All the people we saw there^[f] are of great stature. ³³We even saw the Nephilim^[g] there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves^[h] and to them.”^[i]

The Israelites Respond in Unbelief

14 ^[j] Then all the community raised a loud cry,^[k] and the people wept^[l] that night. ²And all the Israelites murmured^[m] against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died^[n] in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished^[o] in this wilderness! ³Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴So they said to one another,^[p] “Let’s appoint^[q] a leader^[r] and return^[s] to Egypt.”

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground^[t] before the whole assembled community^[u] of the Israelites. ⁶And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. ⁷They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly^[v] good land. ⁸If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land that is flowing with milk and honey.^[w] ⁹Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.^[x] Their protection^[y] has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

¹⁰However, the whole community threatened to stone them.^[z] But^[aa] the glory^[ab] of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent^[ac] of meeting.

The Punishment from God

¹¹The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise^[ad] me, and how long will they not believe^[ae] in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them? ¹²I will strike them with the pestilence,^[af] and I will disinherit them—I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!”

¹³Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear^[ag] it—for you brought up this people by your power from among them— ¹⁴then they will tell it to the inhabitants^[ah] of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face,^[ai] that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵If you kill^[aj] this entire people at once,^[ak] then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, ¹⁶‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷So now, let the power of my Lord^[al] be great, just as you have said, ¹⁸‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love,^[am] forgiving iniquity and transgression,^[an] but by no means clearing the guilty,^[ao] visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’^[ap] ¹⁹Please forgive^[aq] the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love,^[ar] just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

²⁰Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked.^[as] ²¹But truly, as I live,^[at] all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. ²²For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted^[au] me now these ten times,^[av] and have not obeyed me^[aw]— ²³they will by no means^[ax] see the land that I promised on oath to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it— ²⁴Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully—I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants^[ay] will possess it. ²⁵(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.)^[az] Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”

Footnotes

Numbers 13:31 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.
Numbers 13:32 tn Or “an evil report,” i.e., one that was a defamation of the grace of God.
Numbers 13:32 tn Heb “which we passed over in it”; the pronoun on the preposition serves as a resumptive pronoun for the relative, and need not be translated literally.
Numbers 13:32 tn The verb is the feminine singular participle from אָכַל (ʾakhal); it modifies the land as a “devouring land,” a bold figure for the difficulty of living in the place.
Numbers 13:32 sn The expression has been interpreted in a number of ways by commentators, such as that the land was infertile, that the Canaanites were cannibals, that it was a land filled with warlike dissensions, or that it denotes a land geared for battle. It may be that they intended the land to seem infertile and insecure.
Numbers 13:32 tn Heb “in its midst.”
Numbers 13:33 tc The Greek version uses γίγαντας (gigantas, “giants”) to translate “the Nephilim,” but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”sn The Nephilim are the legendary giants of antiquity. They are first discussed in Gen 6:4. This forms part of the pessimism of the spies’ report.
Numbers 13:33 tn Heb “in our eyes.”
Numbers 13:33 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
Numbers 14:1 sn This chapter forms part of the story already begun. There are three major sections here: dissatisfaction with the reports (vv. 1-10), the threat of divine punishment (vv. 11-38), and the defeat of the Israelites (vv. 39-45). See K. D. Sakenfeld, “The Problem of Divine Forgiveness in Num 14, ” CBQ 37 (1975): 317-30; also J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.
Numbers 14:1 tn The two verbs “lifted up their voice and cried” form a hendiadys; the idiom of raising the voice means that they cried aloud.
Numbers 14:1 tn There are a number of things that the verb “to weep” or “wail” can connote. It could reflect joy, grief, lamentation, or repentance, but here it reflects fear, hopelessness, or vexation at the thought of coming all this way and being defeated by the Canaanite armies. See Judg 20:23, 26.
Numbers 14:2 tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.
Numbers 14:2 tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu)—“O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.
Numbers 14:2 tn Heb “died.”
Numbers 14:4 tn Heb “a man to his brother.”
Numbers 14:4 tn The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.
Numbers 14:4 tn The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, roʾsh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 [1969]: 1-10).
Numbers 14:4 tn The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause—in order that we may return.
Numbers 14:5 sn This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign Lord. They are not bowing before the people here, but in front of the people they bow before God. According to Num 16:41-50 this prostration is for the purpose of intercessory prayer. Here it prevents immediate wrath from God.
Numbers 14:5 tn Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”
Numbers 14:7 tn The repetition of the adverb מְאֹד (m^eʾod) is used to express this: “very, very [good].”
Numbers 14:8 tn The subjective genitives “milk and honey” are symbols of the wealth of the land, second only to bread. Milk was a sign of such abundance (Gen 49:12; Isa 7:21, 22). Because of the climate the milk would thicken quickly and become curds, eaten with bread or turned into butter. The honey mentioned here is the wild honey (see Deut 32:13; Judg 14:8-9). It signified sweetness, or the finer things of life (Ezek 3:3).
Numbers 14:9 sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.
Numbers 14:9 tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.
Numbers 14:10 tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.
Numbers 14:10 tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.
Numbers 14:10 sn The glory of the Lord refers to the reality of the Lord’s presence in a manifestation of his power and splendor. It showed to all that God was a living God. The appearance of the glory indicated blessing for the obedient, but disaster for the disobedient.
Numbers 14:10 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”
Numbers 14:11 tn The verb נָאַץ (naʾats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.
Numbers 14:11 tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ʾaman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.
Numbers 14:12 tc The Greek version has “death.”
Numbers 14:13 tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”
Numbers 14:14 tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.
Numbers 14:14 tn “Face-to-face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.
Numbers 14:15 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (v^ehemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.
Numbers 14:15 tn Heb “as one man.”
Numbers 14:17 tc The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.
Numbers 14:18 tn The expression רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.
Numbers 14:18 tn Or “rebellion.”
Numbers 14:18 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.
Numbers 14:18 sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.
Numbers 14:19 tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh naʾ), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.
Numbers 14:19 tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.
Numbers 14:20 tn Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.
Numbers 14:21 sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.
Numbers 14:22 tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.
Numbers 14:22 tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.
Numbers 14:22 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
Numbers 14:23 tn The word אִם (ʾim) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.
Numbers 14:24 tn Heb “seed.”
Numbers 14:25 sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south—unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.

Romans 3:9-20

The Condemnation of the World

⁹What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, ¹⁰just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,
¹¹there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
¹²All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”^[a]
¹³“Their throats are open graves,^[b]
they deceive with their tongues,
the poison of asps is under their lips.”^[c]
¹⁴“Their mouths are^[d] full of cursing and bitterness.”^[e]
¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
¹⁶ruin and misery are in their paths,
¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”^[f]
¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^[g]

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under^[h] the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For no one is declared righteous before him^[i] by the works of the law,^[j] for through the law comes^[k] the knowledge of sin.

Footnotes

Romans 3:12 sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.
Romans 3:13 tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”
Romans 3:13 sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.
Romans 3:14 tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
Romans 3:14 sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.
Romans 3:17 sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.
Romans 3:18 sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.
Romans 3:19 tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”
Romans 3:20 sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.
Romans 3:20 tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.
Romans 3:20 tn Grk “is.”

Matthew 19:1-12

Questions About Divorce

19 Now when^[a] Jesus finished these sayings, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River.^[b] ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³Then some Pharisees^[c] came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful^[d] to divorce a wife for any cause?”^[e] ⁴He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female,^[f] ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?^[g] ⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ⁷They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”^[h] ⁸Jesus^[i] said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts,^[j] but from the beginning it was not this way. ⁹Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.” ¹⁰The^[k] disciples said to him, “If this is the case of a husband with a wife, it is better not to marry!” ¹¹He^[l] said to them, “Not everyone can accept this statement, except those to whom it has been given. ¹²For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth,^[m] and some who were made eunuchs^[n] by others,^[o] and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”

Footnotes

Matthew 19:1 tn Grk “it happened when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Matthew 19:1 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).
Matthew 19:3 tn Grk “And Pharisees.”sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
Matthew 19:3 tc ‡ Most mss have either ἀνθρώπῳ (anthrōpō, “for a man” [so א³ C D W Δ Θ 087 ƒ^{1, 13} 33 1241 M latt]) τινί (tini, “for someone” 700), ἀνθρώπῳ τινί (anthrōpō tini, “for a man” [565]) or ἀνδρί (andri, “for a husband” [1424^c]) before the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”). “For a husband” is an assimilation to the parallel in Mark; the other readings may have been motivated by the clarification needed (especially to give the following αὐτοῦ [autou, “his”] an antecedent). But a few significant mss (א* B L Γ 579 1424*) have neither noun or the pronoun. In light of the variety of additions that clarify the subject of the infinitive, and especially since the shorter reading is the more difficult, it is likely that none of these additions was present in the autograph. As the harder reading, the shorter reading seems to best explain the rise of the others. NA²⁸, however, reads ἀνθρώπῳ here.
Matthew 19:3 sn The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 14:1-12). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.
Matthew 19:4 sn A quotation from Gen 1:27; 5:2.
Matthew 19:5 sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.
Matthew 19:7 tc ‡ Although the majority of witnesses (B C N W Γ Δ 078 087 ƒ¹³ 33 565 1241 1424 M sy^p,h) have αὐτήν (autēn, “her”) after the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”), several authorities lack the αὐτήν. This shorter reading may be due to assimilation to the Markan parallel, but since it is attested in early and diverse witnesses (א D L Z Θ ƒ¹ 579 700 lat) and since the parallel verse (Mark 10:4) already departs at many points, the shorter reading seems more likely to be initial text’s wording here. The pronoun has been included in the translation, however, for clarity. NA²⁸ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.sn A quotation from Deut 24:1. The Pharisees were all in agreement that the OT permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce his wife (not vice-versa) and that remarriage was therefore sanctioned. But the two rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel differed on the grounds for divorce. Shammai was much stricter than Hillel and permitted divorce only in the case of sexual immorality. Hillel permitted divorce for almost any reason (cf. the Mishnah, m. Gittin 9.10).
Matthew 19:8 tc A few significant witnesses (א Φ a b c mae) have the name “Jesus” here, but it is almost certainly not original. Nevertheless, for clarity’s sake, “Jesus” is added in the translation.tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Matthew 19:8 tn Grk “heart” (a collective singular).
Matthew 19:10 tc ‡ Some significant witnesses, along with the majority of later mss (P²⁵ C D L N W Z Γ Δ 078 ƒ^{1, 13} 33 565 579 700 1241 1424 M lat sy sa^mss bo), read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after μαθηταί (mathētai, “disciples”), but this looks to be a clarifying reading. Other early and significant witnesses lack the pronoun (P^71vid א B Θ e ff¹ g¹ sa^ms mae; SBL), the reading adopted here. NA²⁸ includes the pronoun in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
Matthew 19:11 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 19:12 tn Grk “from the womb of the mother” (an idiom).
Matthew 19:12 tn The verb εὐνουχίζω occurs twice in this verse, translated the first time as “made eunuchs” and the second time as “became eunuchs.” The term literally refers to castration. The second occurrence of the word in this verse is most likely figurative, though, referring to those who willingly maintain a life of celibacy for the furtherance of the kingdom (see W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew [ICC], 3:23).
Matthew 19:12 tn Grk “people.”

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 87[a]

Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.

Footnotes

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90[a]

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Footnotes

Psalm 136[a]

Footnotes

The Israelites Respond in Unbelief

The Punishment from God

Footnotes

The Condemnation of the World

Footnotes

Questions About Divorce

Footnotes

Psalm 87^[a]

Psalm 90^[a]

Psalm 136^[a]