◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Isaiah 9:1-4 (Light shines for those in darkness); Psalm 27:1 4-9 (God is light and salvation); 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (An appeal for unity in the gospel); Matthew 4:12-23 (Christ revealed as a prophet) (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

Isaiah 9:1-4

9 ¹(8:23)^[a] The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious.^[b]

In earlier times he^[c] humiliated
the land of Zebulun,
and the land of Naphtali;^[d]
but now he brings honor^[e]
to the way of the sea,
the region beyond the Jordan,
and Galilee of the nations.^[f]
²(9:1) The people walking in darkness
see a bright light;^[g]
light shines
on those who live in a land of deep darkness.^[h]
³You^[i] have enlarged the nation;
you give them great joy.^[j]
They rejoice in your presence
as harvesters rejoice;
as warriors celebrate^[k] when they divide up the plunder.
⁴For their oppressive yoke
and the club that strikes their shoulders,
the cudgel the oppressor uses on them,^[l]
you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat.^[m]

Footnotes

Isaiah 9:1 sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
Isaiah 9:1 tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (loʾ, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.
Isaiah 9:1 tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.
Isaiah 9:1 sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-Pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.
Isaiah 9:1 tn Heb “Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.
Isaiah 9:1 sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.
Isaiah 9:2 sn The darkness symbolizes judgment and its effects (see 8:22); the light represents deliverance and its effects, brought about by the emergence of a conquering Davidic king (see vv. 3-6).
Isaiah 9:2 tn Traditionally צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet) has been interpreted as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV, NIV), but usage indicates that the word, though it sometimes refers to death, means “darkness.” The term should probably be repointed as an abstract noun צַלְמוּת (tsalmut). See the note at Ps 23:4.
Isaiah 9:3 sn The Lord is addressed directly in vv. 3-4.
Isaiah 9:3 tc The Hebrew consonantal text reads “You multiply the nation, you do not make great the joy.” The particle לֹא (loʾ, “not”) is obviously incorrect; the marginal reading has לוֹ (lo, “to him”). In this case, one should translate, “You multiply the nation, you increase his (i.e., their) joy.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one emends הַגּוֹי לוֹ (haggoy lo, “the nation, to him”) to הַגִּילָה (haggilah, “the joy,” a noun attested in Isa 65:18), which corresponds to הַשִּׂמְחָה (hasimkhah, “the joy”) later in the verse (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:386). As attractive as this reading is, it has no textual evidence supporting it. The MT reading (accepting the marginal reading “to him” for the negative particle “not”) affirms that Yahweh caused the nation to grow in population and increased their joy.
Isaiah 9:3 tn Heb “as they are happy.” The word “warriors” is supplied in the translation to clarify the word picture. This last simile comes close to reality, for vv. 4-5 indicate that the people have won a great military victory over their oppressors.
Isaiah 9:4 tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.
Isaiah 9:4 sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

Psalm 27:1

Psalm 27^[a]

By David.

27 The Lord is my light^[b] and my salvation.
I fear no one.^[c]
The Lord protects my life.
I am afraid of no one.^[d]

Psalm 27:4-9

⁴I have asked the Lord for one thing—
this is what I desire!
I want to live^[a] in the Lord’s house^[b] all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor^[c] of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
⁵He will surely^[d] give me shelter^[e] in the day of danger;^[f]
he will hide me in his home.^[g]
He will place me^[h] on an inaccessible rocky summit.^[i]
⁶Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me.^[j]
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy.^[k]
I will sing praises to the Lord.
⁷Hear me,^[l] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
⁸My heart tells me to pray to you,^[m]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.^[n]
⁹Do not reject me.^[o]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.^[p]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.

Footnotes

Psalm 27:4 tn Heb “for me to live.”
Psalm 27:4 sn The Lord’s house. This probably refers to the tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).
Psalm 27:4 tn Or “beauty.”
Psalm 27:5 tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.
Psalm 27:5 tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”
Psalm 27:5 tn Or “trouble.”
Psalm 27:5 tn Heb “tent.”
Psalm 27:5 tn The three imperfect verb forms in v. 5 anticipate a positive response to the prayer offered in vv. 7-12.
Psalm 27:5 tn Heb “on a rocky summit he lifts me up.” The Lord places the psalmist in an inaccessible place where his enemies cannot reach him. See Ps 18:2.
Psalm 27:6 tn Heb “and now my head will be lifted up over my enemies all around me.”sn In vv. 1-3 the psalmist generalizes, but here we discover that he is facing a crisis and is under attack from enemies (see vv. 11-12).
Psalm 27:6 tn Heb “I will sacrifice in his tent sacrifices of a shout for joy” (that is, “sacrifices accompanied by a joyful shout”).
Psalm 27:7 tn Heb “my voice.”
Psalm 27:8 tc Heb “concerning you my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’” The verb form “seek” is plural, but this makes no sense here, for the psalmist is addressed. The verb should be emended to a singular form. The first person pronominal suffix on “face” also makes little sense, unless it is the voice of the Lord he hears. His “heart” is viewed as speaking, however, so it is better to emend the form to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”).
Psalm 27:8 tn Heb “your face, O Lord, I seek.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 24:6; 105:4).
Psalm 27:9 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
Psalm 27:9 tn Or “[source of] help.”

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰I urge you, brothers and sisters,^[a] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together,^[b] to end your divisions,^[c] and to be united by the same mind and purpose.^[d] ¹¹For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters,^[e] that there are quarrels^[f] among you. ¹²Now I mean this, that^[g] each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,”^[h] or “I am with Christ.” ¹³Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he?^[i] Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?^[j] ¹⁴I thank God^[k] that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! ¹⁶(I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.^[l]

The Message of the Cross

¹⁸For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that you all say the same thing.”
1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that there be no divisions among you.”
1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that you be united in/by the same mind and in/by the same purpose.”
1 Corinthians 1:11 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
1 Corinthians 1:11 tn Or “rivalries, disputes.”
1 Corinthians 1:12 tn Or “And I say this because.”
1 Corinthians 1:12 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211). Both the Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” are related to words in each language which mean “rock.”
1 Corinthians 1:13 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 English (here the tag is “was he?”).
1 Corinthians 1:13 tn This third question marks a peak in which Paul’s incredulity at the Corinthians’ attitude is in focus. The words “in fact” have been supplied in the translation to make this rhetorical juncture clear.
1 Corinthians 1:14 tc The oldest and most significant witnesses to this text, as well as a few others (א* B 6 1739 sa^ms bo^pt), lack the words τῷ θεῷ (tō theō, “God”), while the rest have them. An accidental omission could well account for the shorter reading, especially since θεῷ would have been written as a nomen sacrum (eucaristwtwqMw). However, one might expect to see, in some mss at least, a dropping of the article but not the divine name. Internally, the Pauline introductory thanksgivings elsewhere always include τῷ θεῷ after εὐχαριστῶ (eucharistō, “I thank”; cf. Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; Phlm 4; in the plural, note Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2). However, both the fact that this is already used in 1 Cor 1:4 (thus perhaps motivating scribes to add it ten verses later), and that in later portions of his letters Paul does not consistently use the collocation of εὐχαριστῶ with τῷ θεῷ (Rom 16:4; 1 Cor 10:30), might give one pause. Still, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see a sentence begin with εὐχαριστῶ without an accompanying τῷ θεῷ. A decision is difficult, but on balance it is probably best to retain the words.
1 Corinthians 1:17 tn Grk “would not be emptied.”

Matthew 4:12-23

Preaching in Galilee

¹²Now when Jesus^[a] heard that John^[b] had been imprisoned,^[c] he went into Galilee. ¹³While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum^[d] by the sea,^[e] in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled:^[f]

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way^[g] by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.”^[h]

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach this message:^[i] “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”

The Call of the Disciples

¹⁸As^[j] he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).^[k] ¹⁹He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!”^[l] ²⁰They^[m] left their nets immediately and followed him.^[n] ²¹Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in a boat^[o] with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Then^[p] he called them. ²²They^[q] immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus’ Healing Ministry

²³Jesus^[r] went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,^[s] preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness^[t] among the people.

Footnotes

Matthew 4:12 tn Grk “he.”
Matthew 4:12 sn A reference to John the Baptist.
Matthew 4:12 tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).
Matthew 4:13 tn Grk “and leaving Nazareth, he came and took up residence in Capernaum.” sn Capernaum was a town located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, about 680 ft (207 m) below sea level. It existed since Hasmonean times and was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region. The population in the first century is estimated to be around 1,500. Capernaum became the hub of operations for Jesus’ Galilean ministry (Matt 4:13; Mark 2:1). In modern times the site was discovered in 1838 by the American explorer E. Robinson, and major excavations began in 1905 by German archaeologists H. Kohl and C. Watzinger. Not until 1968, however, were remains from the time of Jesus visible; in that year V. Corbo and S. Loffreda began a series of annual archaeological campaigns that lasted until 1985. This work uncovered what is thought to be the house of Simon Peter as well as ruins of the first century synagogue beneath the later synagogue from the fourth or fifth century A.D. Today gently rolling hills and date palms frame the first century site, a favorite tourist destination of visitors to the Galilee.
Matthew 4:13 tn Or “by the lake.”sn By the sea refers to the Sea of Galilee.
Matthew 4:14 tn The redundant participle λέγοντος (legontos) has not been translated here.
Matthew 4:15 tn Or “road.”
Matthew 4:16 sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.
Matthew 4:17 tn Grk “to preach and to say.” The second of the two Greek infinitives (“to say”) is redundant in English and is not included in the translation.
Matthew 4:18 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 4:18 tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.
Matthew 4:19 tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net—not line—fishing (cf. v. 18; cf. also BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφιβάλλω, ἀμφίβληστρον) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point in using the analogy may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. W. L. Lane, Mark [NICNT], 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to rescue them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.
Matthew 4:20 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 4:20 sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.
Matthew 4:21 tn Or “in their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tō ploiō) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark (unlike Matthew) assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence in Mark the translation “their boat” is justified (Mark 1:19; cf. also Mark 1:20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats)sn In 1986 following a period of drought and low lake levels, a fishing boat from the first century was discovered on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was excavated and preserved and can now be seen in the Yigal Allon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar north of Tiberias. The remains of the boat are 27 ft (8.27 m) long and 7.5 ft (2.3 m) wide; it could be rowed by four rowers and had a mast for a sail. The boat is now known as the “Jesus boat” or the “Sea of Galilee boat” although there is no known historical connection of any kind with Jesus or his disciples. However, the boat is typical for the period and has provided archaeologists with much information about design and construction of boats on the Sea of Galilee in the first century.
Matthew 4:21 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Matthew 4:22 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 4:23 tn Grk “And he.”
Matthew 4:23 sn Synagogues were places 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).
Matthew 4:23 tn Grk “every [kind of] disease and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. The present translation, like several other translations (e.g., NASB, CEV, NLT), has opted for “every kind of disease and sickness” here, understanding the Greek term πᾶς to refer to “everything belonging, in kind, to the class designated by the noun” (BDAG 784 s.v. 5).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Footnotes

Psalm 27[a]

By David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Divisions in the Church

The Message of the Cross

Footnotes

Preaching in Galilee

The Call of the Disciples

Jesus’ Healing Ministry

Footnotes

Psalm 27^[a]