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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 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.”

Isaiah 1:24-31

²⁴Therefore, the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies,^[a]
the Powerful One of Israel,^[b] says this:
“Ah, I will seek vengeance^[c] against my adversaries,
I will take revenge against my enemies.^[d]
²⁵I will attack you;^[e]
I will purify your metal with flux.^[f]
I will remove all your slag.^[g]
²⁶I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,
wise advisers as in earlier days.^[h]
Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,
Faithful Town.’”
²⁷^[i] Zion will be freed by justice,^[j]
and her returnees by righteousness.^[k]
²⁸All rebellious sinners will be shattered,^[l]
those who abandon the Lord will perish.
²⁹Indeed, they^[m] will be ashamed of the sacred trees
you^[n] find so desirable;
you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards^[o]
where you choose to worship.
³⁰For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,
like an orchard^[p] that is unwatered.
³¹The powerful will be like^[q] a thread of yarn,
their deeds like a spark;
both will burn together,
and no one will put out the fire.

Footnotes

Isaiah 1:24 tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”].” On the title “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,” see the note at v. 9.
Isaiah 1:24 tn Or “the Mighty One of Israel.”
Isaiah 1:24 tn Heb “console myself” (i.e., by getting revenge); NRSV “pour out my wrath on.”
Isaiah 1:24 sn The Lord here identifies with the oppressed and comes as their defender and vindicator.
Isaiah 1:25 tn Heb “turn my hand against you.” The second person pronouns in vv. 25-26 are feminine singular. Personified Jerusalem is addressed. The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack,” in Ps 81:15 HT (81:14 ET); Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7. In Jer 6:9 it is used of gleaning grapes.
Isaiah 1:25 tn Heb “I will purify your dross as [with] flux.” “Flux” refers here to minerals added to the metals in a furnace to prevent oxides from forming. For this interpretation of II בֹּר (bor), see HALOT 153 s.v. II בֹּר and 750 s.v. סִיג.
Isaiah 1:25 sn The metaphor comes from metallurgy; slag is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.
Isaiah 1:26 tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning, and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.
Isaiah 1:27 sn The third person reference to the Lord in v. 28 indicates that the prophet is again (see vv. 21-24a) speaking. Since v. 27 is connected to v. 28 by a conjunction, it is likely that the prophet’s words begin with v. 27.
Isaiah 1:27 tn Heb “Zion will be ransomed with justice.” Both cola in this verse end with similar terms: justice and righteousness (each preceded by the preposition בְּ [b^e]). At issue is whether these virtues describe the means or result of the deliverance and whether they delineate God’s justice/righteousness or that of the covenant people. If the righteousness of Israelite returnees is in view, the point seems to be that the reestablishment of Zion as a center of justice (God’s people living in conformity with God’s demand for equity and justice) will deliver the city from its past humiliation and restore it to a place of prominence (see 2:2-4; cf. E. Kissane, Isaiah, 1:19). Most scholars conclude that “righteousness and “justice” refers to God alone (J. Ridderbos, Isaiah [BSC], 50; J. Watts, Isaiah [WBC], 1:25; E. J. Young, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:89; cf. NLT, TEV) or serves as a double reference to both divine and human justice and righteousness (J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, 51; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:10; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:72). If it refers to both sides of the coin, these terms highlight the objective divine work of redemption and the subjective human response of penitence (Motyer, 51).
Isaiah 1:27 tc The Hebrew text has, “her repentant ones/returnees with righteousness.” The form שָׁבֶיהָ (shaveha, “her repentant ones”), as pointed in MT, is a masculine plural Qal participle from שׁוּב (shuv, “return”). Used substantivally, it refers to the “returning (i.e., repentant) ones.” It is possible that the parallel line (with its allusion to being freed by a ransom payment) suggests that the form be repointed to שִׁבְיָהּ (shivyah, “her captivity”), a reading that has support from the LXX. Some slightly emend the form to read וְשָׁבָה (v^eshavah, “and will return”). According to this view, the verb from the first line applies to the second line as well with the following translation as a result: “she will be released when fairness is restored.” Regardless, it makes best sense in the context to regard this as a reference to repentant Israelites returning to the land of promise. This understanding provides a better contrast with the rebels and sinners in 1:28.
Isaiah 1:28 tn Heb “and [there will be] a shattering of rebels and sinners together.”
Isaiah 1:29 tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (third plural) to a second plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the second plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the second person verbs in 1:29-31 to third person verbs. It is likely that the change to a second person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from third person to second person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the third person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from third to second person) in the middle of his sentence.
Isaiah 1:29 tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.
Isaiah 1:29 tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”
Isaiah 1:30 tn Or “a garden” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
Isaiah 1:31 tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).

Luke 11:29-32

The Sign of Jonah

²⁹As^[a] the crowds were increasing, Jesus^[b] began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign,^[c] but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.^[d] ³⁰For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh,^[e] so the Son of Man will be a sign^[f] to this generation.^[g] ³¹The queen of the South^[h] will rise up at the judgment^[i] with the people^[j] of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon—and now,^[k] something greater^[l] than Solomon is here! ³²The people^[m] of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them^[n]—and now,^[o] something greater than Jonah is here!

Footnotes

Luke 11:29 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Luke 11:29 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 11:29 sn The mention of a sign alludes back to Luke 11:16. Given what Jesus had done, nothing would be good enough. This leads to the rebuke that follows.
Luke 11:29 sn As the following comparisons to Solomon and Jonah show, in the present context the sign of Jonah is not an allusion to Jonah being three days in the belly of the fish, but to Jesus’ teaching about wisdom and repentance.
Luke 11:30 tn Grk “to the Ninevites.” What the Ninevites experienced was Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4, 10; 4:1).
Luke 11:30 tn The repetition of the words “a sign” are not in the Greek text, but are implied and are supplied here for clarity.
Luke 11:30 tc Only the Western ms D and a few Itala mss add here a long reference to Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days and nights and the Son of Man being three days in the earth, apparently harmonizing the text to the parallel in Matt 12:40.
Luke 11:31 sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.
Luke 11:31 sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.
Luke 11:31 tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anēr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.
Luke 11:31 tn Grk “behold.”
Luke 11:31 sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.
Luke 11:32 tn See the note on the word “people” in v. 31.
Luke 11:32 tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”sn The phrase repented when Jonah preached to them confirms that in this context the sign of Jonah (v. 30) is his message.
Luke 11:32 tn Grk “behold.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90[a]

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Sign of Jonah

Footnotes

Psalm 90^[a]