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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 70

Psalm 70^[a]

For the music director, by David; written to get God’s attention.^[b]

70 O God, please be willing to rescue me.^[c]
O Lord, hurry and help me.^[d]
²May those who are trying to take my life
be embarrassed and ashamed.^[e]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.^[f]
³May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be driven back^[g] and disgraced.^[h]
⁴May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience^[i] your deliverance say continually,^[j]
“May God^[k] be praised!”^[l]
⁵I am oppressed and needy.^[m]
O God, hurry to me.^[n]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O Lord,^[o] do not delay.

Footnotes

Psalm 70:1 sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.
Psalm 70:1 tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).
Psalm 70:1 tn Heb “O God, to rescue me.” A main verb is obviously missing. The verb רָצָה (ratsah, “be willing”) should be supplied (see Ps 40:13). Ps 40:13 uses the divine name “Lord” rather than “God.”
Psalm 70:1 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.
Psalm 70:2 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed, the ones seeking my life.” Ps 40:14 has “together” after “ashamed,” and “to snatch it away” after “my life.”
Psalm 70:2 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.
Psalm 70:3 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.
Psalm 70:3 tn Heb “May they be turned back according to their shame, those who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’” Ps 40:15 has the verb “humiliated” instead of “turned back” and adds “to me” after “say.”
Psalm 70:4 tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by God.
Psalm 70:4 tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing on the godly.
Psalm 70:4 tn Ps 40:16 uses the divine name “Lord” here instead of “God.”
Psalm 70:4 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.” See Ps 35:27.
Psalm 70:5 sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.
Psalm 70:5 tn Ps 40:17 has “may the Lord pay attention to me.”
Psalm 70:5 tn Ps 40:17 has “my God” instead of “Lord.”

Amos 3:1-12

Every Effect has its Cause

3 Listen, you Israelites, to this message that the Lord is proclaiming against^[a] you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up^[b] from the land of Egypt:

²“I have chosen^[c] you alone from all the clans of the earth.
Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
³Do two walk together without having met?^[d]
⁴Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey?^[e]
Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?
⁵Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait?
Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?
⁶If an alarm sounds^[f] in a city, do people not fear?^[g]
If disaster overtakes a^[h] city, is the Lord not responsible?^[i]
⁷Certainly the Sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
⁸A lion has roared!^[j] Who is not afraid?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken. Who can refuse to prophesy?^[k]

Samaria Will Fall

⁹Make this announcement in^[l] the fortresses of Ashdod
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Say this:
“Gather on the hills around Samaria!^[m]
Observe the many acts of violence^[n] taking place within the city,^[o]
the oppressive deeds^[p] occurring in it.”^[q]
¹⁰“They do not know how to do what is right,” the Lord says.

“They store up^[r] the spoils of destructive violence^[s] in their fortresses.
¹¹Therefore,” says the Sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land.^[t]
He will take away your power;^[u]
your fortresses will be looted.”

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged.^[v]
They will be left with just a corner of a bed,^[w]
and a part^[x] of a couch.

Footnotes

Amos 3:1 tn Or “about.”
Amos 3:1 tn One might expect a third person verb form (“he brought up”), since the Lord apparently refers to himself in the third person in the preceding sentence. This first person form, however, serves to connect this message to the earlier indictment (2:10) and anticipates the words of the following verse.
Amos 3:2 tn Heb “You only have I known.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yadaʿ) is used here in its covenantal sense of “recognize in a special way.”
Amos 3:3 sn The rhetorical questions in vv. 3-5 expect the answer, “No, of course not!” Those in v. 6 anticipate the answer, “Yes, of course they do/he is.” They all draw attention to the principle of cause and effect and lay the logical foundation for the argument in vv. 7-8. Also note the progression from a general question in v. 3 to the “meetings” of two animals (v. 4), to that of an animal and a human trap (v. 5), to a climax with the confrontation with the Lord (v. 6). Each of these meetings is disastrous.
Amos 3:4 tn Heb “without having prey [or “food”].”
Amos 3:6 tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”
Amos 3:6 tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”
Amos 3:6 tn Heb “is in”; cf. NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”
Amos 3:6 tn Heb “has the Lord not acted?”
Amos 3:8 sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.
Amos 3:8 sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.
Amos 3:9 tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).
Amos 3:9 sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.
Amos 3:9 tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.
Amos 3:9 tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); cf. NIV “among her people.”
Amos 3:9 tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).
Amos 3:9 tn Heb “within her.”
Amos 3:10 tn Heb “those who.”
Amos 3:10 tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.
Amos 3:11 tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT). Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (y^esovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”
Amos 3:11 tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read, “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.
Amos 3:12 sn The verb translated salvaged, though often used in a positive sense of deliverance from harm, is here employed in a sarcastic manner. A shepherd would attempt to salvage part of an animal to prove that a predator had indeed killed it. In this way he could prove that he had not stolen the missing animal and absolve himself from any responsibility to repay the owner (see Exod 22:12-13).
Amos 3:12 tn Heb “with a corner of a bed.”
Amos 3:12 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word דְּמֶשֶׁק (d^emesheq), which occurs only here, is uncertain. If not emended, it is usually related to the term דַּמֶּשֶׂק (dammeseq) and translated as the “Damask linens” of the bed (cf. NASB “the cover”) or as “in Damascus” (so KJV, NJB, NIV). The differences in spelling (Damascus is spelled correctly in 5:27), historical considerations, and the word order make both of these derivations unlikely. Many emendations have been proposed (e.g., “a part from the foot [of a bed],” based on a different division of the Hebrew letters (cf. NEB, NRSV); and “on the edge,” based on a Hebrew term not attested in the Bible (NKJV). Some suggest a resemblance to an Akkadian term that means “sideboard [of a bed],” which is sometimes incorrectly rendered “headboard” (NJPS; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 121-22). Most likely another part of a bed or couch is in view, but it is difficult to be more specific.

Revelation 9:13-21

¹³Then^[a] the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the^[b] horns on the golden altar that is before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel, the one holding^[c] the trumpet, “Set free^[d] the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” ¹⁵Then^[e] the four angels who had been prepared for this^[f] hour, day,^[g] month, and year were set free to kill^[h] a third of humanity. ¹⁶The^[i] number of soldiers on horseback was 200,000,000;^[j] I heard their number. ¹⁷Now^[k] this is what the horses and their riders^[l] looked like in my^[m] vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red,^[n] dark blue,^[o] and sulfurous^[p] yellow in color.^[q] The^[r] heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur^[s] came out of their mouths. ¹⁸A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is,^[t] by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹For the power^[u] of the horses resides^[v] in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries. ²⁰The rest of humanity, who had not been killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they did not stop worshiping demons and idols made^[w] of gold, silver,^[x] bronze, stone, and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk about. ²¹Furthermore,^[y] they did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells,^[z] of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing.

Footnotes

Revelation 9:13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
Revelation 9:13 tc ‡ Several key mss (P⁴⁷ א¹ A 0207 1611 2053 2344 lat sy^h co) lack the word τεσσάρων (tessarōn, “four”) before κεράτων (keratōn, “horns”). The word seems to have been added by scribes because a “horned” altar (described in the OT [Exod 30:2, 10]) could have only four “horns” or projections at the corners. NA²⁸ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
Revelation 9:14 tn Grk “having.”
Revelation 9:14 tn On λῦσον (luson) BDAG 606-7 s.v. λύω 2 states, “set free, loose, untie—a. lit. a pers., animal, or thing that is bound or tied…Angels that are bound Rv 9:14f.”
Revelation 9:15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
Revelation 9:15 tn The Greek article τήν (tēn) has been translated with demonstrative force here.
Revelation 9:15 tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term “month” since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Revelation 9:15 tn Grk “so that they might kill,” but the English infinitive is an equivalent construction to indicate purpose here.
Revelation 9:16 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 9:16 tn Grk “twenty thousand of ten thousands.”
Revelation 9:17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of the description of the horses and riders, which is somewhat parenthetical in the narrative.
Revelation 9:17 tn Grk “and those seated on them.”
Revelation 9:17 tn Grk “the vision”; the Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
Revelation 9:17 tn L&N 79.33 states, “‘fiery red’…. One may also render ‘fiery red’ as ‘red like fire’ or ‘the color of fire.’”
Revelation 9:17 tn On this term BDAG 1022 s.v. ὑακίνθινος states, “hyacinth-colored, i.e., dark blue (dark red?) w. πύρινος Rv 9:17.”
Revelation 9:17 tn On this term BDAG 446 s.v. θειώδης states, “sulphurous Rv 9:17.”
Revelation 9:17 sn The colors of the riders’ breastplates parallel the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur in v. 18.
Revelation 9:17 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 9:17 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
Revelation 9:18 tn The phrase ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τοῦ θείου τοῦ ἐκπορευομένου ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν (“by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths”) is taken as epexegetical (explanatory) to the phrase τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν τούτων (“these three plagues”).
Revelation 9:19 tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”
Revelation 9:19 tn Grk “is.”
Revelation 9:20 tn The word “made” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
Revelation 9:20 tn The Greek conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following materials in this list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Revelation 9:21 tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation, with “furthermore” used to indicate a continuation of the preceding.
Revelation 9:21 tn On the term φαρμακεία (pharmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people—‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 70[a]

For the music director, by David; written to get God’s attention.[b]

Footnotes

Every Effect has its Cause

Samaria Will Fall

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 70^[a]

For the music director, by David; written to get God’s attention.^[b]