◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 27:7-14 (Take courage in God); Judges 6:11-24 (God calls Gideon to lead the people); Ephesians 5:6-14 (Live as children of the light) (New English Translation)

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January 27, 2020

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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 27:7-14

⁷Hear me,^[a] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
⁸My heart tells me to pray to you,^[b]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.^[c]
⁹Do not reject me.^[d]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.^[e]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
¹⁰Even if my father and mother abandoned me,^[f]
the Lord would take me in.^[g]
¹¹Teach me how you want me to live,^[h] Lord;
lead me along a level path^[i] because of those who wait to ambush me.^[j]
¹²Do not turn me over to my enemies,^[k]
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.^[l]
¹³Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?^[m]
¹⁴Rely^[n] on the Lord!
Be strong and confident!^[o]
Rely on the Lord!

Footnotes

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.”
Psalm 27:10 tn Or “though my father and mother have abandoned me.”
Psalm 27:10 tn Heb “gather me in”; or “receive me.”
Psalm 27:11 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.
Psalm 27:11 sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).
Psalm 27:11 tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.
Psalm 27:12 tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”
Psalm 27:12 tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.
Psalm 27:13 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The words “Where would I be” are supplied in the translation to clarify the intent of the statement.
Psalm 27:14 tn Or “wait.”
Psalm 27:14 tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”

Judges 6:11-24

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

¹¹The angel of the Lord^[a] came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon^[b] was threshing^[c] wheat in a winepress^[d] so he could hide it from the Midianites.^[e] ¹²The angel of the Lord appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!” ¹³Gideon said to him, “Pardon me,^[f] but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster^[g] overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said,^[h] ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” ¹⁴Then the Lord himself^[i] turned to him and said, “You have the strength.^[j] Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites!^[k] Have I not sent you?” ¹⁵Gideon^[l] said to him, “But Lord,^[m] how^[n] can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.”^[o] ¹⁶The Lord said to him, “Ah, but^[p] I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.”^[q] ¹⁷Gideon^[r] said to him, “If you really are pleased with me,^[s] then give me^[t] a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. ¹⁸Do not leave this place until I come back^[u] with a gift^[v] and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”

¹⁹Gideon went and prepared a young goat,^[w] along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food^[x] to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. ²⁰God’s angel said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock,^[y] and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed.^[z] ²¹The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff.^[aa] Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The angel of the Lord then disappeared.^[ab]

²²When Gideon realized^[ac] that it was the angel of the Lord, he^[ad] said, “Oh no!^[ae] Sovereign Lord!^[af] I have seen the angel of the Lord face-to-face!” ²³The Lord said to him, “You are safe!^[ag] Do not be afraid. You are not going to die!” ²⁴Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.”^[ah] To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Footnotes

Judges 6:11 sn The angel of the Lord is also mentioned in Judg 2:1.
Judges 6:11 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son….” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
Judges 6:11 tn Heb “beating out.”
Judges 6:11 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
Judges 6:11 tn Heb “Midian.”
Judges 6:13 tn Heb “But my lord.”
Judges 6:13 tn Heb “all this.”
Judges 6:13 tn Heb “saying.”
Judges 6:14 tc The LXX reads “the angel of the Lord” here and in v. 16. The translation follows the MT and adds “himself” to draw attention to the change. sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story. Since the messenger represents the Lord, perhaps when the Lord is mentioned in vv. 14 and 16 it means so indirectly, while Gideon’s direct encounter is with the angel. Indicators that the Lord and the angel of the Lord are distinct include: 1) the Hebrew text says only “Lord” in vv. 14 and 16; 2) in verse 16 the speaker in the Hebrew text says “I will be with you” referring to the Lord (but see the note at v. 16); 3) Gideon addresses the angel as ‎אֲדֹנִי (ʾadoni, “my lord”) but the Lord as אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “my Lord”); 4) in vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21). On the other hand, if the Lord was present, appearing visibly in human form (called a theophany), as implied by “turning” [his head] to Gideon, why would Gideon not be more fearful at the end of the story for having seen God rather than his angel? The story could be pictured as an exchange with the angel followed by calling out to the Lord in prayer. The translation assumes that the angel and the Lord are distinct in the conversation, but the matter is difficult.
Judges 6:14 tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”
Judges 6:14 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
Judges 6:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Judges 6:15 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (ʾadoni, “my lord”) in v. 13.
Judges 6:15 tn Heb “with what.”
Judges 6:15 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
Judges 6:16 tn Or “certainly.”
Judges 6:16 tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”
Judges 6:17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Judges 6:17 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
Judges 6:17 tn Heb “perform for me.”
Judges 6:18 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Judges 6:18 tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
Judges 6:19 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
Judges 6:19 tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
Judges 6:20 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
Judges 6:20 tn Heb “and he did so.”
Judges 6:21 tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”
Judges 6:21 tn Heb “went from his eyes.”
Judges 6:22 tn Heb “saw.”
Judges 6:22 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Judges 6:22 tn Or “Ah!”
Judges 6:22 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (ʾadonay y^ehvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15], Lord”).
Judges 6:23 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
Judges 6:24 tn Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”

Ephesians 5:6-14

Live in the Light

⁶Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience.^[a] ⁷Therefore do not be sharers with them,^[b] ⁸for you were at one time darkness, but now you are^[c] light in the Lord. Live^[d] like children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the light^[e] consists in^[f] all goodness, righteousness, and truth— ¹⁰trying to learn^[g] what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather^[h] expose them.^[i] ¹²For the things they do^[j] in secret are shameful even to mention. ¹³But all things being exposed by the light are made visible. ¹⁴For everything made visible is light, and for this reason it says:^[k]

“Awake,^[l] O sleeper!^[m]
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you!”^[n]

Footnotes

Ephesians 5:6 sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.
Ephesians 5:7 tn The genitive αὐτῶν (autōn) has been translated as a genitive of association because of its use with συμμέτοχοι (summetochoi)—a verb which implies association in the σύν- (sun-) prefix.
Ephesians 5:8 tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.
Ephesians 5:8 tn Grk “Walk,” a common biblical idiom for one’s conduct of life.
Ephesians 5:9 tc Several mss (P⁴⁶ D² Ψ 1175* 1505 M) have πνεύματος (pneumatos, “Spirit”) instead of φωτός (phōtos, “light”). Although most today regard φωτός as obviously the reading of the initial text (UBS⁵ gives it an “A” rating), a case could be made that πνεύματος is what the author wrote. First, although this is largely a Byzantine reading (D² often, if not normally, assimilates to the Byzantine text), P⁴⁶ gives the reading much greater credibility. Internally, the φωτός at the end of v. 8 could have lined up above the πνεύματος in v. 9 in a scribe’s exemplar, thus occasioning dittography. (It is interesting to note that in both P⁴⁹ and א the two instances of φωτός line up.) However, written in a contracted form, as a nomen sacrum (pMnMs)—a practice found even in the earliest mss—πνεύματος would not have been easily confused with fwtos (there being only the last letter to occasion homoioteleuton rather than the last three). Further, the external evidence for φωτός is quite compelling (P⁴⁹ א A B D* F G P 33 81 1175^c 1739 1881 2464 latt co). It is thus doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook πνεύματος for φωτός. In addition, πνεύματος can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, φωτός appears to be autographic, giving rise to the reading πνεύματος.
Ephesians 5:9 tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”
Ephesians 5:10 tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 translates δοκιμάζοντες (dokimazontes) in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”
Ephesians 5:11 tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”
Ephesians 5:11 tn Grk “rather even expose.”
Ephesians 5:12 tn The participle τὰ…γινόμενα (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν (hup’ autōn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.
Ephesians 5:14 sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.
Ephesians 5:14 tn Grk “Rise up.”
Ephesians 5:14 tn The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων (ho katheudōn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. To reflect this, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”
Ephesians 5:14 sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19; 51:17; 52:1; and 60:1.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Footnotes

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

Footnotes

Live in the Light

Footnotes