◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 31:1-5 15-16 (I commend my spirit); Exodus 3:1-12 (Moses at the burning bush); Acts 7:1-16 (Stephen addresses the council) (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 31:1-5

Psalm 31^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

31 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
Vindicate me by rescuing me.^[b]
²Listen to me.^[c]
Quickly deliver me.
Be my protector and refuge,^[d]
a stronghold where I can be safe.^[e]
³For you are my high ridge^[f] and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation^[g] you lead me and guide me.^[h]
⁴You will free me^[i] from the net they hid for me,
for you are my place of refuge.
⁵Into your hand I entrust my life;^[j]
you will rescue^[k] me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Footnotes

Psalm 31:1 sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.
Psalm 31:1 tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”
Psalm 31:2 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
Psalm 31:2 tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”
Psalm 31:2 tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”
Psalm 31:3 sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.
Psalm 31:3 tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)
Psalm 31:3 tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).
Psalm 31:4 tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”
Psalm 31:5 tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.
Psalm 31:5 tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

Psalm 31:15-16

¹⁵You determine my destiny.^[a]
Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
¹⁶Smile^[b] on your servant.
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.

Exodus 3:1-12

3 Now Moses^[a] was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert^[b] and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.^[c] ²The angel of the Lord^[d] appeared^[e] to him in^[f] a flame of fire from within a bush.^[g] He looked,^[h] and^[i] the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!^[j] ³So Moses thought,^[k] “I will turn aside to see^[l] this amazing^[m] sight. Why does the bush not burn up?”^[n] ⁴When the Lord^[o] saw that^[p] he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”^[q] And Moses^[r] said, “Here I am.” ⁵God^[s] said, “Do not approach any closer!^[t] Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy^[u] ground.”^[v] ⁶He added, “I am the God of your father,^[w] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look^[x] at God.

⁷The Lord said, “I have surely seen^[y] the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.^[z] ⁸I have come down^[aa] to deliver them^[ab] from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious,^[ac] to a land flowing with milk and honey,^[ad] to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.^[ae] ⁹And now indeed^[af] the cry^[ag] of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them.^[ah] ¹⁰So now go, and I will send you^[ai] to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹Moses said^[aj] to God,^[ak] “Who am I that I should go^[al] to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” ¹²He replied,^[am] “Surely I will be with you,^[an] and this will be the sign^[ao] to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve^[ap] God at^[aq] this mountain.”

Footnotes

Exodus 3:1 sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.
Exodus 3:1 tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (ʾakhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (ʿal p^ene, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).
Exodus 3:1 sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.
Exodus 3:2 sn The designation “the angel of the Lord” (Heb “the angel of Yahweh”) occurred in Genesis already (16:7-13; 21:17; 22:11-18). There is some ambiguity in the expression, but it seems often to be interchangeable with God’s name itself, indicating that it refers to the Lord.
Exodus 3:2 tn The verb וַיֵּרָא (vayyeraʾ) is the Niphal preterite of the verb “to see.” For similar examples of רָאָה (raʾah) in Niphal where the subject “appears,” that is, allows himself to be seen, or presents himself, see Gen 12:7; 35:9; 46:29; Exod 6:3; and 23:17. B. Jacob notes that God appears in this way only to individuals and never to masses of people; it is his glory that appears to the masses (Exodus, 49).
Exodus 3:2 tn Gesenius rightly classifies this as a bet (ב) essentiae (GKC 379 §119.i); it would then indicate that Yahweh appeared to Moses “as a flame.”
Exodus 3:2 sn Fire frequently accompanies the revelation of Yahweh in Exodus as he delivers Israel, guides her, and purifies her. The description here is unique, calling attention to the manifestation as a flame of fire from within the bush. Philo was the first to interpret the bush as Israel, suffering under the persecution of Egypt but never consumed. The Bible leaves the interpretation open. However, in this revelation the fire is coming from within the bush, not from outside, and it represents the Lord who will deliver his people from persecution. See further E. Levine, “The Evolving Symbolism of the Burning Bush,” Dor le Dor 8 (1979): 185-93.
Exodus 3:2 tn Heb “And he saw.”
Exodus 3:2 tn The text again uses the deictic particle with vav, וְהִנֵּה (v^ehinneh), traditionally rendered “and behold.” The particle goes with the intense gaze, the outstretched arm, the raised eyebrow—excitement and intense interest: “look, over there.” It draws the reader into the immediate experience of the subject.
Exodus 3:2 tn The construction uses the suffixed negative אֵינֶנּוּ (ʾenennu) to convey the subject of the passive verb: “It was not” consumed. This was the amazing thing, for nothing would burn faster in the desert than a thornbush on fire.
Exodus 3:3 tn Heb “And Moses said.” The implication is that Moses said this to himself.
Exodus 3:3 tn The construction uses the cohortative אָסֻרָה־נָּא (ʾasura-nnaʾ) followed by an imperfect with vav (וְאֶרְאֶה, v^eʾerʾeh) to express the purpose or result (logical sequence): “I will turn aside in order that I may see.”
Exodus 3:3 tn Heb “great.” The word means something extraordinary here. In using this term Moses revealed his reaction to the strange sight and his anticipation that something special was about to happen. So he turned away from the flock to investigate.
Exodus 3:3 tn The verb is an imperfect. Here it has the progressive nuance—the bush is not burning up.
Exodus 3:4 tn The preterite with the vav (ו) is subordinated as a temporal clause to the main point of the verse, that God called to him. The language is anthropomorphic, as if God’s actions were based on his observing what Moses did.
Exodus 3:4 tn The particle כִּי (ki, “that”) introduces the noun clause that functions as the direct object of the verb “saw” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490).
Exodus 3:4 sn The repetition of the name in God’s call is emphatic, making the appeal direct and immediate (see also Gen 22:11; 46:2). The use of the personal name shows how specifically God directed the call and that he knew this person. The repetition may have stressed even more that it was indeed he whom the Lord wanted. It would have been an encouragement to Moses that this was in fact the Lord who was meeting him.
Exodus 3:4 tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Exodus 3:5 tn Heb “And he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Exodus 3:5 sn Even though the Lord was drawing near to Moses, Moses could not casually approach him. There still was a barrier between God and human, and God had to remind Moses of this with instructions. The removal of sandals was, and still is in the East, a sign of humility and reverence in the presence of the Holy One. It was a way of excluding the dust and dirt of the world. But it also took away personal comfort and convenience and brought the person more closely in contact with the earth.
Exodus 3:5 sn The word קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) indicates “set apart, distinct, unique.” What made a mountain or other place holy was the fact that God chose that place to reveal himself or to reside among his people. Because God was in this place, the ground was different—it was holy.
Exodus 3:5 tn The causal clause includes within it a typical relative clause, which is made up of the relative pronoun, then the independent personal pronoun with the participle, and then the preposition with the resumptive pronoun. It would literally be “which you are standing on it,” but the relative pronoun and the resumptive pronoun are combined and rendered, “on which you are standing.”
Exodus 3:6 sn This self-revelation by Yahweh prepares for the revelation of the holy name. While no verb is used here, the pronoun and the predicate nominative are a construction used throughout scripture to convey the “I am” disclosures—“I [am] the God of….” But the significant point here is the naming of the patriarchs, for this God is the covenant God, who will fulfill his promises.
Exodus 3:6 tn The clause uses the Hiphil infinitive construct with a preposition after the perfect tense: יָרֵא מֵהַבִּיט (yareʾ mehabbit, “he was afraid from gazing”) meaning “he was afraid to gaze.” The preposition מִן (min) is used before infinitives after verbs like the one to complete the verb (see BDB 583 s.v. 7b).
Exodus 3:7 tn The use of the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense intensifies the statement: I have surely seen—there is no doubt that I have seen and will do something about it.
Exodus 3:7 sn Two new words are introduced now to the report of suffering: “affliction” and “pain/suffering.” These add to the dimension of the oppression of God’s people.
Exodus 3:8 sn God’s coming down is a frequent anthropomorphism in Genesis and Exodus. It expresses his direct involvement, often in the exercise of judgment.
Exodus 3:8 tn The Hiphil infinitive with the suffix is לְהַצִּילוֹ (l^ehatsilo, “to deliver them”). It expresses the purpose of God’s coming down. The verb itself is used for delivering or rescuing in the general sense, and snatching out of danger for the specific.
Exodus 3:8 tn Heb “to a land good and large”; NRSV “to a good and broad land.” In the translation the words “that is both” are supplied because in contemporary English “good and” combined with any additional descriptive term can be understood as elative (“good and large” = “very large”; “good and spacious” = “very spacious”; “good and ready” = “very ready”). The point made in the Hebrew text is that the land to which they are going is both good (in terms of quality) and large (in terms of size).
Exodus 3:8 tn This vibrant description of the promised land is a familiar one. Gesenius classifies “milk and honey” as epexegetical genitives because they provide more precise description following a verbal adjective in the construct state (GKC 418-19 §128.x). The land is modified by “flowing,” and “flowing” is explained by the genitives “milk and honey.” These two products will be in abundance in the land, and they therefore exemplify what a desirable land it is. The language is hyperbolic, as if the land were streaming with these products.
Exodus 3:8 tn Each people group is joined to the preceding by the vav conjunction, “and.” Each also has the definite article, as in other similar lists (3:17; 13:5; 34:11). To repeat the conjunction and article in the translation seems to put more weight on the list in English than is necessary to its function in identifying what land God was giving the Israelites.
Exodus 3:9 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses attention on what is being said as grounds for what follows.
Exodus 3:9 tn The word is a technical term for the outcry one might make to a judge. God had seen the oppression and so knew that the complaints were accurate, and so he initiated the proceedings against the oppressors (B. Jacob, Exodus, 59).
Exodus 3:9 tn Heb “seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.” The word for the oppression is now לַחַץ (lakhats), which has the idea of pressure with the oppression—squeezing, pressuring—which led to its later use in the Semitic languages for torture. The repetition in the Hebrew text of the root in the participle form after this noun serves to stress the idea. This emphasis has been represented in the translation by the expression “seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them.”
Exodus 3:10 tn The verse has a sequence of volitives. The first form is the imperative לְכָה (l^ekha, “go”). Then comes the cohortative/imperfect form with the vav (ו), “and I will send you” or more likely “that I may send you” (וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ, v^eʾeshlakhakha), which is followed by the imperative with the vav, “and bring out” or “that you may bring out” (וְהוֹצֵא, v^ehotseʾ). The series of actions begins with Moses going. When he goes, it will be the Lord who sends him, and if the Lord sends him, it will be with the purpose of leading Israel out of Egypt.sn These instructions for Moses are based on the preceding revelation made to him. The deliverance of Israel was to be God’s work—hence, “I will send you.” When God commissioned people, often using the verb “to send,” it indicated that they went with his backing, his power, and his authority. Moses could not have brought Israel out without this. To name this incident a commissioning, then, means that the authority came from God to do the work (compare John 3:2).
Exodus 3:11 tn Heb “And Moses said.”
Exodus 3:11 sn When he was younger, Moses was confident and impulsive, but now that he is older the greatness of the task makes him unsure. The remainder of this chapter and the next chapter record the four difficulties of Moses and how the Lord answers them (11-12, 13-22; then 4:1-9; and finally 4:10-17).
Exodus 3:11 tn The imperfect tense אֵלֵךְ (ʾelekh) carries the modal nuance of obligatory imperfect, i.e., “that I should go.” Moses at this point is overwhelmed with the task of representing God, and with his personal insufficiency, and so in honest humility questions the choice.
Exodus 3:12 tn Heb “And he said”; the word “replied” clarifies for English readers that speaker is God.
Exodus 3:12 tn The particle כִּי (ki) has the asseverative use here, “surely, indeed,” which is frequently found with oaths (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449). The imperfect tense אֶהְיֶה (ʾehyeh) could be rendered as the future tense, “I will be” or the present tense “I am” with you. The future makes the better sense in this case, since the subject matter is the future mission. But since it is a stative verb, the form will also lend itself nicely to explaining the divine name—he is the One who is eternally present—“I am with you always.”sn Here is the introduction of the main motif of the commission, which will be the explanation of the divine name. It will make little difference who the servant is or what that servant’s abilities might be, if God is present. The mention of God’s presence is not a simple catch-phrase; it represents abundant provisions to the believer (see below on v. 14).
Exodus 3:12 sn In view of Moses’ hesitancy, a sign is necessary to support the promise. A sign is often an unusual or miraculous event that introduces, authenticates, or illustrates the message. One expects a direct connection between the sign and the message (for a helpful discussion, see S. Porúbcan, “The Word ’OT in Isaia 7, 14, ” CBQ 22 [1960]: 144-49). In this passage the sign is a confirming one, i.e., when Israel worships at the mountain that will be the proof that God delivered them from Egypt. Thus, the purpose of the exodus that makes possible the worship will be to prove that it was God who brought it about. In the meantime, Moses will have to trust in Yahweh.
Exodus 3:12 tn The verb תַּעַבְדוּן (taʿav^edun, “you will serve”) is one of the foremost words for worship in the Torah. Keeping the commandments and serving Yahweh usually sum up the life of faith; the true worshiper seeks to obey him. The highest title anyone can have in the OT is “the servant of Yahweh.” The verb here could be rendered interpretively as “worship,” but it is better to keep it to the basic idea of serving because that emphasizes an important aspect of worship, and it highlights the change from Israel’s serving Egypt, which has been prominent in the earlier chapters. The words “and they” are supplied to clarify for English readers that the subject of the verb is plural (Moses and the people), unlike the other second person forms in vv. 10 and 12, which are singular.sn This sign is also a promise from God—“you will serve God on this mountain.” It is given to Moses here as a goal, but a goal already achieved because it was a sign from God. Leading Israel out of Egypt would not be completed until they came to this mountain and served God. God does not give Moses details of what will take place on the road to Sinai, but he does give him the goal and glimpses of the defeat of Pharaoh. The rest will require Moses and the people to trust in this God who had a plan and who had the power to carry it out.
Exodus 3:12 tn Or “on.” The preposition is עַל (ʿal, “on, by, at, over”). Later the Israelites will be told not to go up into (ב, b) the mountain and not to touch its edge (Exod 19:12). Instead Moses will go up the mountain as the people’s representative (though this is not described with עַל).

Acts 7:1-16

Stephen’s Defense Before the Council

7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?”^[a] ²So he replied,^[b] “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather^[c] Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, ³and said to him, ‘Go out from your country and from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you.’^[d] ⁴Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God^[e] made him move^[f] to this country where you now live. ⁵He^[g] did not give any of it to him for an inheritance,^[h] not even a foot of ground,^[i] yet God^[j] promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him,^[k] even though Abraham^[l] as yet had no child. ⁶But God spoke as follows: ‘Your^[m] descendants will be foreigners^[n] in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for 400 years.^[o] ⁷But I will punish^[p] the nation they serve as slaves,’ said God, ‘and after these things they will come out of there^[q] and worship^[r] me in this place.’^[s] ⁸Then God^[t] gave Abraham^[u] the covenant^[v] of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old,^[w] and Isaac became the father of^[x] Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.^[y] ⁹The^[z] patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold^[aa] him into Egypt. But^[ab] God was with him, ¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made^[ac] him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹Then a famine occurred throughout^[ad] Egypt and Canaan, causing^[ae] great suffering, and our^[af] ancestors^[ag] could not find food. ¹²So when Jacob heard that there was grain^[ah] in Egypt, he sent our ancestors^[ai] there^[aj] the first time. ¹³On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family^[ak] became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴So Joseph sent a message^[al] and invited^[am] his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people^[an] in all. ¹⁵So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there,^[ao] along with our ancestors,^[ap] ¹⁶and their bones^[aq] were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money^[ar] from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Footnotes

Acts 7:1 tn Grk “If it is so concerning these things” (see BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a for this use).
Acts 7:2 tn Grk “said.”
Acts 7:2 tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”
Acts 7:3 sn A quotation from Gen 12:1.
Acts 7:4 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 7:4 tn The translation “made him move” for the verb μετοικίζω (metoikizō) is given by L&N 85.83. The verb has the idea of “resettling” someone (BDAG 643 s.v.); see v. 43, where it reappears.
Acts 7:5 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 7:5 tn Grk “He did not give him an inheritance in it.” This could be understood to mean that God did not give something else to Abraham as an inheritance while he was living there. The point of the text is that God did not give any of the land to him as an inheritance, and the translation makes this clear.
Acts 7:5 tn Grk “a step of a foot” (cf. Deut 2:5).
Acts 7:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 7:5 sn An allusion to Gen 12:7; 13:15; 15:2, 18; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4. On the theological importance of the promise and to his descendants after him, see Rom 4 and Gal 3.
Acts 7:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 7:6 tn Grk “that his”; the discourse switches from indirect to direct with the following verbs. For consistency the entire quotation is treated as second person direct discourse in the translation.
Acts 7:6 tn Or “will be strangers,” that is, one who lives as a noncitizen of a foreign country.
Acts 7:6 sn A quotation from Gen 15:13. Exod 12:40 specifies the sojourn as 430 years.
Acts 7:7 tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α states, “Oft. the emphasis is unmistakably laid upon that which follows the Divine Judge’s verdict, upon the condemnation or punishment: condemn, punish…Ac 7:7 (Gen 15:14).”
Acts 7:7 tn The words “of there” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.sn A quotation from Gen 15:14.
Acts 7:7 tn Or “and serve,” but with religious/cultic overtones (BDAG 587 s.v. λατρεύω).
Acts 7:7 sn An allusion to Exod 3:12.
Acts 7:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 7:8 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 7:8 sn God gave…the covenant. Note how the covenant of promise came before Abraham’s entry into the land and before the building of the temple.
Acts 7:8 tn Grk “circumcised him on the eighth day,” but many modern readers will not understand that this procedure was done on the eighth day after birth. The temporal clause “when he was eight days old” conveys this idea more clearly. See Gen 17:11-12.
Acts 7:8 tn The words “became the father of” are not in the Greek text due to an ellipsis, but must be supplied for the English translation. The ellipsis picks up the verb from the previous clause describing how Abraham fathered Isaac.
Acts 7:8 sn The twelve patriarchs refers to the twelve sons of Jacob, the famous ancestors of the Jewish race (see Gen 35:23-26).
Acts 7:9 tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 7:9 tn The meaning “sell” for the middle voice of ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi) is given by BDAG 110 s.v. 5.a. See Gen 37:12-36, esp. v. 28.
Acts 7:9 tn Though the Greek term here is καί (kai), in context this remark is clearly contrastive: Despite the malicious act, God was present and protected Joseph.
Acts 7:10 tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.
Acts 7:11 tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”
Acts 7:11 tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.
Acts 7:11 sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.
Acts 7:11 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:12 tn Or possibly “food,” since in a number of extrabiblical contexts the phrase σιτία καὶ ποτά (sitia kai pota) means “food and drink,” where solid food is contrasted with liquid nourishment (L&N 3.42).
Acts 7:12 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:12 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
Acts 7:13 tn BDAG 194 s.v. γένος 2. gives “family, relatives” here; another alternative is “race” (see v. 19).
Acts 7:14 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
Acts 7:14 tn Or “Joseph had his father summoned” (BDAG 121 s.v. ἀποστέλλω 2.b).
Acts 7:14 tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).
Acts 7:15 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
Acts 7:15 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:16 tn “and they.”
Acts 7:16 sn See Gen 49:29-32.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 31[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Stephen’s Defense Before the Council

Footnotes

Psalm 31^[a]