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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 81

Psalm 81^[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;^[b] by Asaph.

81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
²Sing^[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
³Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,^[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.^[e]
⁴For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;^[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
⁵He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.^[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.^[h]
⁶It said:^[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.^[j]
⁷In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.^[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^[l] (Selah)
⁸I said,^[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn^[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me!^[o]
⁹There must be^[p] no other^[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
¹⁰I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
¹¹But my people did not obey me;^[r]
Israel did not submit to me.^[s]
¹²I gave them over to their stubborn desires;^[t]
they did what seemed right to them.^[u]
¹³If only my people would obey me!^[v]
If only Israel would keep my commands!^[w]
¹⁴Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack^[x] their adversaries.”
¹⁵(May those who hate the Lord^[y] cower in fear^[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)^[aa]
¹⁶“I would feed Israel the best wheat,^[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite^[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”^[ad]

Footnotes

Psalm 81:1 sn Psalm 81. The psalmist calls God’s people to assemble for a festival and then proclaims God’s message to them. The divine speech (vv. 6-16) recalls how God delivered the people from Egypt, reminds Israel of their rebellious past, expresses God’s desire for his people to obey him, and promises divine protection in exchange for obedience.
Psalm 81:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. See the superscription to Ps 8.
Psalm 81:2 tn Heb “lift up.”
Psalm 81:3 tn Heb “at the new moon.”sn New moon festivals were a monthly ritual in Israel (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 469-70). In this context the New Moon festival of the seventh month, when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (note the reference to a “festival” in the next line), may be in view.
Psalm 81:3 tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (keseʾ, “full moon”).sn The festival in view is probably the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when the moon was full. See Lev 23:34; Num 29:12.
Psalm 81:4 tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”
Psalm 81:5 tn Heb “in his going out against the land of Egypt.” This apparently refers to the general time period of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The LXX reads, “from Egypt,” in which case “Joseph” (see the preceding line) would be the subject of the verb, “when he [Joseph = Israel] left Egypt.”
Psalm 81:5 tn Heb “a lip I did not know, I heard.” Here the term “lip” probably stands for speech or a voice. Apparently the psalmist speaks here and refers to God’s voice, whose speech is recorded in the following verses.
Psalm 81:6 tn The words “It said” are not included in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Psalm 81:6 sn I removed the burden. The Lord speaks metaphorically of how he delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. The reference to a basket/burden probably alludes to the hard labor of the Israelites in Egypt, where they had to carry loads of bricks (see Exod 1:14).
Psalm 81:7 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
Psalm 81:7 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
Psalm 81:8 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the Lord commanded the generation of Israelites that experienced the events described in v. 7. Note the statement in v. 11, “my people did not listen to me.”
Psalm 81:8 tn Or perhaps “command.”
Psalm 81:8 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (ʾim, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
Psalm 81:9 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 have a modal function, expressing what is obligatory.
Psalm 81:9 tn Heb “different”; “illicit.”
Psalm 81:11 tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”
Psalm 81:11 tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (ʾavah li) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).
Psalm 81:12 tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”
Psalm 81:12 tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).
Psalm 81:13 tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).
Psalm 81:13 tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”
Psalm 81:14 tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).
Psalm 81:15 tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.
Psalm 81:15 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.
Psalm 81:15 tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (ʿittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (baʿatatam) or בִּעֻתָם (biʿutam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.tn The verb form at the beginning of the line is jussive, indicating that this is a prayer. The translation assumes that v. 15 is a parenthetical “curse” offered by the psalmist. Having heard the reference to Israel’s enemies (v. 14), the psalmist inserts this prayer, reminding the Lord that they are God’s enemies as well.
Psalm 81:16 tn Heb “and he fed him from the best of the wheat.” The Hebrew text has a third person form of the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive attached. However, it is preferable, in light of the use of the first person in v. 14 and in the next line, to emend the verb to a first person form and understand the vav as conjunctive, continuing the apodosis of the conditional sentence of vv. 13-14. The third masculine singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in v. 6.sn I would feed. After the parenthetical “curse” in v. 15, the Lord’s speech continues here.
Psalm 81:16 tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.
Psalm 81:16 sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.

Genesis 29:1-14

The Marriages of Jacob

29 So Jacob moved on^[a] and came to the land of the eastern people.^[b] ²He saw^[c] in the field a well with^[d] three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now^[e] a large stone covered the mouth of the well. ³When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds^[f] would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.

⁴Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” ⁵So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson^[g] of Nahor?” “We know him,”^[h] they said. ⁶“Is he well?”^[i] Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well.^[j] Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” ⁷Then Jacob^[k] said, “Since it is still the middle of the day,^[l] it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.”^[m] ⁸“We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water^[n] the sheep.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them.^[o] ¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban,^[p] and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he^[q] went over^[r] and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban.^[s] ¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly.^[t] ¹²When Jacob explained^[u] to Rachel that he was a relative of her father^[v] and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father. ¹³When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob^[w] told Laban how he was related to him.^[x] ¹⁴Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.”^[y] So Jacob^[z] stayed with him for a month.^[aa]

Footnotes

Genesis 29:1 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.
Genesis 29:1 tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”
Genesis 29:2 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.
Genesis 29:2 tn Heb “and look, there.”
Genesis 29:2 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
Genesis 29:3 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 29:5 tn Heb “son.”
Genesis 29:5 tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.
Genesis 29:6 tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”
Genesis 29:6 tn Heb “peace.”
Genesis 29:7 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 29:7 tn Heb “the day is great.”
Genesis 29:7 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.
Genesis 29:8 tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.
Genesis 29:9 tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”
Genesis 29:10 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).
Genesis 29:10 tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 29:10 tn Heb “drew near, approached.”
Genesis 29:10 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).
Genesis 29:11 tn Heb “and he lifted up his voice and wept.” The idiom calls deliberate attention to the fact that Jacob wept out loud.
Genesis 29:12 tn Heb “declared.”
Genesis 29:12 tn Heb “that he [was] the brother of her father.”
Genesis 29:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 29:13 tn Heb “and he told to Laban all these things.” This might mean Jacob told Laban how he happened to be there, but Laban’s response (see v. 14) suggests “all these things” refers to what Jacob had previously told Rachel (see v. 12).
Genesis 29:14 tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13; see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).
Genesis 29:14 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 29:14 tn Heb “a month of days.”

1 Corinthians 10:1-4

Learning from Israel’s Failures

10 For I do not want you to be unaware,^[a] brothers and sisters,^[b] that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, ²and all were baptized^[c] into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 81[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.

Footnotes

The Marriages of Jacob

Footnotes

Learning from Israel’s Failures

Footnotes

Psalm 81^[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;^[b] by Asaph.