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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 101

Psalm 101^[a]

A psalm of David.

101 I will sing about loyalty and justice.
To you, O Lord, I will sing praises.
²I will walk^[b] in the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace.^[c]
³I will not even consider doing what is dishonest.^[d]
I hate doing evil;^[e]
I will have no part of it.^[f]
⁴I will have nothing to do with a perverse person;^[g]
I will not permit^[h] evil.
⁵I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I will not tolerate anyone who has a haughty demeanor and an arrogant attitude.^[i]
⁶I will favor the honest people of the land,^[j]
and allow them to live with me.^[k]
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me.^[l]
⁷Deceitful people will not live in my palace.^[m]
Liars will not be welcome in my presence.^[n]
⁸Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,
and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Psalm 109:1-30

Psalm 109^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

109 O God whom I praise, do not ignore me.^[b]
²For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me.^[c]
³They surround me and say hateful things;^[d]
they attack me for no reason.
⁴They repay my love with accusations,^[e]
but I continue to pray.^[f]
⁵They repay me evil for good,^[g]
and hate for love.
⁶^[h] Appoint an evil man to testify against him.^[i]
May an accuser stand^[j] at his right side.
⁷When he is judged, he will be found^[k] guilty.^[l]
Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.
⁸May his days be few.^[m]
May another take his job.^[n]
⁹May his children^[o] be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
¹⁰May his children^[p] roam around begging,
asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home.^[q]
¹¹May the creditor seize^[r] all he owns.
May strangers loot his property.^[s]
¹²May no one show him kindness.^[t]
May no one have compassion^[u] on his fatherless children.
¹³May his descendants^[v] be cut off.^[w]
May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives.^[x]
¹⁴May his ancestors’^[y] sins be remembered by the Lord.
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten.^[z]
¹⁵May the Lord be constantly aware of them,^[aa]
and cut off the memory of his children^[ab] from the earth.
¹⁶For he never bothered to show kindness;^[ac]
he harassed the oppressed and needy,
and killed the disheartened.^[ad]
¹⁷He loved to curse^[ae] others, so those curses have come upon him.^[af]
He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.^[ag]
¹⁸He made cursing a way of life,^[ah]
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil.^[ai]
¹⁹May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on,^[aj]
or a belt^[ak] one wears continually.
²⁰May the Lord repay my accusers in this way,^[al]
those who say evil things about^[am] me.^[an]
²¹O Sovereign Lord,
intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation.^[ao]
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me.
²²For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart beats violently within me.^[ap]
²³I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day;^[aq]
I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴I am so starved my knees shake;^[ar]
I have turned into skin and bones.^[as]
²⁵I am disdained by them.^[at]
When they see me, they shake their heads.^[au]
²⁶Help me, O Lord my God.
Because you are faithful to me, deliver me.^[av]
²⁷Then they will realize^[aw] this is your work,^[ax]
and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
²⁸They curse, but you will bless.^[ay]
When they attack, they will be humiliated,^[az]
but your servant will rejoice.
²⁹My accusers will be covered^[ba] with shame,
and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.
³⁰I will thank the Lord profusely.^[bb]
In the middle of a crowd^[bc] I will praise him,

Footnotes

Psalm 109:1 sn Psalm 109. Appealing to God’s justice, the psalmist asks God to vindicate him and to bring severe judgment down upon his enemies.
Psalm 109:1 tn Heb “do not be deaf.”
Psalm 109:2 tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”
Psalm 109:3 tn Heb “and [with] words of hatred they surround me.”
Psalm 109:4 tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”
Psalm 109:4 tn Heb “and I, prayer.”
Psalm 109:5 tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”
Psalm 109:6 sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the Lord repay my accusers in this way” in v. 20 most naturally appears to be a fitting conclusion to the prayer in vv. 6-19. But what about the use of the singular in vv. 6-19? Often in the psalms the psalmist will describe his enemies as a group, but then speak of them as an individual as well, as if viewing his adversaries collectively as one powerful foe. See, for example, Ps 7, where the psalmist uses both the plural (vv. 1, 6) and the singular (vv. 2, 4-5) in referring to enemies. Perhaps by using the singular in such cases, the psalmist wants to single out each enemy for individual attention, or perhaps he has one especially hostile enemy in mind who epitomizes the opposition of the whole group. This may well be the case in Ps 109. Perhaps we should understand the singular throughout vv. 6-19 in the sense of “each and every one.” For a lengthy and well-reasoned defense of the opposite view—that vv. 6-19 are a quotation of what the enemies said about the psalmist—see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 72-73.
Psalm 109:6 tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”
Psalm 109:6 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).
Psalm 109:7 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as a jussive, but the use of the imperfect form in the following line suggests that v. 7 anticipates the outcome of the accusation envisioned in v. 6.
Psalm 109:7 tn Heb “he will go out [as] a criminal” (that is, guilty).
Psalm 109:8 tn The prefixed verbal forms (except those with vav [ו] consecutive) in vv. 8-20 are taken as jussives of prayer. Note the distinct jussive forms used in vv. 12-13, 15, 19.
Psalm 109:8 tn The Hebrew noun פְּקֻדָּה (p^equddah) can mean “charge” or “office,” though BDB 824 s.v. suggests that here it refers to his possessions.
Psalm 109:9 tn Or “sons.”
Psalm 109:10 tn Or “sons.”
Psalm 109:10 tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (v^edar^eshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (y^egor^eshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shiʾelu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.
Psalm 109:11 tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).
Psalm 109:11 tn Heb “the product of his labor.”
Psalm 109:12 tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”
Psalm 109:12 tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).
Psalm 109:13 tn Or “offspring.”
Psalm 109:13 sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.
Psalm 109:13 tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”
Psalm 109:14 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
Psalm 109:14 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”sn According to ancient Israelite theology and its doctrine of corporate solidarity and responsibility, children could be and often were punished for the sins of their parents. For a discussion of this issue see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). (Kaminsky, however, does not deal with Ps 109.)
Psalm 109:15 tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the Lord continually.”
Psalm 109:15 tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.
Psalm 109:16 tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”
Psalm 109:16 tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”
Psalm 109:17 sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.
Psalm 109:17 tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.
Psalm 109:17 tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”
Psalm 109:18 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
Psalm 109:18 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the verb from the preterite form וַתָּבֹא (vattavoʾ, “and it came”) to a jussive form וְתָבֹא (v^etavoʾ, “and may it come!”).
Psalm 109:19 tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”
Psalm 109:19 tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.
Psalm 109:20 tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the Lord.”
Psalm 109:20 tn Or “against.”
Psalm 109:20 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
Psalm 109:21 tn Heb “but you, Lord, Master, deal with me for the sake of your name” or “on account of your name.” Here “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation. The Psalmist’s appeal is for God to act consistently with, and therefore maintain, his reputation (as a deliverer of the righteous and one who punishes evildoers). Note that “for your name’s sake” is paralleled by “because your loyal love is good.” The point is that the Psalmist is making an appeal not based on his own personal whim or vendetta but is calling for judicial penalties (or the fulfillment of prior prophetic indictment).
Psalm 109:22 tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a Polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbi yakhil b^eqirbbi, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).
Psalm 109:23 tn Heb “like a shadow when it is extended I go.” He is like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.
Psalm 109:24 tn Heb “my knees stagger from fasting.”
Psalm 109:24 tn Heb “and my flesh is lean away from fatness [i.e., “lean so as not to be fat”].”
Psalm 109:25 tn Heb “as for me, I am a reproach to them.”
Psalm 109:25 sn They shake their heads. Apparently shaking the head was a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 22:7; Lam 2:15.
Psalm 109:26 tn Heb “deliver me according to your faithfulness.”
Psalm 109:27 tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
Psalm 109:27 tn Heb “that your hand [is] this.”
Psalm 109:28 tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).
Psalm 109:28 tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.
Psalm 109:29 tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).
Psalm 109:30 tn Heb “I will thank the Lord very much with my mouth.”
Psalm 109:30 tn Heb “many.”

Psalm 119:121-144

ע (Ayin)

¹²¹I do what is fair and right.^[a]
Do not abandon me to my oppressors.
¹²²Guarantee the welfare of your servant.^[b]
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.
¹²³My eyes grow tired as I wait for your deliverance,^[c]
for your reliable promise to be fulfilled.^[d]
¹²⁴Show your servant your loyal love.^[e]
Teach me your statutes.
¹²⁵I am your servant. Give me insight,
so that I can understand^[f] your rules.
¹²⁶It is time for the Lord to act—
they break your law.
¹²⁷For this reason^[g] I love your commands
more than gold, even purest gold.
¹²⁸For this reason I carefully follow all your precepts.^[h]
I hate all deceitful actions.^[i]

פ (Pe)

¹²⁹Your rules are marvelous.
Therefore I observe them.
¹³⁰Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines.^[j]
They give^[k] insight to the untrained.^[l]
¹³¹I open my mouth and pant,
because I long^[m] for your commands.
¹³²Turn toward me and extend mercy to me,
as you typically do to your loyal followers.^[n]
¹³³Direct my steps by your word.^[o]
Do not let any sin dominate me.
¹³⁴Deliver me^[p] from oppressive men,
so that I can keep^[q] your precepts.
¹³⁵Smile^[r] on your servant.
Teach me your statutes!
¹³⁶Tears stream down from my eyes,^[s]
because people^[t] do not keep your law.

צ (Tsade)

¹³⁷You are just, O Lord,
and your judgments are fair.
¹³⁸The rules you impose are just,^[u]
and absolutely reliable.
¹³⁹My zeal^[v] consumes^[w] me,
for my enemies forget your instructions.^[x]
¹⁴⁰Your word is absolutely pure,
and your servant loves it.
¹⁴¹I am insignificant and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴²Your justice endures,^[y]
and your law is reliable.^[z]
¹⁴³Distress and hardship confront^[aa] me,
yet I find delight in your commands.
¹⁴⁴Your rules remain just.^[ab]
Give me insight so that I can live.^[ac]

Footnotes

Psalm 119:121 tn Heb “do justice and righteousness.”
Psalm 119:122 tn Heb “be surety for your servant for good.”
Psalm 119:123 tn Heb “my eyes fail for your deliverance.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See the similar phrase in v. 82.
Psalm 119:123 tn Heb “and for the word of your faithfulness.”
Psalm 119:124 tn Heb “do with your servant according to your loyal love.”
Psalm 119:125 tn or “know.” The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
Psalm 119:127 tn “For this reason” connects logically with the statement made in v. 126. Because the judgment the psalmist fears (see vv. 119-120) is imminent, he remains loyal to God’s law.
Psalm 119:128 tn Heb “for this reason all the precepts of everything I regard as right.” The phrase “precepts of everything” is odd. It is preferable to take the כ (kaf) on כֹּל (kol, “everything) with the preceding form as a pronominal suffix, “your precepts,” and the ל (lamed) with the following verb as an emphatic particle. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 138.
Psalm 119:128 tn Heb “every false path.”
Psalm 119:130 tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).
Psalm 119:130 tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”
Psalm 119:130 tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.
Psalm 119:131 tn The verb occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 119:132 tn Heb “according to custom toward the lovers of your name.” The “lovers of” God’s “name” are the Lord’s loyal followers. See Pss 5:11; 69:36; Isa 56:6.
Psalm 119:133 tn God’s “word” refers here to his law (see v. 11).
Psalm 119:134 tn Or “redeem me.”
Psalm 119:134 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
Psalm 119:135 tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”
Psalm 119:136 tn Heb “[with] flowing streams my eyes go down.”
Psalm 119:136 tn Heb “they”; even though somewhat generic, the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 119:138 tn Heb “you commanded [in] justice your rules.”
Psalm 119:139 tn or “zeal.”
Psalm 119:139 tn Heb “destroys,” in a hyperbolic sense.
Psalm 119:139 tn Heb “your words.”
Psalm 119:142 tn Heb “your justice [is] justice forever.”
Psalm 119:142 tn Or “truth.”
Psalm 119:143 tn Heb “find.”
Psalm 119:144 tn Heb “just are your rules forever.”
Psalm 119:144 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

Judges 13:15-24

¹⁵Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here awhile,^[a] so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”^[b] ¹⁶The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If I stay,^[c] I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)^[d] ¹⁷Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”^[e] ¹⁸The angel of the Lord said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.”^[f] ¹⁹Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.^[g] ²⁰As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in it^[h] while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown^[i] to the ground.

²¹The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the angel of the Lord. ²²Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!”^[j] ²³But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us.^[k] He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

²⁴Manoah’s wife^[l] gave birth to a son and named him Samson.^[m] The child grew and the Lord empowered^[n] him.

Footnotes

Judges 13:15 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
Judges 13:15 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
Judges 13:16 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
Judges 13:16 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the angel represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the angel of the Lord, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ʾelohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, y^ehvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s angel” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ʾadonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).
Judges 13:17 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
Judges 13:18 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective e פִּלְאִי (pilʾi, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
Judges 13:19 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhvah malʾakh y^ehvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafliʾ) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, huʾ) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.
Judges 13:20 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
Judges 13:20 tn Heb “on their faces.”
Judges 13:22 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the Lord’s messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the Lord (see BDB 43 s.v. 2.a). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.
Judges 13:23 tn Heb “our hand.”
Judges 13:24 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
Judges 13:24 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
Judges 13:24 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”

Acts 6

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

6 Now in those^[a] days, when the disciples were growing in number,^[b] a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews^[c] against the native Hebraic Jews,^[d] because their widows^[e] were being overlooked^[f] in the daily distribution of food.^[g] ²So the twelve^[h] called^[i] the whole group^[j] of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables.^[k] ³But carefully select from among you, brothers,^[l] seven^[m] men who are well-attested,^[n] full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge^[o] of this necessary task.^[p] ⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵The^[q] proposal pleased the entire group, so^[r] they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with^[s] Philip,^[t] Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism^[u] from Antioch. ⁶They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed^[v] and placed^[w] their hands on them. ⁷The word of God continued to spread,^[x] the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large group^[y] of priests became obedient to the faith.

Stephen is Arrested

⁸Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and miraculous signs^[z] among the people. ⁹But some men from the Synagogue^[aa] of the Freedmen (as it was called),^[ab] both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia,^[ac] stood up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰Yet^[ad] they were not able to resist^[ae] the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. ¹¹Then they secretly instigated^[af] some men to say, “We have heard this man^[ag] speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹²They incited the people, the^[ah] elders, and the experts in the law;^[ai] then they approached Stephen,^[aj] seized him, and brought him before the council.^[ak] ¹³They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place^[al] and the law.^[am] ¹⁴For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs^[an] that Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵All^[ao] who were sitting in the council^[ap] looked intently at Stephen^[aq] and saw his face was like the face of an angel.^[ar]

Footnotes

Acts 6:1 tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.
Acts 6:1 tn Grk “were multiplying.”
Acts 6:1 tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.sn The Greek-speaking Jews were the Hellenists, Jews who to a greater or lesser extent had adopted Greek thought, customs, and lifestyle, as well as the Greek language. The city of Alexandria in Egypt was a focal point for them, but they were scattered throughout the Roman Empire.
Acts 6:1 tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.
Acts 6:1 sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.
Acts 6:1 tn Or “neglected.”
Acts 6:1 tn Grk “in the daily serving.”sn The daily distribution of food. The early church saw it as a responsibility to meet the basic needs of people in their group.
Acts 6:2 sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.
Acts 6:2 tn Grk “calling the whole group…together, said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενοι (proskalesamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
Acts 6:2 tn Or “the multitude.”
Acts 6:2 tn Grk “to serve tables.”
Acts 6:3 tn It is not clear from a historical standpoint (but it is unlikely) that women would have been involved in the selection process too. For this reason the translation “brothers” has been retained, rather than “brothers and sisters” (used in contexts where both male and female believers are clearly addressed).
Acts 6:3 sn Seven. Jewish town councils often had seven members (Josephus, Ant. 4.18.14 [4.214]).
Acts 6:3 tn Or “are of good reputation” (BDAG 618 s.v. μαρτυρέω 2.b).
Acts 6:3 tn The translation “put in charge” is given by BDAG 492 s.v. καθίστημι 2.
Acts 6:3 tn Grk “of this need”; translated “necessary work” or “needed task” by L&N 42.22.
Acts 6:5 tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 6:5 tn The translation “so” has been used to indicate the logical sequence in English.
Acts 6:5 tn “With” is smoother English style for an addition like this. Because of differences between Greek and English style, καί (kai), which occurs between each name in the list, has not been translated except preceding the last element.
Acts 6:5 sn Philip. Note how many of the names in this list are Greek. This suggests that Hellenists were chosen to solve the problem they had been so sensitive about fixing (cf. 6:1).
Acts 6:5 tn Or “a proselyte.”
Acts 6:6 tn Literally this is a participle in the Greek text (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi). It could be translated as a finite verb (“and they prayed and placed their hands on them”) but much smoother English results if the entire coordinate clause is converted to a relative clause that refers back to the apostles.sn Who prayed. The prayer indicates their acceptance and commissioning for ministry (cf. Deut 34:9).
Acts 6:6 tn Or “laid.”
Acts 6:7 tn Grk “kept on spreading”; the verb has been translated as a progressive imperfect.
Acts 6:7 tn Grk “a great multitude.”sn A large group. Many Jews, even some religious leaders, were responding.
Acts 6:8 tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context. Here the work of miracles extends beyond the Twelve for the first time.
Acts 6:9 sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).
Acts 6:9 tn Grk “the so-called Synagogue of the Freedmen.” The translation of the participle λεγομένης (legomenēs) by the phrase “as it was called” is given by L&N 87.86. “Freedmen” would be slaves who had gained their freedom, or the descendants of such people (BDAG 594-95 s.v. Λιβερτῖνος).
Acts 6:9 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia. The Roman province of Asia made up about one-third of modern Asia Minor and was on the western side of it. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
Acts 6:10 tn Grk “and.” The context, however, indicates that the conjunction carries an adversative force.
Acts 6:10 sn They were not able to resist. This represents another fulfillment of Luke 12:11-12; 21:15.
Acts 6:11 tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.
Acts 6:11 tn Grk “heard him,” but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”
Acts 6:12 tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Acts 6:12 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.
Acts 6:12 tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 6:12 tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.
Acts 6:13 sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.
Acts 6:13 sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.
Acts 6:14 tn Or “practices.”sn Will destroy this place and change the customs. Stephen appears to view the temple as a less central place in light of Christ’s work, an important challenge to Jewish religion, since it was at this time a temple-centered state and religion. Unlike Acts 3-4, the issue here is more than Jesus and his resurrection. Now the impact of his resurrection and the temple’s centrality has also become an issue. The “falseness” of the charge may not be that the witnesses were lying, but that they falsely read the truth of Stephen’s remarks.
Acts 6:15 tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 6:15 tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
Acts 6:15 tn Grk “at him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 6:15 sn His face was like the face of an angel. This narrative description of Stephen’s face adds to the mood of the passage. He had the appearance of a supernatural, heavenly messenger.

John 4:1-26

Departure From Judea

4 Now when Jesus^[a] knew that the Pharisees^[b] had heard that he^[c] was winning^[d] and baptizing more disciples than John ²(although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were),^[e] ³he left Judea and set out once more for Galilee.^[f]

Conversation With a Samaritan Woman

⁴But he had^[g] to pass through Samaria.^[h] ⁵Now he came to a Samaritan town^[i] called Sychar,^[j] near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.^[k] ⁶Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside^[l] the well. It was about noon.^[m]

⁷A Samaritan woman^[n] came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water^[o] to drink.” ⁸(For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.^[p])^[q] ⁹So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you—a Jew^[r]—ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water^[s] to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common^[t] with Samaritans.)^[u]

¹⁰Jesus answered^[v] her, “If you had known^[w] the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water^[x] to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”^[y] ¹¹“Sir,”^[z] the woman^[aa] said to him, “you have no bucket and the well^[ab] is deep; where then do you get this^[ac] living water?^[ad] ¹²Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor^[ae] Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”^[af]

¹³Jesus replied,^[ag] “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty^[ah] again. ¹⁴But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again,^[ai] but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain^[aj] of water springing up^[ak] to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw^[al] water.”^[am] ¹⁶He^[an] said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.”^[ao] ¹⁷The woman replied,^[ap] “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “Right you are when you said,^[aq] ‘I have no husband,’^[ar] ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with^[as] now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!”

¹⁹The woman said to him, “Sir, I see^[at] that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,^[au] and you people^[av] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman,^[aw] a time^[ax] is coming when you will worship^[ay] the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You people^[az] worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.^[ba] ²³But a time^[bb] is coming—and now is here^[bc]—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks^[bd] such people to be^[be] his worshipers.^[bf] ²⁴God is spirit,^[bg] and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ);^[bh] “whenever he^[bi] comes, he will tell^[bj] us everything.”^[bk] ²⁶Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

Footnotes

John 4:1 tc Several early and significant witnesses, along with the majority of later ones (P^66c,75 A B C L W^s Ψ 083 ƒ¹³ 33 M sa), have κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) here instead of ᾿Ιησοῦς (Iēsous, “Jesus”). As significant as this external support is, the internal evidence seems to be on the side of ᾿Ιησοῦς. “Jesus” is mentioned two more times in the first two verses of chapter four in a way that is stylistically awkward (so much so that the translation has substituted the pronoun for the first one; see tn note below). This seems to be sufficient reason to motivate scribes to change the wording to κύριος. Further, the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is not without decent support, though admittedly not as strong as that for κύριος (P^66* א D Θ 086 ƒ¹ 565 1241 al lat bo). On the other hand, this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions elsewhere only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12; and probably 6:23, preferring ᾿Ιησοῦς most of the time. This fact could be used to argue that scribes, acquainted with John’s style, changed κύριος to ᾿Ιησοῦς. But the immediate context generally is weighed more heavily than an author’s style. It is possible that neither word was in the autographic text and scribes supplied what they thought most appropriate (see TCGNT 176). But without ms evidence to this effect coupled with the harder reading ᾿Ιησοῦς, this conjecture must remain doubtful. All in all, it is best to regard ᾿Ιησοῦς as the original reading here.
John 4:1 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
John 4:1 tn Grk “Jesus”; the repetition of the proper name is somewhat redundant in English (see the beginning of the verse) and so the pronoun (“he”) has been substituted here.
John 4:1 tn Grk “was making.”
John 4:2 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
John 4:3 sn The author doesn’t tell why Jesus chose to set out once more for Galilee. Some have suggested that the Pharisees turned their attention to Jesus because John the Baptist had now been thrown into prison. But the text gives no hint of this. In any case, perhaps Jesus simply did not want to provoke a confrontation at this time (knowing that his “hour” had not yet come).
John 4:4 sn Travel through Samaria was not geographically necessary; the normal route for Jews ran up the east side of the Jordan River (Transjordan). Although some take the impersonal verb had to (δεῖ, dei) here to indicate logical necessity only, normally in John’s Gospel its use involves God’s will or plan (3:7, 14, 30; 4:4, 20, 24; 9:4; 10:16; 12:34; 20:9).
John 4:4 sn Samaria. The Samaritans were descendants of 2 groups: (1) The remnant of native Israelites who were not deported after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 b.c.; (2) Foreign colonists brought in from Babylonia and Media by the Assyrian conquerors to settle the land with inhabitants who would be loyal to Assyria. There was theological opposition between the Samaritans and the Jews because the former refused to worship in Jerusalem. After the exile the Samaritans put obstacles in the way of the Jewish restoration of Jerusalem, and in the 2nd century b.c. the Samaritans helped the Syrians in their wars against the Jews. In 128 b.c. the Jewish high priest retaliated and burned the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim.
John 4:5 tn Grk “town of Samaria.” The noun Σαμαρείας (Samareias) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
John 4:5 sn Sychar was somewhere in the vicinity of Shechem, possibly the village of Askar, 1.5 km northeast of Jacob’s well.
John 4:5 sn Perhaps referred to in Gen 48:22.
John 4:6 tn Grk “on (ἐπί, epi) the well.” There may have been a low stone rim encircling the well, or the reading of P⁶⁶ (“on the ground”) may be correct.
John 4:6 tn Grk “the sixth hour.”sn It was about noon. The suggestion has been made by some that time should be reckoned from midnight rather than sunrise. This would make the time 6 a.m. rather than noon. That would fit in this passage but not in John 19:14 which places the time when Jesus is condemned to be crucified at “the sixth hour.”
John 4:7 tn Grk “a woman from Samaria.” According to BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, the prepositional phrase is to be translated as a simple attributive: “γυνὴ ἐκ τῆς Σαμαρείας a Samaritan woman J 4:7.”
John 4:7 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
John 4:8 tn Grk “buy food.”
John 4:8 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author, indicating why Jesus asked the woman for a drink.
John 4:9 tn Or “a Judean.” Here BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαίος 2.a states, “Judean (with respect to birth, nationality, or cult).” The same term occurs in the plural later in this verse. In one sense “Judean” would work very well in the translation here, since the contrast is between residents of the two geographical regions. However, since in the context of this chapter the discussion soon becomes a religious rather than a territorial one (cf. vv. 19-26), the translation “Jew” has been retained here and in v. 22.
John 4:9 tn “Water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
John 4:9 tn D. Daube (“Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: the Meaning of συγχράομαι [Jn 4:7ff],” JBL 69 [1950]: 137-47) suggests this meaning.sn The background to the statement use nothing in common is the general assumption among Jews that the Samaritans were ritually impure or unclean. Thus a Jew who used a drinking vessel after a Samaritan had touched it would become ceremonially unclean.
John 4:9 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
John 4:10 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
John 4:10 tn Or “if you knew.”
John 4:10 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
John 4:10 tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.sn The word translated living is used in Greek of flowing water, which leads to the woman’s misunderstanding in the following verse. She thought Jesus was referring to some unknown source of drinkable water.
John 4:11 tn Or “Lord.” The Greek term κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage there is probably a gradual transition from one to the other as the woman’s respect for Jesus grows throughout the conversation (4:11, 15, 19).
John 4:11 tc ‡ Two early and significant Greek mss along with two versional witnesses (P⁷⁵ B sy^s ac²) lack ἡ γυνή (hē gunē, “the woman”) here; א* has ἐκείνη (ekeinē, “that one” or possibly “she”) instead of ἡ γυνή. It is possible that no explicit subject was in the autographic text and scribes added either ἡ γυνή or ἐκείνη to make the meaning clear. It is also possible that the archetype of P⁷⁵ א B expunged the subject because it was not altogether necessary, with the scribe of א later adding the pronoun. However, ἡ γυνή is not in doubt in any other introduction to the woman’s words in this chapter (cf. vv. 9, 15, 17, 19, 25), suggesting that intentional deletion was not the motive for the shorter reading in v. 11 (or else why would they delete the words only here?). Thus, the fact that virtually all witnesses (P⁶⁶ א² A C D L W^s Θ Ψ 050 083 086 ƒ^1,13 M latt sy^c,p,h sa bo) have ἡ γυνή here may suggest that it is a motivated reading, conforming this verse to the rest of the pericope. Although a decision is difficult, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁸ has ἡ γυνή in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity. For English stylistic reasons, the translation also includes “the woman” here.
John 4:11 tn The word for “well” has now shifted to φρέαρ (phrear, “cistern”); earlier in the passage it was πηγή (pēgē).
John 4:11 tn The anaphoric article has been translated “this.”
John 4:11 sn Where then do you get this living water? The woman’s reply is an example of the “misunderstood statement,” a technique appearing frequently in John’s Gospel. Jesus was speaking of living water which was spiritual (ultimately a Johannine figure for the Holy Spirit, see John 7:38-39), but the woman thought he was speaking of flowing (fresh drinkable) water. Her misunderstanding gave Jesus the opportunity to explain what he really meant.
John 4:12 tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”
John 4:12 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end. In this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).
John 4:13 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
John 4:13 tn Grk “will thirst.”
John 4:14 tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.
John 4:14 tn Or “well.” “Fountain” is used as the translation for πηγή (pēgē) here since the idea is that of an artesian well that flows freely, but the term “artesian well” is not common in contemporary English.
John 4:14 tn The verb ἁλλομένου (hallomenou) is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul. See Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kgdms 10:2, 10 LXX (= 1 Sam 10:6, 10 ET); and Isa 35:6 (note context).
John 4:15 tn Grk “or come here to draw.”
John 4:15 tn The direct object of the infinitive ἀντλεῖν (antlein) is understood in Greek but supplied for clarity in the English translation.
John 4:16 tc Most witnesses have “Jesus” here, either with the article (א^c C² D L W^s Ψ 086 M lat) or without (א* A Θ ƒ^1,13 al), while several significant and early witnesses lack the name (P^66,75 B C* 33^vid). It is unlikely that scribes would have deliberately expunged the name of Jesus from the text here, especially since it aids the reader with the flow of the dialogue. Further, that the name occurs both anarthrously and with the article suggests that it was a later addition. (For similar arguments, see the tc note on “woman” in 4:11).
John 4:16 tn Grk “come here” (“back” is implied).
John 4:17 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
John 4:17 tn Grk “Well have you said.”
John 4:17 tn The word order in Jesus’ reply is reversed from the woman’s original statement. The word “husband” in Jesus’ reply is placed in an emphatic position.
John 4:18 tn Grk “the one you have.”
John 4:19 tn Grk “behold” or “perceive,” but these are not as common in contemporary English usage.
John 4:20 sn This mountain refers to Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritan shrine was located.
John 4:20 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the Greek verb translated “say” is second person plural and thus refers to more than Jesus alone.
John 4:21 sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.
John 4:21 tn Grk “an hour.”
John 4:21 tn The verb is plural.
John 4:22 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the Greek verb translated “worship” is second person plural and thus refers to more than the woman alone.
John 4:22 tn Or “from the Judeans.” See the note on “Jew” in v. 9.
John 4:23 tn Grk “an hour.”
John 4:23 tn “Here” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to conform to contemporary English idiom.
John 4:23 sn See also John 4:27.
John 4:23 tn Or “as.” The object-complement construction implies either “as” or “to be.”
John 4:23 tn This is a double accusative construction of object and complement with τοιούτους (toioutous) as the object and the participle προσκυνοῦντας (proskunountas) as the complement.sn The Father wants such people as his worshipers. Note how the woman has been concerned about where people ought to worship, while Jesus is concerned about who people ought to worship.
John 4:24 tn Here πνεῦμα (pneuma) is understood as a qualitative predicate nominative while the articular θεός (theos) is the subject.
John 4:25 tn Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “the one who has been anointed.”sn The one called Christ. This is a parenthetical statement by the author. See the note on Christ in 1:20.
John 4:25 tn Grk “that one.”
John 4:25 tn Or “he will announce to us.”
John 4:25 tn Grk “all things.”

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 101[a]

A psalm of David.

Footnotes

Psalm 109[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

ע (Ayin)

פ (Pe)

צ (Tsade)

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

Stephen is Arrested

Footnotes

Departure From Judea

Conversation With a Samaritan Woman

Footnotes

Psalm 101^[a]

Psalm 109^[a]