◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 66:1-9 (God holds our souls in life); Jeremiah 51:47-58 (Let Jerusalem come into your mind); 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 (Poverty overflows in generosity) (New American Bible (Revised Edition))

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 66:1-9

Psalm 66^[a]

Praise of God, Israel’s Deliverer

¹For the leader. A song; a psalm.

I

²Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
    sing of his glorious name;
    give him glorious praise.^(A)
³Say to God: “How awesome your deeds!
    Before your great strength your enemies cringe.
⁴All the earth falls in worship before you;^(B)
    they sing of you, sing of your name!”
Selah

II

⁵^[b]Come and see the works of God,
    awesome in deeds before the children of Adam.
⁶He changed the sea to dry land;
    through the river they passed on foot.^(C)
There we rejoiced in him,
⁷    who rules by his might forever,
His eyes are fixed upon the nations.
    Let no rebel rise to challenge!
Selah
⁸Bless our God, you peoples;
    loudly sound his praise,
⁹Who has kept us alive
    and not allowed our feet to slip.^(D)

Jeremiah 51:47-58

⁴⁷Realize that the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon; the whole land shall be put to shame, all her slain shall fall in her midst. ⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and everything in them shall shout over Babylon with joy, when the destroyers come against her from the north—oracle of the Lord.^(A) ⁴⁹Babylon, too, must fall, you slain of Israel, because by the hand of Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.

⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword,
    go, do not stand idle;
Remember the Lord from far away,
    let Jerusalem come to mind.
⁵¹We are ashamed because we have heard taunts,
    disgrace covers our faces;
    strangers have entered sanctuaries in the Lord’s house.^(B)
⁵²Therefore see, the days are coming—oracle of the Lord—
    when I will punish her idols,
    and throughout the land the wounded will groan.
⁵³Though Babylon scale the heavens,
    and make her strong heights inaccessible,
    my destroyers shall reach her—oracle of the Lord.^(C)
⁵⁴A sound of crying from Babylon,
    great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans;
⁵⁵For the Lord lays Babylon waste,
    silences her loud cry,
Waves roaring like mighty waters,
    a clamor resounding.
⁵⁶For the destroyer comes upon her, upon Babylon;
    warriors are captured, their bows broken;
The Lord is a God of recompense,
    he will surely repay.^(D)

⁵⁷I will make her princes and sages drunk, with her governors, officers, and warriors, so that they sleep an everlasting sleep, never to awaken—oracle of the King, whose name is Lord of hosts.

⁵⁸    Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The walls of spacious Babylon shall be leveled to the ground,
    its lofty gates destroyed by fire.
The toil of the peoples is for nothing;
    the nations weary themselves for what the flames consume.^(E)

2 Corinthians 8:1-7

III. The Collection for Jerusalem^[a]

Chapter 8

Generosity in Giving. ¹^[b]We want you to know, brothers,^[c] of the grace of God^[d] that has been given to the churches of Macedonia,^(A) ²^[e]for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³^[f]For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, ⁴they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones,^(B) ⁵and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us^[g] through the will of God, ⁶so that we urged Titus^[h] that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also.^(C) ⁷^[i]Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you,^(D) may you excel in this gracious act also.

Footnotes

8:1–9:15 Paul turns to a new topic, the collection for the church in Jerusalem. There is an early precedent for this project in the agreement mentioned in Gal 2:6–10. According to Acts, the church at Antioch had sent Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem with relief (Acts 11:27–30). Subsequently Paul organized a project of relief for Jerusalem among his own churches. Our earliest evidence for it comes in 1 Cor 16:1–4—after it had already begun (see notes there); by the time Paul wrote Rom 15:25–28 the collection was completed and ready for delivery. 2 Cor 8–9 contain what appear to be two letters on the subject. In them Paul gives us his fullest exposition of the meaning he sees in the enterprise, presenting it as an act of Christian charity and as an expression of the unity of the church, both present and eschatological. These chapters are especially rich in the recurrence of key words, on which Paul plays; it is usually impossible to do justice to these wordplays in the translation.
8:1–24 This is a letter of recommendation for Titus and two unnamed companions, written from Macedonia probably at least a year later than 1 Cor 16. The recommendation proper is prefaced by remarks about the ideals of sharing and equality within the Christian community (2 Cor 8:1–15). Phil 4:10–20 shows that Paul has reflected on his personal experience of need and relief in his relations with the community at Philippi; he now develops his reflections on the larger scale of relations between his Gentile churches and the mother church in Jerusalem.
8:1–5 The example of the Macedonians, a model of what ought to be happening at Corinth, provides Paul with the occasion for expounding his theology of “giving.”
8:1 The grace of God: the fundamental theme is expressed by the Greek noun charis, which will be variously translated throughout these chapters as “grace” (2 Cor 8:1; 9:8, 14), “favor” (2 Cor 8:4), “gracious act” (2 Cor 8:6, 7, 9) or “gracious work” (2 Cor 8:19), to be compared to “gracious gift” (1 Cor 16:3). The related term, eucharistia, “thanksgiving,” also occurs at 2 Cor 9:11, 12. The wordplay is not superficial; various mutations of the same root signal inner connection between aspects of a single reality, and Paul consciously exploits the similarities in vocabulary to highlight that connection.
8:2 Three more terms are now introduced. Test (dokimē): the same root is translated as “to test” (2 Cor 8:8) and “evidence” (2 Cor 9:13); it means to be tried and found genuine. Abundance: variations on the same root lie behind “overflow” (2 Cor 8:2; 9:12), “excel” (2 Cor 8:7), “surplus” (2 Cor 8:14), “superfluous” (2 Cor 9:1) “make abundant” and “have an abundance” (2 Cor 9:8). These expressions of fullness contrast with references to need (2 Cor 8:14; 9:12). Generosity: the word haplotēs has nuances of both simplicity and sincerity; here and in 2 Cor 9:11, 13 it designates the singleness of purpose that manifests itself in generous giving.
8:3–4 Paul emphasizes the spontaneity of the Macedonians and the nature of their action. They begged us insistently: the same root is translated as “urge,” “appeal,” “encourage” (2 Cor 8:6, 17; 9:5). Taking part: the same word is translated “contribution” in 2 Cor 9:13 and a related term as “partner” in 2 Cor 8:23. Service (diakonia): this word occurs also in 2 Cor 9:1, 13 as “service”; in 2 Cor 9:12 it is translated “administration,” and in 2 Cor 8:19, 20 the corresponding verb is rendered “administer.”
8:5 They gave themselves…to the Lord and to us: on its deepest level their attitude is one of self-giving.
8:6 Titus: 1 Cor 16 seemed to leave the organization up to the Corinthians, but apparently Paul has sent Titus to initiate the collection as well; 2 Cor 8:16–17 will describe Titus’ attitude as one of shared concern and cooperation.
8:7 The charitable service Paul is promoting is seen briefly and in passing within the perspective of Paul’s theology of the charisms. Earnestness (spoudē): this or related terms occur also in 2 Cor 8:22 (“earnest”) and 2 Cor 8:8, 16, 17 (“concern”).

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 66^[a]

Praise of God, Israel’s Deliverer

I

II

Footnotes

Cross references

Cross references

III. The Collection for Jerusalem^[a]

Chapter 8

Footnotes

Cross references

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 66[a]

Praise of God, Israel’s Deliverer

I

II

Footnotes

Cross references

Cross references

III. The Collection for Jerusalem[a]

Chapter 8

Footnotes

Cross references

Psalm 66^[a]

III. The Collection for Jerusalem^[a]