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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 120

Psalm 120^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]

120 In my distress I cried out
to the Lord and he answered me.
²I said,^[c] “O Lord, rescue me^[d]
from those who lie with their lips^[e]
and those who deceive with their tongues.^[f]
³How will he severely punish you,
you deceptive talker?^[g]
⁴Here’s how!^[h] With the sharp arrows of warriors,
with arrowheads forged over the hot coals.^[i]
⁵How miserable I am.^[j]
For I have lived temporarily^[k] in Meshech;
I have resided among the tents of Kedar.^[l]
⁶For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate^[m] peace.
⁷I am committed to peace,^[n]
but when I speak, they want to make war.^[o]

Footnotes

Psalm 120:1 sn Psalm 120. The genre and structure of this psalm are uncertain. It begins like a thanksgiving psalm, with a brief notice that God has heard the psalmist’s prayer for help and has intervened. But v. 2 is a petition for help, followed by a taunt directed toward enemies (vv. 3-4) and a lament (vv. 5-7). Perhaps vv. 2-7 recall the psalmist’s prayer when he cried out to the Lord.
Psalm 120:1 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
Psalm 120:2 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.
Psalm 120:2 tn Or “my life.”
Psalm 120:2 tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”
Psalm 120:2 tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”
Psalm 120:3 tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The Lord is the understood subject of the verbs “give” and “add.” The second part of the question echoes a standard curse formula, “thus the Lord/God will do…and thus he will add” (see Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:9, 35; 19:13; 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Kgs 6:31).
Psalm 120:4 tn The words “here’s how” are supplied in the translation as a clarification. In v. 4 the psalmist answers the question he raises in v. 3.
Psalm 120:4 tn Heb “with coals of the wood of the broom plant.” The wood of the broom plant was used to make charcoal, which in turn was used to fuel the fire used to forge the arrowheads.
Psalm 120:5 tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (ʾoyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (ʾoy).
Psalm 120:5 tn Heb “I live as a resident foreigner.”
Psalm 120:5 sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.
Psalm 120:6 tn The singular participial form probably has a representative function here. The psalmist envisions the typical hater of peace who represents the entire category of such individuals.
Psalm 120:7 tn Heb “I, peace.”
Psalm 120:7 tn Heb “they [are] for war.”

2 Kings 24:18-25:21

Zedekiah’s Reign over Judah

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother^[a] was Hamutal,^[b] the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. ¹⁹He did evil in the sight of^[c] the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.^[d]

²⁰What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence.^[e] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 25 ¹So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside^[f] it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign.^[g] ²The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ³By the ninth day of the fourth month^[h] the famine in the city was so severe the residents^[i] had no food. ⁴The enemy broke through the city walls,^[j] and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night.^[k] They went through the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden.^[l] (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the rift valley.^[m] ⁵But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the rift valley plains of Jericho,^[n] and his entire army deserted him. ⁶They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah,^[o] where he^[p] passed sentence on him. ⁷Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch.^[q] The king of Babylon^[r] then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

⁸On the seventh^[s] day of the fifth month,^[t] in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard,^[u] who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. ⁹He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.^[v] ¹⁰The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. ¹¹Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.^[w] ¹²But he^[x] left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.

¹³The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”^[y] They took the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴They also took the pots, shovels,^[z] trimming shears,^[aa] pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.^[ab] ¹⁵The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers^[ac] and basins. ¹⁶The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple—including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,”^[ad] and the movable stands—was too heavy to be weighed. ¹⁷Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet^[ae] high. The bronze top of one pillar was about 4½ feet^[af] high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

¹⁸The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five^[ag] of the king’s advisers^[ah] who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens^[ai] for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. ²⁰Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed^[aj] at Riblah in the territory^[ak] of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.

Footnotes

2 Kings 24:18 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
2 Kings 24:18 tc Some textual witnesses support the consonantal text (Kethib) in reading “Hamital.”
2 Kings 24:19 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
2 Kings 24:19 tn Heb “according to all which Jehoiakim had done.”
2 Kings 24:20 tn Heb “Surely [or, ‘for’] because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them out from upon his face.”
2 Kings 25:1 tn Or “against.”
2 Kings 25:1 sn This would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
2 Kings 25:3 tn The MT has simply “of the month,” but the parallel passage in Jer 52:6 has “fourth month,” and this is followed by almost all English translations. The word “fourth,” however, is not actually present in the MT of 2 Kgs 25:3.sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
2 Kings 25:3 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
2 Kings 25:4 tn Heb “the city was breached.”
2 Kings 25:4 tn The Hebrew text is abrupt here: “And all the men of war by the night.” The translation attempts to capture the sense.
2 Kings 25:4 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
2 Kings 25:4 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿarabah) extends northward of the Dead Sea past Galilee and southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here the southern part of the Jordan Valley is in view with the intention to escape across the Jordan river to Moab or Ammon. It appears from Jer 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
2 Kings 25:5 sn The rift valley plains of Jericho refer to the parts of the Jordan Valley in the vicinity of Jericho (see HALOT 880 s.v. עֲרָבָה). There the terrain is fairly level and slopes gently down to the Jordan, a descent of about 450 feet over five miles. Many translations render this as “the plains of Jericho” (ESV, NASB, NIV, KJV). See the note at Num 22:1.
2 Kings 25:6 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
2 Kings 25:6 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form of the verb, but the parallel passage in Jer 52:9 has the singular.
2 Kings 25:7 tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”
2 Kings 25:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Kings 25:8 tn The parallel account in Jer 52:12 has “tenth.”
2 Kings 25:8 sn The seventh day of the month would have been August 14, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.
2 Kings 25:8 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2, and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
2 Kings 25:9 tn Heb “and every large house he burned down with fire.”
2 Kings 25:11 tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (heʾamon). See Jeremiah 52:15.
2 Kings 25:12 tn Heb “the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
2 Kings 25:13 tn Heb “the bronze pillars that were in the Lord’s house and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the Lord’s house the Babylonians broke.”sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
2 Kings 25:14 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
2 Kings 25:14 sn These were used to trim the wicks.
2 Kings 25:14 tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”
2 Kings 25:15 sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.
2 Kings 25:16 tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (v^eha) on וְהַבָּקָר (v^ehabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (v^ehamm^ekhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.
2 Kings 25:17 tn Heb “18 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
2 Kings 25:17 tn Heb “3 cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”
2 Kings 25:19 tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”
2 Kings 25:19 tn Heb “five men seeing the king’s face.”
2 Kings 25:19 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
2 Kings 25:21 tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”
2 Kings 25:21 tn Heb “land.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-34

²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man,^[a] the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.^[b] ²²For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him.^[c] ²⁴Then^[d] comes the end,^[e] when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be eliminated is death. ²⁷For he has put everything in subjection under his feet.^[f] But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. ²⁸And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead?^[g] If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them? ³⁰Why too are we in danger every hour? ³¹Every day I am in danger of death! This is as sure as^[h] my boasting in you,^[i] which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.^[j] ³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”^[k] ³⁴Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame!

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 15:21 tn Or “through a human being” (a reference to Adam).
1 Corinthians 15:21 tn Or “through a human being” (a reference to Jesus Christ).
1 Corinthians 15:23 tn Grk “then those who belong to Christ, at his coming.”
1 Corinthians 15:24 tn This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
1 Corinthians 15:24 tn Grk “then the end” or “then (is) the end.” Paul explains how the “end” relates to resurrection in vv. 25-28.
1 Corinthians 15:27 sn A quotation from Ps 8:6.
1 Corinthians 15:29 sn Many suggestions have been offered for the puzzling expression baptized for the dead. There are up to 200 different explanations for the passage; a summary is given by K. C. Thompson, “I Corinthians 15, 29 and Baptism for the Dead,” Studia Evangelica 2.1 (TU 87), 647-59. The most likely interpretation is that some Corinthians had undergone baptism to bear witness to the faith of fellow believers who had died without experiencing that rite themselves. Paul’s reference to the practice here is neither a recommendation nor a condemnation. He simply uses it as evidence from the lives of the Corinthians themselves to bolster his larger argument, begun in 15:12, that resurrection from the dead is a present reality in Christ and a future reality for them. Whatever they may have proclaimed, the Corinthians’ actions demonstrated that they had hope for a bodily resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:31 tn Or, more literally, “I swear by the boasting in you.”
1 Corinthians 15:31 tc ‡ Although the witnesses for the shorter reading (P⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 0243 1739 1881 M) are not as strong as for the addition of ἀδελφοί (adelphoi, “brothers”) at this juncture (א A B K P 33 81 104 365 1175 2464 lat sy co), it is difficult to find a reason why scribes would either intentionally or unintentionally drop the address here. Thus, the shorter reading is slightly preferred.
1 Corinthians 15:32 sn An allusion to Isa 22:13; 56:12.
1 Corinthians 15:33 sn A quotation from the poet Menander, Thais 218, which Paul uses in a proverbial sense.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 120[a]

A song of ascents.[b]

Footnotes

Zedekiah’s Reign over Judah

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 120^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]