◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 100 (We are God’s sheep); Jeremiah 50:1-7 (God the true pasture); Hebrews 13:17-25 (Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

July 19, 2021

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

July 2021
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Return to today's reading

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 100

Psalm 100^[a]

A thanksgiving psalm.

100 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
²Worship^[b] the Lord with joy.
Enter his presence with joyful singing.
³Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us and we belong to him,^[c]
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give him thanks.
Praise his name.
⁵For the Lord is good.
His loyal love endures,^[d]
and he is faithful through all generations.^[e]

Jeremiah 50:1-7

Judgment Against Babylon

50 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia^[a] through the prophet Jeremiah.^[b]

²“Announce^[c] the news among the nations! Proclaim it!
Signal for people to pay attention.^[d]
Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:
‘Babylon will be captured.
Bel^[e] will be put to shame.
Marduk will be dismayed.
Babylon’s idols will be put to shame;
her disgusting images^[f] will be dismayed.^[g]
³For a nation from the north^[h] will attack Babylon;
it will lay her land waste.
People and animals will flee out of it.
No one will inhabit it.’
⁴“When that time comes,” says the Lord,^[i]

“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.
They will come back with tears of repentance
as they seek the Lord their God.^[j]
⁵They will ask the way to Zion;
they will turn their faces toward it.
They will come^[k] and bind themselves to the Lord
in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.^[l]
⁶“My people have been lost sheep.

Their shepherds^[m] have allowed them to go astray.
They have wandered around in the mountains.
They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another.^[n]
They have forgotten their resting place.
⁷All who encountered them devoured them.
Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!
For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture.^[o]
They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors^[p] trusted.’^[q]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 50:1 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
Jeremiah 50:1 tn Heb “The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.”
Jeremiah 50:2 tn The verbs are masculine plural. Jeremiah is calling on other unnamed messengers to spread the news.
Jeremiah 50:2 tn Heb “Raise a signal flag.”
Jeremiah 50:2 sn Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk, who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.
Jeremiah 50:2 tn The Hebrew word used here (גִּלּוּלִים, gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אַלִילִים, ʾalilim) and “vanities,” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).
Jeremiah 50:2 tn The verbs here are all in the tense that views the actions as though they were already done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verbs in the next verse are a mixture of prophetic perfects and imperfects that announce future actions.sn This refers to the fact that the idols that the Babylonians worshiped will not be able to protect them but will instead be carried off into exile with the Babylonians themselves (cf. Isa 46:1-2).
Jeremiah 50:3 sn A nation from the north refers to Medo-Persia, which at the time of the conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c. had conquered all the nations to the north, the northwest, and the northeast of Babylon, forming a vast empire to the north and east of Babylon. Contingents of these many nations were included in her army, and reference is made to them in 50:9 and 51:27-28. There is also some irony involved here because the “enemy from the north” referred to so often in Jeremiah (cf. 1:14; 4:6; 6:1) has been identified with Babylon (cf. 25:9). Here in a kind of talionic justice Judah’s nemesis from the north will be attacked and devastated by an enemy from the north.
Jeremiah 50:4 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 50:4 tn Heb “and the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall go, weeping as they go, and they will seek the Lord their God.” The concept of “seeking” the Lord often has to do with seeking the Lord in worship (by sacrifice [Hos 5:6; 2 Chr 11:16]; by prayer [Zech 8:21, 22; 2 Sam 12:16; Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:4]). In Hos 7:10 it is in parallel with returning to the Lord. In Ps 69:6 it is in parallel with hoping in or trusting in the Lord. Perhaps the most helpful parallels here, however, are Hos 3:5 (in comparison with Jer 30:9) and 2 Chr 15:15, where it is in the context of a covenant commitment to be loyal to the Lord, which is similar to the context here (see the next verse). The translation is admittedly paraphrastic, but “seeking the Lord” here does not mean looking for God as though he were merely a person to be found.
Jeremiah 50:5 tc The translation here assumes that the Hebrew בֹּאוּ (boʾu; a Qal imperative masculine plural) should be read בָּאוּ (baʾu; a Qal perfect third plural). This reading is presupposed by the Greek version of Aquila, the Latin version, and the Targum (see BHS note a, which mistakenly assumes that the form must be imperfect).
Jeremiah 50:5 sn See Jer 32:40 and the study note there for the nature of this lasting agreement.
Jeremiah 50:6 sn The shepherds are the priests, prophets, and leaders who have led Israel into idolatry (2:8).
Jeremiah 50:6 sn The allusion here, if it is not merely a part of the metaphor of the wandering sheep, is to the worship of the false gods on the high hills (2:20; 3:2).
Jeremiah 50:7 tn This same Hebrew phrase, “the habitation of righteousness,” is found in Jer 31:23 in relation to Jerusalem in the future as “the place where righteousness dwells.” Here, however, it refers to the same entity as “their resting place” in v. 6 and means “true pasture.” For the meaning of “pasture” for the word נָוֶה (naveh), see 2 Sam 7:8 and especially Isa 65:10, where it is parallel with “resting place” for the flocks. For the meaning of “true” for צֶדֶק (tsedeq), see BDB 841 s.v. צֶדֶק 1. For the interpretation adopted here see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 365. The same basic interpretation is reflected in NRSV, NJPS, and God’s Word.
Jeremiah 50:7 tn Heb “fathers.”
Jeremiah 50:7 sn These two verses appear to be a poetical summary of the argument of Jer 2, where the nation is accused of abandoning its loyalty to God and worshiping idols. Whereas those who tried to devour Israel were liable for punishment when Israel was loyal to God (2:3), the enemies of Israel who destroyed them (i.e., the Babylonians [but also the Assyrians], 50:17) argue that they are not liable for punishment because the Israelites have sinned against the Lord and thus deserve their fate.

Hebrews 13:17-25

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work.^[a] Let them do this^[b] with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you. ¹⁸Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to conduct ourselves rightly in every respect. ¹⁹I especially ask you to pray^[c] that I may be restored to you very soon.

Benediction and Conclusion

²⁰Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, ²¹equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us^[d] what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever.^[e] Amen.

²²Now I urge you, brothers and sisters,^[f] bear with my message of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you briefly. ²³You should know that^[g] our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you.^[h] ²⁴Greetings to all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. ²⁵Grace be with you all.^[i]

Footnotes

Hebrews 13:17 tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”
Hebrews 13:17 tn Grk “that they may do this.”
Hebrews 13:19 tn Grk “I urge you to do this all the more.”
Hebrews 13:21 tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt sy^h) read ὑμῖν (humin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (hēmin) has stronger external support (P⁴⁶ א A D^vid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629^c 1175 1739 1881 pm sy^p co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.
Hebrews 13:21 tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 M latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by P⁴⁶ C³ D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA²⁸ places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
Hebrews 13:22 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
Hebrews 13:23 tn Grk “Know that” (an imperative).
Hebrews 13:23 tn Grk “has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.”
Hebrews 13:25 tc Most witnesses, including several significant ones (א² A C D H Ψ 0243 1739 1881 M lat sy bo), conclude the letter with ἀμήν (amēn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, there is sufficient testimony (P⁴⁶ א* I^vid 6 33 sa) for the lack of the particle, rendering its omission the preferred reading.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 100[a]

A thanksgiving psalm.

Footnotes

Judgment Against Babylon

Footnotes

Benediction and Conclusion

Footnotes

Psalm 100^[a]