◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 19:7-14 (The law gives light); Deuteronomy 27:1-10 (Moses and the elders charge Israel); Matthew 5:13-20 (You are salt and light) (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 19:7-14

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect
and preserves one’s life.^[a]
The rules set down by the Lord^[b] are reliable^[c]
and impart wisdom to the inexperienced.^[d]
⁸The Lord’s precepts are fair^[e]
and make one joyful.^[f]
The Lord’s commands^[g] are pure^[h]
and give insight for life.^[i]
⁹The commands to fear the Lord are right^[j]
and endure forever.^[k]
The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy
and absolutely just.^[l]
¹⁰They are of greater value^[m] than gold,
than even a great amount of pure gold;
they bring greater delight^[n] than honey,
than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.
¹¹Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there;^[o]
those who obey them receive a rich reward.^[p]
¹²Who can know all his errors?^[q]
Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of.^[r]
¹³Moreover, keep me from committing flagrant sins;^[s]
do not allow such sins to control me.^[t]
Then I will be blameless,
and innocent of blatant^[u] rebellion.
¹⁴May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable in your sight,^[v]
O Lord, my sheltering rock^[w] and my redeemer.^[x]

Footnotes

Psalm 19:7 tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.
Psalm 19:7 tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (ʿedut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.
Psalm 19:7 tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.
Psalm 19:7 tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.
Psalm 19:8 tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.
Psalm 19:8 tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.
Psalm 19:8 tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.
Psalm 19:8 tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.
Psalm 19:8 tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.
Psalm 19:9 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord is clean.” The phrase “fear of the Lord” probably refers here to the law, which teaches one how to demonstrate proper reverence for the Lord. See Ps 111:10 for another possible use of the phrase in this sense.
Psalm 19:9 tn Heb “[it] stands permanently.”
Psalm 19:9 sn Trustworthy and absolutely just. The Lord’s commands accurately reflect God’s moral will for his people and are an expression of his just character.
Psalm 19:10 tn Heb “more desirable.”
Psalm 19:10 tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).
Psalm 19:11 tn Heb “moreover your servant is warned by them.”
Psalm 19:11 tn Heb “in the keeping of them [there is] a great reward.”
Psalm 19:12 tn Heb “Errors who can discern?” This rhetorical question makes the point that perfect moral discernment is impossible to achieve. Consequently it is inevitable that even those with good intentions will sin on occasion.
Psalm 19:12 tn Heb “declare me innocent from hidden [things],” i.e., sins. In this context (see the preceding line) “hidden” sins are not sins committed in secret, but sins which are not recognized as such by the psalmist.
Psalm 19:13 tn Or “presumptuous sins.”
Psalm 19:13 tn Heb “let them not rule over me.”
Psalm 19:13 tn Heb “great.”
Psalm 19:14 tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”
Psalm 19:14 tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”
Psalm 19:14 tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

Deuteronomy 27:1-10

The Assembly at Shechem

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Pay attention to all the commandments^[a] I am giving^[b] you today. ²When you cross the Jordan River^[c] to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover^[d] them with plaster. ³Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors,^[e] said to you. ⁴So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal^[f] these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover them with plaster. ⁵Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones—do not use an iron tool on them. ⁶You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. ⁷Also you must offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God. ⁸You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear.”

⁹Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰You must obey him^[g] and keep his commandments and statutes that I am giving you today.”

Matthew 5:13-20

Salt and Light

¹³“You are the salt^[a] of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor,^[b] how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people! ¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵People^[c] do not light a lamp and put it under a basket^[d] but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.^[e] ¹⁸I^[f] tell you the truth,^[g] until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter^[h] will pass from the law until everything takes place. ¹⁹So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others^[i] to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law^[j] and the Pharisees,^[k] you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!

Footnotes

Matthew 5:13 sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.
Matthew 5:13 sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), recounts how when he was asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.
Matthew 5:15 tn Grk “Nor do they light.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.
Matthew 5:15 tn Or “a bowl”; the Greek word refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).
Matthew 5:17 tn Grk “not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Direct objects (“these things,” “them”) were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but have been supplied here to conform to contemporary English style.
Matthew 5:18 tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
Matthew 5:18 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
Matthew 5:18 tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.” sn The smallest letter refers to the smallest Hebrew letter (yod) and the stroke of a letter to a serif (a hook or projection on a Hebrew letter).
Matthew 5:19 tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).
Matthew 5:20 tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 5:20 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Footnotes

The Assembly at Shechem

Footnotes

Salt and Light

Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets

Footnotes