◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 138 (Your love endures forever); Ezekiel 28:11-19 (Disobedience and the loss of Eden); 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 (When believers disagree) (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 138

Psalm 138^[a]

By David.

138 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
before the heavenly assembly^[b] I will sing praises to you.
²I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.^[c]
³When^[d] I cried out for help, you answered me.
You made me bold and energized me.^[e]
⁴Let all the kings of the earth give thanks^[f] to you, O Lord,
when they hear the words you speak.^[g]
⁵Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds,^[h]
for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent.^[i]
⁶Though the Lord is exalted, he looks after the lowly,
and from far away humbles^[j] the proud.
⁷Even when I must walk in the midst of danger,^[k] you revive me.
You oppose my angry enemies,^[l]
and your right hand delivers me.
⁸The Lord avenges me.^[m]
O Lord, your loyal love endures.
Do not abandon those whom you have made.^[n]

Footnotes

Psalm 138:1 sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.
Psalm 138:1 tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.
Psalm 138:2 tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God’s mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.
Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “in the day.”
Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”
Psalm 138:4 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.
Psalm 138:4 tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”
Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “ways.”
Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “great.”
Psalm 138:6 tc The form of the verb is יְיֵדָע (y^eyedaʿ) commonly understood to be Qal of יָדַע I (yadaʿ), although the Qal should not have two yod’s. Most likely one י (yod) should be deleted as dittography, or the second should be read as a ו (vav) and the form be understood as a Hifil.tn The Hifil of יָדַע II (yadaʿ) means “to humiliate,” causative of the Qal “be submissive, humbled, quiet” (cf. Job 21:19; Prov 5:6; Isa 45:4; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7). DCH supposes that the Qal can mean “to humiliate” in this verse. The more common homophonous root יָדַע means “to know,” sometimes with the nuance “to care for.” Alternatively the adjective גָּבֹהַּ (gavoah) can be understood as the subject, referring to God, “the exalted one cares for [the lowly] from a distance,” but the parallel thought in the next verse favors a contrast in this verse also.
Psalm 138:7 tn Or “distress.”
Psalm 138:7 tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”
Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.
Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”

Ezekiel 28:11-19

¹¹The Lord’s message came to me: ¹²“Son of man, sing^[a] a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘You were the sealer^[b] of perfection,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God.^[c]
Every precious stone was your covering,
the ruby, topaz, and emerald,
the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,
the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl;^[d]
your settings and mounts were made of gold.
On the day you were created they were prepared.
¹⁴I placed you there with an anointed^[e] guardian^[f] cherub;^[g]
you were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked about amidst fiery stones.
¹⁵You were blameless in your behavior^[h] from the day you were created,
until sin was discovered in you.
¹⁶In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence,^[i] and you sinned;
so I defiled you and banished you^[j] from the mountain of God—
the guardian cherub expelled you^[k] from the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁷Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor.
I threw you down to the ground;
I placed you before kings, that they might see you.
¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness of your trade,
you desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I drew fire out from within you;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
before the eyes of all who saw you.
¹⁹All who know you among the peoples are shocked at you;
you have become terrified and will be no more.’”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 28:12 tn Heb “lift up.”
Ezekiel 28:12 tn For a discussion of possible nuances of this phrase, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:580-81.
Ezekiel 28:13 sn The imagery of the lament appears to draw upon an extrabiblical Eden tradition about the expulsion of the first man (see v. 14 and the note there) from the garden due to his pride. The biblical Eden tradition speaks of cherubim placed as guardians at the garden entrance following the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24), but no guardian cherub like the one described in verse 14 is depicted or mentioned in the biblical account. Ezekiel’s imagery also appears to reflect Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology at certain points. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:119-20.
Ezekiel 28:13 tn The exact identification of each gemstone is uncertain. The list should be compared to that of the priest in Exod 28:17-20, which lists twelve stones in rows of three. The LXX apparently imports the Exod 28 list. See reference to the types of stones in L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
Ezekiel 28:14 tn Or “winged”; see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
Ezekiel 28:14 tn The meaning of this phrase in Hebrew is uncertain. The word translated here “guards” occurs in Exod 25:20 in reference to the cherubim “covering” the ark.
Ezekiel 28:14 tn Heb “you (were) an anointed cherub that covers, and I placed you.” In the Hebrew text the ruler of Tyre is equated with a cherub, and the verb “I placed you” is taken with what follows (“on the holy mountain of God”). However, this reading is problematic. The pronoun “you” at the beginning of verse 14 is feminine singular in the Hebrew text; elsewhere in this passage the ruler of Tyre is addressed with masculine singular forms. It is possible that the pronoun is a rare (see Deut 5:24; Num 11:15) or defectively written (see 1 Sam 24:19; Neh 9:6; Job 1:10; Ps 6:3; Eccl 7:22) masculine form, but it is more likely that the form should be repointed as the preposition “with” (see the LXX). In this case the ruler of Tyre is compared to the first man, not to a cherub. If this emendation is accepted, then the verb “I placed you” belongs with what precedes and concludes the first sentence in the verse. It is noteworthy that the verbs in the second and third lines of the verse also appear at the end of the sentence in the Hebrew text. The presence of a conjunction at the beginning of “I placed you” is problematic for the proposal, but it may reflect a later misunderstanding of the syntax of the verse. For a defense of the proposed emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
Ezekiel 28:15 tn Heb “ways.”
Ezekiel 28:16 tn Heb “they filled your midst with violence.”
Ezekiel 28:16 tn Heb “I defiled you.” The presence of the preposition “from” following the verb indicates that a verb of motion is implied as well. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
Ezekiel 28:16 tn Heb “and I expelled you, O guardian cherub.” The Hebrew text takes the verb as first person and understands “guardian cherub” as a vocative, in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the verb. However, if the emendation in verse 14a is accepted (see the note above), then one may follow the LXX here as well and emend the verb to a third person perfect. In this case the subject of the verb is the guardian cherub. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Lawsuits

6 When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? ²Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? ³Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! ⁴So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?^[a] ⁵I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?^[b] ⁶Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian,^[c] and do this before unbelievers? ⁷The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters!^[d]

⁹Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners,^[e] practicing homosexuals,^[f] ¹⁰thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive,^[g] and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹Some of you once lived this way.^[h] But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ^[i] and by the Spirit of our God.

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 6:4 tn Or “if you have ordinary lawsuits, appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church!” This alternative reading (cf. KJV, NIV) takes the Greek verb καθίζετε (kathizete) as an ironic imperative instead of a question. This verb comes, however, at the end of the sentence. It is not impossible that Paul meant for it to be understood this way, but its placement in the sentence does not make this probable.
1 Corinthians 6:5 tn Grk “to decide between his brother (and his opponent),” but see the note on the word “Christian” in 5:11.
1 Corinthians 6:6 tn Grk “does a brother sue a brother,” but see the note on the word “Christian” in 5:11.
1 Corinthians 6:8 tn Grk “brothers.” The Greek term “brother” literally refers to family relationships, but here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a). See also the note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
1 Corinthians 6:9 tn This term is sometimes rendered “effeminate,” although in contemporary English usage such a translation could be taken to refer to demeanor rather than behavior. BDAG 613 s.v. μαλακός 2 has “pert. to being passive in a same-sex relationship, effeminate esp. of catamites, of men and boys who are sodomized by other males in such a relationship.” L&N 88.281 states, “the passive male partner in homosexual intercourse—‘homosexual.’…As in Greek, a number of other languages also have entirely distinct terms for the active and passive roles in homosexual intercourse.” See also the discussion in G. D. Fee, First Corinthians (NICNT), 243-44. A number of modern translations have adopted the phrase “male prostitutes” for μαλακοί in 1 Cor 6:9 (NIV, NRSV, NLT) but this could be misunderstood by the modern reader to mean “males who sell their services to women,” while the term in question appears, at least in context, to relate to homosexual activity between males. Furthermore, it is far from certain that prostitution as commonly understood (the selling of sexual favors) is specified here, as opposed to a consensual relationship. Thus the translation “passive homosexual partners” has been used here.
1 Corinthians 6:9 tn On this term BDAG 135 s.v. ἀρσενοκοίτης states, “a male who engages in sexual activity w. a pers. of his own sex, pederast 1 Cor 6:9…of one who assumes the dominant role in same-sex activity, opp. μαλακός…1 Ti 1:10; Pol 5:3. Cp. Ro 1:27.” L&N 88.280 states, “a male partner in homosexual intercourse—‘homosexual.’…It is possible that ἀρσενοκοίτης in certain contexts refers to the active male partner in homosexual intercourse in contrast with μαλακός, the passive male partner.” Since there is a distinction in contemporary usage between sexual orientation and actual behavior, the qualification “practicing” was supplied in the translation, following the emphasis in BDAG.
1 Corinthians 6:10 tn Or “revilers”; BDAG 602 s.v. λοίδορος defines the term as “reviler, abusive person.” Because the term “abusive” without further qualification has become associated in contemporary English with both physical and sexual abuse, the qualifier “verbally” has been supplied in the translation.
1 Corinthians 6:11 tn Grk “and some [of you] were these.”
1 Corinthians 6:11 tc The external evidence in support of the reading ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Iēsou Christou, “Jesus Christ”) is quite impressive: P^11vid,46 א B C^vid D* P 33 81 104 365 629 630 1739 1881 2464 al lat bo as well as several fathers, while the reading with merely ᾿Ιησοῦ has significantly poorer support (A D² Ψ M sa). Although the wording of the original could certainly have been expanded, it is also possible that Χριστοῦ as a nomen sacrum could have accidentally dropped out. Although the latter is not as likely under normal circumstances, in light of the early and widespread witnesses for the fuller expression, the wording of the Ausgangstext seems to have been ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 138[a]

By David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Lawsuits

Footnotes

Psalm 138^[a]