◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 33:12-22 (Our help and our shield); Exodus 20:1-21 (Moses brings the Ten Words to Israel); Matthew 5:1-12 (Jesus brings blessings to his community) (New American Bible (Revised Edition))

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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 33:12-22

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people chosen as his inheritance.^(A)

IV

¹³From heaven the Lord looks down
    and observes the children of Adam,^(B)
¹⁴From his dwelling place he surveys
    all who dwell on earth.
¹⁵The One who fashioned together their hearts
    is the One who knows all their works.

V

¹⁶A king is not saved by a great army,
    nor a warrior delivered by great strength.
¹⁷Useless is the horse for safety;
    despite its great strength, it cannot be saved.
¹⁸Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,
    upon those who count on his mercy,
¹⁹To deliver their soul from death,
    and to keep them alive through famine.

VI

²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord,
    he is our help and shield.^(C)
²¹For in him our hearts rejoice;
    in his holy name we trust.
²²May your mercy, Lord, be upon us;
    as we put our hope in you.

Exodus 20:1-21

Chapter 20

The Ten Commandments.^[a] ¹Then God spoke all these words:

²^(A)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,^(B) out of the house of slavery. ³You shall not have other gods beside me.^[b] ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol^(C) or a likeness of anything^[c] in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; ⁵you shall not bow down before them or serve them.^(D) For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation^[d]; ⁶but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.^[e]^(E) For the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain.

⁸Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy.^[f] ⁹Six days you may labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God.^(F) You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested.^(G) That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.^[g]

¹²^[h]^(H)Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.^(I)

¹³You shall not kill.^[i]^(J)

¹⁴You shall not commit adultery.^(K)

¹⁵You shall not steal.^(L)

¹⁶You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.^(M)

¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.^(N)

Moses Accepted as Mediator. ¹⁸Now as all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blast of the shofar and the mountain smoking, they became afraid and trembled.^(O) So they took up a position farther away ¹⁹and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.” ²⁰Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come only to test you and put the fear of him upon you so you do not sin.” ²¹So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

Footnotes

20:1–17
The precise numbering and division of these precepts into “ten commandments” is somewhat uncertain. Traditionally among Catholics and Lutherans vv. 1–6 are considered as only one commandment, and v. 17 as two. The Anglican, Greek Orthodox, and Reformed churches count vv. 1–6 as two, and v. 17 as one. Cf. Dt 5:6–21. The traditional designation as “ten” is not found here but in 34:28 (and also Dt 4:13 and 10:4), where these precepts are alluded to literally as “the ten words.” That they were originally written on two tablets appears in Ex 32:15–16; 34:28–29; Dt 4:13; 10:2–4.
The present form of the commands is a product of a long development, as is clear from the fact that the individual precepts vary considerably in length and from the slightly different formulation of Dt 5:6–21 (see especially vv. 12–15 and 21). Indeed they represent a mature formulation of a traditional morality. Why this specific selection of commands should be set apart is not entirely clear. None of them is unique in the Old Testament and all of the laws which follow are also from God and equally binding on the Israelites. Even so, this collection represents a privileged expression of God’s moral demands on Israel and is here set apart from the others as a direct, unmediated communication of God to the Israelites and the basis of the covenant being concluded on Sinai.
20:3
Beside me: this commandment is traditionally understood as an outright denial of the existence of other gods except the God of Israel; however, in the context of the more general prohibitions in vv. 4–5, v. 3 is, more precisely, God’s demand for Israel’s exclusive worship and allegiance.
The Hebrew phrase underlying the translation “beside me” is, nonetheless, problematic and has been variously translated, e.g., “except me,” “in addition to me,” “in preference to me,” “in defiance of me,” and “in front of me” or “before my face.” The latter translation, with its concrete, spatial nuances, has suggested to some that the prohibition once sought to exclude from the Lord’s sanctuary the cult images or idols of other gods, such as the asherah, or stylized sacred tree of life, associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah (34:13). Over the course of time, as vv. 4–5 suggest, the original scope of v. 3 was expanded.
20:4 Or a likeness of anything: compare this formulation to that found in Dt 5:8, which understands this phrase and the following phrases as specifications of the prohibited idol (Hebrew pesel), which usually refers to an image that is carved or hewn rather than cast.
20:5 Jealous: demanding exclusive allegiance. Inflicting punishment…the third and fourth generation: the intended emphasis is on God’s mercy by the contrast between punishment and mercy (“to the thousandth generation”—v. 6). Other Old Testament texts repudiate the idea of punishment devolving on later generations (cf. Dt 24:16; Jer 31:29–30; Ez 18:2–4). Yet it is known that later generations may suffer the punishing effects of sins of earlier generations, but not the guilt.
20:7 In vain: i.e., to no good purpose, a general framing of the prohibition which includes swearing falsely, especially in the context of a legal proceeding, but also goes beyond it (cf. Lv 24:16; Prv 30:8–9).
20:8 Keep it holy: i.e., to set it apart from the other days of the week, in part, as the following verse explains, by not doing work that is ordinarily done in the course of a week. The special importance of this command can be seen in the fact that, together with vv. 9–11, it represents the longest of the Decalogue’s precepts.
20:11 Here, in a formulation which reflects Priestly theology, the veneration of the sabbath is grounded in God’s own hallowing of the sabbath in creation. Compare 31:13; Dt 5:15.
20:12–17 The Decalogue falls into two parts: the preceding precepts refer to God, the following refer primarily to one’s fellow Israelites.
20:13 Kill: as frequent instances of killing in the context of war or certain crimes (see vv. 12–18) demonstrate in the Old Testament, not all killing comes within the scope of the commandment. For this reason, the Hebrew verb translated here as “kill” is often understood as “murder,” although it is in fact used in the Old Testament at times for unintentional acts of killing (e.g., Dt 4:41; Jos 20:3) and for legally sanctioned killing (Nm 35:30). The term may originally have designated any killing of another Israelite, including acts of manslaughter, for which the victim’s kin could exact vengeance. In the present context, it denotes the killing of one Israelite by another, motivated by hatred or the like (Nm 35:20; cf. Hos 6:9).

Matthew 5:1-12

Chapter 5

The Sermon on the Mount. ¹^[a]When he saw the crowds,^[b] he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. ²He began to teach them, saying:

The Beatitudes^[c]

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit,^[d]
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.^(A)
⁴^[e]Blessed are they who mourn,^(B)
    for they will be comforted.
⁵^[f]Blessed are the meek,^(C)
    for they will inherit the land.
⁶Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,^[g]
    for they will be satisfied.
⁷Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.^(D)
⁸^[h]Blessed are the clean of heart,^(E)
    for they will see God.
⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,^[i]
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.^(F)

¹¹Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me.^(G) ¹²^[j]Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.^(H) Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Similes of Salt and Light.^[k]

Footnotes

5:1–7:29 The first of the five discourses that are a central part of the structure of this gospel. It is the discourse section of the first book and contains sayings of Jesus derived from Q and from M. The Lucan parallel is in that gospel’s “Sermon on the Plain” (Lk 6:20–49), although some of the sayings in Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” have their parallels in other parts of Luke. The careful topical arrangement of the sermon is probably not due only to Matthew’s editing; he seems to have had a structured discourse of Jesus as one of his sources. The form of that source may have been as follows: four beatitudes (Mt 5:3–4, 6, 11–12), a section on the new righteousness with illustrations (Mt 5:17, 20–24, 27–28, 33–48), a section on good works (Mt 6:1–6, 16–18), and three warnings (Mt 7:1–2, 15–21, 24–27).
5:1–2 Unlike Luke’s sermon, this is addressed not only to the disciples but to the crowds (see Mt 7:28).
5:3–12 The form Blessed are (is) occurs frequently in the Old Testament in the Wisdom literature and in the psalms. Although modified by Matthew, the first, second, fourth, and ninth beatitudes have Lucan parallels (Mt 5:3 // Lk 6:20; Mt 5:4 // Lk 6:21b; Mt 5:6 // Lk 6:21a; Mt 5:11–12 // Lk 5:22–23). The others were added by the evangelist and are probably his own composition. A few manuscripts, Western and Alexandrian, and many versions and patristic quotations give the second and third beatitudes in inverted order.
5:3 The poor in spirit: in the Old Testament, the poor (’anāwîm) are those who are without material possessions and whose confidence is in God (see Is 61:1; Zep 2:3; in the NAB the word is translated lowly and humble, respectively, in those texts). Matthew added in spirit in order either to indicate that only the devout poor were meant or to extend the beatitude to all, of whatever social rank, who recognized their complete dependence on God. The same phrase poor in spirit is found in the Qumran literature (1QM 14:7).
5:4 Cf. Is 61:2, “(The Lord has sent me)…to comfort all who mourn.” They will be comforted: here the passive is a “theological passive” equivalent to the active “God will comfort them”; so also in Mt 5:6, 7.
5:5 Cf. Ps 37:11, “…the meek shall possess the land.” In the psalm “the land” means the land of Palestine; here it means the kingdom.
5:6 For righteousness: a Matthean addition. For the meaning of righteousness here, see note on Mt 3:14–15.
5:8 Cf. Ps 24:4. Only one “whose heart is clean” can take part in the temple worship. To be with God in the temple is described in Ps 42:3 as “beholding his face,” but here the promise to the clean of heart is that they will see God not in the temple but in the coming kingdom.
5:10 Righteousness here, as usually in Matthew, means conduct in conformity with God’s will.
5:12 The prophets who were before you: the disciples of Jesus stand in the line of the persecuted prophets of Israel. Some would see the expression as indicating also that Matthew considered all Christian disciples as prophets.
5:13–16 By their deeds the disciples are to influence the world for good. They can no more escape notice than a city set on a mountain. If they fail in good works, they are as useless as flavorless salt or as a lamp whose light is concealed.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Chapter 5

The Beatitudes^[c]

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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Chapter 20

Footnotes

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Chapter 5

The Beatitudes[c]

Footnotes

Cross references

The Beatitudes^[c]