◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 119:57-64 (Keeping the law in spite of the wicked); Proverbs 25:11-22 (Caring for the enemy); Romans 12:9-21 (Caring for the enemy) (New English Translation)

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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 119:57-64

ח (Khet)

⁵⁷The Lord is my source of security.^[a]
I have determined^[b] to follow your instructions.^[c]
⁵⁸I seek your favor^[d] with all my heart.
Have mercy on me as you promised.^[e]
⁵⁹I consider my actions^[f]
and follow^[g] your rules.
⁶⁰I keep your commands eagerly
and without delay.^[h]
⁶¹The ropes of the wicked tighten around^[i] me,
but I do not forget your law.
⁶²In the middle of the night I arise^[j] to thank you
for your just regulations.
⁶³I am a friend to all your loyal followers,^[k]
and to those who keep your precepts.
⁶⁴O Lord, your loyal love fills the earth.
Teach me your statutes!

Proverbs 25:11-22

¹¹Like apples of gold in settings of silver,^[a]
so is a word skillfully spoken.^[b]
¹²Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold,^[c]
so is a wise reprover to the ear of the one who listens.^[d]
¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest,^[e]
so is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
for he refreshes the heart^[f] of his masters.
¹⁴Like cloudy skies and wind that produce no rain,^[g]
so is the one who boasts^[h] of a gift not given.^[i]
¹⁵Through patience^[j] a ruler can be persuaded,^[k]
and a soft tongue^[l] can break a bone.^[m]
¹⁶You have found^[n] honey—eat only what is sufficient for you,
lest you become stuffed with^[o] it and vomit it up.^[p]
¹⁷Don’t set foot too frequently^[q] in your neighbor’s house,
lest he become weary^[r] of you and hate you.
¹⁸Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow,^[s]
so is the one who testifies against^[t] his neighbor as a false witness.^[u]
¹⁹Like a bad tooth or a foot out of joint,^[v]
so is confidence^[w] in an unfaithful person at the time of trouble.^[x]
²⁰Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day,^[y]
or like vinegar poured on soda,^[z]
so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.^[aa]
²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
²²for you will heap coals of fire on his head,^[ab]
and the Lord will reward you.^[ac]

Footnotes

Proverbs 25:11 sn The verse uses emblematic parallelism, stating the simile in the first part and the point in the second. The meaning of the simile is not entirely clear, but it does speak of beauty, value, and artistry. The “apples of gold” (possibly citrons, quinces, oranges, or apricots) may refer to carvings of fruit in gold on columns.
Proverbs 25:11 tn Heb “on its wheels.” This expression means “aptly, fittingly.” The point is obviously about the immense value and memorable beauty of words used skillfully (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 148). Noting the meaning of the term and the dual form of the word, W. McKane suggests that the expression is metaphorical for the balancing halves of a Hebrew parallel wisdom saying: “The stichos is a wheel, and the sentence consisting of two wheels is a ‘well-turned’ expression” (Proverbs [OTL], 584). The line then would be describing a balanced, well-turned saying, a proverb; it is skillfully constructed, beautifully written, and of lasting value.
Proverbs 25:12 sn This saying is another example of emblematic parallelism; the first half is the simile, and the second half makes the point from it: A wise rebuke that is properly received is of lasting value. The rebuke in the ear of an obedient student is like ornaments of fine jewelry.
Proverbs 25:12 tn The “ear of the listener” refers to the obedient disciple, the one who complies with the reproof he hears. Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “an obedient ear.”
Proverbs 25:13 sn The emblem in the parallelism of this verse is the simile of the first line. Because snow at the time of harvest would be rare, and probably unwelcome, various commentators have sought to explain this expression. R. N. Whybray suggests it may refer to snow brought down from the mountains and kept cool in an ice hole (Proverbs [CBC], 148); this seems rather forced. J. H. Greenstone following Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, suggests it might refer to the refreshing breeze that comes from snow-capped mountains (Proverbs, 260). C. H. Toy suggests a snow-cooled drink (Proverbs [ICC], 464), and W. McKane an application of ice water to the forehead (Proverbs [OTL], 585). Some English versions replace “snow” with “water” (cf. TEV “cold water”; CEV “cool water”). These all attempt to explain the simile, but the point is clear enough: A faithful servant is refreshing to his master. The analogy could be hypothetical—as refreshing as the coolness of snow would be in harvest time.
Proverbs 25:13 tn Heb “he restores the life [or, soul] of his masters.” The idea suggests that someone who sends the messenger either entrusts his life to him or relies on the messenger to resolve some concern. A faithful messenger restores his master’s spirit and so is “refreshing.”
Proverbs 25:14 sn The emblem now is one of clouds and winds that would be expected to produce rain; they gain attention and raise people’s expectations but prove to be disappointing when no rain is forthcoming, and hence could be thought of as deceitful.
Proverbs 25:14 tn The form מִתְהַלֵּל (mithallel) is the Hitpael participle of the well-known word for “praise,” but in this stem it means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.” The description of “windbag” seems appropriate in this context.
Proverbs 25:14 tn Heb “a gift of falsehood.” This would mean that the individual brags about giving a gift, when there is no gift.
Proverbs 25:15 tn Heb “long of anger” or “forbearance” (so NASB).
Proverbs 25:15 tn The two imperfect verbs in this line may be nuanced as potential imperfects because what is described could happen, but does not do so as a rule.
Proverbs 25:15 tn The “tongue” is a metonymy of cause; and so the expression here refers to soft or gentle speech. This fits well with the parallel idea of patience (“long of anger”)—through a calm patient persuasion much can be accomplished. Some English versions relate this figure directly to the persuasion of a ruler in the previous line (cf. TEV “can even convince rulers”).
Proverbs 25:15 sn The idea of breaking a bone uses the hardest and most firm part of the body in contrast to the “softness of the tongue.” Both are figurative, forming a comparison. A gentle speech can break down any stiff opposition.
Proverbs 25:16 tn Most translations render the verse as a question (“Have you found honey?” so KJV, NASB, ASV) or as a condition (“if/when you find honey,” so NIV, ESV, Holman). But the Hebrew has a perfect verb form (מָצָאתָ, matsaʾta) without an interrogative or conditional marker. Hebrew proverbs can use the past tense to set the topic or opening premise of a proverb (to present a case, e.g. “take this situation where X occurred”), and then comment on it in the second half of the proverb. English translators of proverbial sayings tend to want to make the past time verbs in Hebrew into present tense in English. But this convention is difficult with second person verb forms, so the translations tend to take the tactic of changing the nature of the sentence to interrogative or conditional. We could also add “Let’s say [you have found honey].” See B. Webster “The Perfect Verb and the Perfect Woman in the Book of Proverbs” in Windows to the Ancient World of the Hebrew Bible, eds. B. Arnold, N. Erickson, J. Walton (Eisenbrauns, 2014).
Proverbs 25:16 tn The verb means “to be satisfied; to be sated; to be filled.” Here it means more than satisfied, since it describes one who overindulges and becomes sick. The English verb “stuffed” conveys this idea well.
Proverbs 25:16 sn The proverb warns that anything overindulged in can become sickening. The verse uses formal parallelism to express first the condition and then its consequences. It teaches that moderation is wise in the pleasures of life.
Proverbs 25:17 tn Heb “make your foot rare.” The verb is הֹקַר (hoqar), the Hiphil imperative of יָקַר (yaqar, “to be rare; to be precious”). To “make one’s foot rare” would mean to keep the visits to a minimum as well as making them valuable—things increase in value, according to the nuances of this word, when they are rare.
Proverbs 25:17 tn Heb “gets full.” This verb means “to be sated; to be satisfied; to be filled.” It is often used with reference to food, but here it refers to frequent visits that wear out one’s welcome (cf. NLT).
Proverbs 25:18 sn The first line identifies the emblem of the proverb: False witnesses are here compared to deadly weapons because they can cause the death of innocent people (e.g., Exod 20:16; Deut 5:20; Prov 14:5).
Proverbs 25:18 tn The verb עָנָה (ʿanah) followed by the preposition ב (bet) with its object means “to testify against” (answer against someone). With the preposition ל (lamed) it would mean “to testify for” someone. Here the false witness is an adversary, hence the comparison with deadly weapons.
Proverbs 25:18 tn While עֵד (ʿed) could be interpreted as “evidence” (a meaning that came from a metonymy—what the witness gives in court), its normal meaning is “witness.” Here it would function as an adverbial accusative, specifying how he would answer in court.
Proverbs 25:19 sn The similes in this emblematic parallelism focus on things that are incapable of performing certain activities—they are either too painful to use or are ineffective.
Proverbs 25:19 tc Heb “Confidence, treacherous ones in a day of trouble.” Three possibilities require little change to the Hebrew text. (1) The noun מִבְטָח (mivtakh, “confidence”) can be revocalized as a construct noun “the confidence of the treacherous.” This in turn could either refer to confidence that has been placed in the treacherous or to the confidence that the treacherous have. (2) It could be revocalized as מַבְטִח (mavtikh) the Hiphil participle of בָּטַח (batakh, “to trust”) meaning “to cause or inspire to rely on.” But a preposition is probably still to be expected. (3) One may suppose that a preposition ב (bet) was lost due to haplography before the following word (בֹּגֵד, boged) so that the text read “confidence in a treacherous person.” Most of the possibilities point toward a reliance on someone who betrays, which is preferred in most English versions. C. H. Toy, however, argues it means that what the faithless person relies on will fail him in the time of trouble (Proverbs [ICC], 466).
Proverbs 25:19 tn Heb “in the day of trouble”; KJV, NASB “in time of trouble.”
Proverbs 25:20 tc The consonants of the Hebrew text of this verse are similar to the consonants in v. 19. The LXX has a much longer reading: “Like vinegar is bad for a wound, so a pain that afflicts the body afflicts the heart. Like a moth in a garment, and a worm in wood, so the pain of a man wounds the heart” (NRSV follows much of the LXX reading; NAB follows only the second sentence of the LXX reading). The idea that v. 20 is a dittogram is not very convincing; and the Greek version is too far removed to be of help in the matter.
Proverbs 25:20 tn The second simile mentions pouring vinegar on soda. The LXX has “scab,” but that does not fit as a sensitive thing. The reference is to sodium carbonate (natural in Egypt) which can be neutralized with vinegar.
Proverbs 25:20 sn It is inappropriate and counterproductive to sing songs to a heavy heart. One needs to be sensitive to others (e.g., 1 Sam 19:9).
Proverbs 25:22 sn The imagery of the “burning coals” represents pangs of conscience, more readily effected by kindness than by violence. These coals produce the sharp pain of contrition through regret (e.g. 18:19; 20:22; 24:17; Gen 42-45; 1 Sam 24:18-20; Rom 12:20). The coals then would be an implied comparison with a searing conscience.
Proverbs 25:22 sn The second consequence of treating enemies with kindness is that the Lord will reward the act. The fact that this is promised shows that the instruction here belongs to the religious traditions of Israel.

Romans 12:9-21

Conduct in Love

⁹Love must be^[a] without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. ¹¹Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹²Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. ¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.^[b] Do not be conceited.^[c] ¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people.^[d] ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.^[e] ¹⁹Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath,^[f] for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”^[g] says the Lord. ²⁰Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.^[h] ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ח (Khet)

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Conduct in Love

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