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November 12, 1969

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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 63

Psalm 63^[a]

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.^[b]

63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.^[c]
My soul thirsts^[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched^[e] land where there is no water.
²Yes,^[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,^[g]
and witnessed^[h] your power and splendor.
³Because^[i] experiencing^[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
⁴For this reason^[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.^[l]
⁵As with choice meat^[m] you satisfy my soul.^[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,^[o]
⁶whenever^[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
⁷For you are my deliverer;^[q]
under your wings^[r] I rejoice.
⁸My soul^[s] pursues you;^[t]
your right hand upholds me.
⁹Enemies seek to destroy my life,^[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.^[v]
¹⁰Each one will be handed over to the sword;^[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.^[x]
¹¹But the king^[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name^[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.^[aa]

Footnotes

Psalm 63:1 sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
Psalm 63:1 sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
Psalm 63:1 tn Or “I will seek you.”
Psalm 63:1 tn Or “I thirst.”
Psalm 63:1 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.
Psalm 63:2 tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).
Psalm 63:2 tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”
Psalm 63:2 tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.
Psalm 63:3 tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).
Psalm 63:3 tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.
Psalm 63:4 tn Or perhaps “then.”
Psalm 63:4 sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).
Psalm 63:5 tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”
Psalm 63:5 tn Or “me.”
Psalm 63:5 tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”
Psalm 63:6 tn The Hebrew term אִם (ʾim) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.
Psalm 63:7 tn Or “[source of] help.”
Psalm 63:7 tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”
Psalm 63:8 tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
Psalm 63:8 tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).
Psalm 63:9 tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.
Psalm 63:9 sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.
Psalm 63:10 tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).
Psalm 63:10 tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”
Psalm 63:11 sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.
Psalm 63:11 tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”
Psalm 63:11 tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.

Joel 3:9-21

Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat

⁹Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for a holy war!
Call out the warriors!
Let all these fighting men approach and attack!^[a]
¹⁰Beat your plowshares^[b] into swords,
and your pruning hooks^[c] into spears.^[d]
Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’^[e]
¹¹Lend your aid^[f] and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves^[g] to that place.”
Bring down, O Lord, your warriors!^[h]
¹²“Let the nations be roused and let them go up
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.
¹³Rush forth with^[i] the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!
Come, stomp the grapes,^[j] for the winepress is full!
The vats overflow.
Indeed, their evil is great!”^[k]
¹⁴Crowds, great crowds are in the Valley of Decision,

for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision!^[l]
¹⁵The sun and moon are darkened;
the stars withhold^[m] their brightness.
¹⁶The Lord roars from Zion;
from Jerusalem his voice bellows out.^[n]
The heavens^[o] and the earth shake.
But the Lord is a refuge for his people;
he is a stronghold for the citizens^[p] of Israel.

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

¹⁷“You will be convinced^[q] that I the Lord am your God,
dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy—
conquering armies^[r] will no longer pass through it.
¹⁸“On that day^[s] the mountains will drip with sweet wine,^[t]
and the hills will flow with milk.^[u]
All the dry stream beds^[v] of Judah will flow with water.
A spring will flow out from the temple^[w] of the Lord,
watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.^[x]
¹⁹Egypt will be desolate
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
because of the violence they did to the people of Judah,^[y]
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
²⁰But Judah will reside securely forever,
and Jerusalem will be secure^[z] from one generation to the next.
²¹I will avenge^[aa] their blood that I had not previously acquitted.
It is the Lord who dwells in Zion!

Footnotes

Joel 3:9 tn Heb “draw near and go up.”
Joel 3:10 sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.
Joel 3:10 sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.
Joel 3:10 sn This conversion of farming instruments to instruments of war is the reverse of Isa 2:4 (cf. Mic 4:3), where military weapons are transformed into tools for farming. Isaiah describes a time of kingdom blessing and prosperity, whereas Joel describes a time of eschatological conflict and judgment.
Joel 3:10 sn The “weak” individual mentioned here is apparently the farmer who has little or no military prowess or prior fighting experience. Under ordinary circumstances such a person would be ill-prepared for assuming the role of a soldier. However, in the scene that Joel is describing here even the most unlikely candidate will become a participant to be reckoned with in this final conflict.
Joel 3:11 tn This Hebrew verb is found only here in the OT; its meaning is uncertain. Some scholars prefer to read here עוּרוּ (ʿuru, “arouse”) or חוּשׁוּ (khushu, “hasten”).
Joel 3:11 tc The present translation follows the reading of the imperative הִקָּבְצוּ (hiqqav^etsu) rather than the perfect with vav (ו) consecutive וְנִקְבָּצוּ (v^eniqbatsu) of the MT.
Joel 3:11 tc Some commentators prefer to delete the line, “Bring down, O Lord, your warriors,” understanding it to be a later addition. But this is unnecessary. Contrary to what some have suggested, a prayer for the Lord’s intervention is not out of place here.
Joel 3:13 tn Heb “send.”
Joel 3:13 tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (r^edu) may be from יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”) or from רָדָה (radah, “have dominion,” here in the sense of “to tread”). If it means “go down,” the reference would be to entering the vat to squash the grapes. If it means “tread,” the verb would refer specifically to the action of those who walk over the grapes to press out their juice. The phrase “the grapes” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
Joel 3:13 sn The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harvest is completely ripe, there can be no delay by the reapers in gathering the harvest. In a similar way, Joel envisions a time when human wickedness will reach such a heightened degree that there can be no further stay of divine judgment (cf. the “fullness of time” language in Gal 4:4).
Joel 3:14 sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.
Joel 3:15 tn Heb “gather in.”
Joel 3:16 tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”
Joel 3:16 tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.
Joel 3:16 tn Heb “sons.”
Joel 3:17 tn Heb “know.”
Joel 3:17 tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.
Joel 3:18 tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”
Joel 3:18 tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.
Joel 3:18 sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).
Joel 3:18 tn Or “seasonal streams.”
Joel 3:18 tn Heb “house.”
Joel 3:18 tn Heb “Valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
Joel 3:19 tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah,” NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.
Joel 3:20 tn The phrase “will be secure” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
Joel 3:21 tc The present translation follows the reading וְנִקַּמְתִּי (v^eniqqamti, “I will avenge”) rather than וְנִקֵּתִי (v^eniqqeti, “I will acquit”) of the MT.

Matthew 24:29-35

The Arrival of the Son of Man

²⁹“Immediately^[a] after the suffering^[b] of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.^[c] ³⁰Then^[d] the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,^[e] and^[f] all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They^[g] will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven^[h] with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven^[i] to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

³²“Learn^[j] this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So also you, when you see all these things, know^[k] that he is near, right at the door. ³⁴I tell you the truth,^[l] this generation^[m] will not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.^[n]

Footnotes

Matthew 24:29 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:29 tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”
Matthew 24:29 sn An allusion to Isa 13:10; 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.
Matthew 24:30 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:30 tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
Matthew 24:30 tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.
Matthew 24:30 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:30 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.
Matthew 24:31 tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
Matthew 24:32 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:33 tn The verb γινώσκετε (ginōskete, “know”) can be parsed as either present indicative or present imperative. In this context the imperative fits better, since the movement is from analogy (trees and seasons) to the future (the signs of the coming of the kingdom) and since the emphasis is on preparation for this event.
Matthew 24:34 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
Matthew 24:34 sn This is one of the hardest verses in the gospels to interpret. Various views exist for what generation means. (1) Some take it as meaning “race” and thus as an assurance that the Jewish race (nation) will not pass away. But it is very questionable that the Greek term γενεά (genea) can have this meaning. Two other options are possible. (2) Generation might mean “this type of generation” and refer to the generation of wicked humanity. Then the point is that humanity will not perish, because God will redeem it. Or (3) generation may refer to “the generation that sees the signs of the end” (v. 30), who will also see the end itself. In other words, once the movement to the return of Christ starts, all the events connected with it happen very quickly, in rapid succession.
Matthew 24:35 sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 63[a]

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]

Footnotes

Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

Footnotes

The Arrival of the Son of Man

The Parable of the Fig Tree

Footnotes

Psalm 63^[a]

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.^[b]