◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 140 (Prayer for deliverance); Jeremiah 3:15-18 (Nations cease to follow their own will); Ephesians 5:6-20 (The fruit of the light) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

June 28, 2022

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

June 2022
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

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 140

Psalm 140^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

140 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.^[b]
Protect me from violent men,^[c]
²who plan ways to harm me.^[d]
All day long they stir up conflict.^[e]
³Their tongues wound like a serpent;^[f]
a viper’s^[g] venom is behind^[h] their lips. (Selah)
⁴O Lord, shelter me from the power^[i] of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.^[j]
⁵Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men^[k] spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
⁷O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,^[l]
you shield^[m] my head in the day of battle.
⁸O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.^[n]
Do not allow their^[o] plan to succeed when they attack.^[p] (Selah)
⁹As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by^[q] their lips overwhelm them.
¹⁰May he rain down^[r] fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.^[s]
¹¹A slanderer^[t] will not endure on^[u] the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.^[v]
¹²I know^[w] that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.^[x]
¹³Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.

Footnotes

Psalm 140:1 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
Psalm 140:2 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
Psalm 140:2 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (y^egaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
Psalm 140:3 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “under.”
Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “hands.”
Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
Psalm 140:5 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khov^elim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “cover.”
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).
Psalm 140:9 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
Psalm 140:10 tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.
Psalm 140:10 tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition ב (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “be established in.”
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:12 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.
Psalm 140:12 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”

Jeremiah 3:15-18

¹⁵I will give you leaders^[a] who will be faithful to me.^[b] They will lead you with knowledge and insight. ¹⁶In those days, your population will greatly increase^[c] in the land. At that time,” says the Lord, “people will no longer talk about having the ark^[d] that contains the Lord’s covenant with us.^[e] They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done anymore!^[f] ¹⁷At that time the city of Jerusalem will be called the Lord’s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the Lord’s name.^[g] They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts.^[h] ¹⁸At that time^[i] the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited.^[j] Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession.

Ephesians 5:6-20

Live in the Light

⁶Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience.^[a] ⁷Therefore do not be sharers with them,^[b] ⁸for you were at one time darkness, but now you are^[c] light in the Lord. Live^[d] like children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the light^[e] consists in^[f] all goodness, righteousness, and truth— ¹⁰trying to learn^[g] what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather^[h] expose them.^[i] ¹²For the things they do^[j] in secret are shameful even to mention. ¹³But all things being exposed by the light are made visible. ¹⁴For everything made visible is light, and for this reason it says:^[k]

“Awake,^[l] O sleeper!^[m]
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you!”^[n]

Live Wisely

¹⁵Therefore consider carefully how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise^[o] by understanding^[p] what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, which^[q] is debauchery,^[r] but be filled by the Spirit,^[s] ¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music^[t] in^[u] your hearts to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for all things^[v] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Footnotes

Ephesians 5:6 sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.
Ephesians 5:7 tn The genitive αὐτῶν (autōn) has been translated as a genitive of association because of its use with συμμέτοχοι (summetochoi)—a verb which implies association in the σύν- (sun-) prefix.
Ephesians 5:8 tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.
Ephesians 5:8 tn Grk “Walk,” a common biblical idiom for one’s conduct of life.
Ephesians 5:9 tc Several mss (P⁴⁶ D² Ψ 1175* 1505 M) have πνεύματος (pneumatos, “Spirit”) instead of φωτός (phōtos, “light”). Although most today regard φωτός as obviously the reading of the initial text (UBS⁵ gives it an “A” rating), a case could be made that πνεύματος is what the author wrote. First, although this is largely a Byzantine reading (D² often, if not normally, assimilates to the Byzantine text), P⁴⁶ gives the reading much greater credibility. Internally, the φωτός at the end of v. 8 could have lined up above the πνεύματος in v. 9 in a scribe’s exemplar, thus occasioning dittography. (It is interesting to note that in both P⁴⁹ and א the two instances of φωτός line up.) However, written in a contracted form, as a nomen sacrum (pMnMs)—a practice found even in the earliest mss—πνεύματος would not have been easily confused with fwtos (there being only the last letter to occasion homoioteleuton rather than the last three). Further, the external evidence for φωτός is quite compelling (P⁴⁹ א A B D* F G P 33 81 1175^c 1739 1881 2464 latt co). It is thus doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook πνεύματος for φωτός. In addition, πνεύματος can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, φωτός appears to be autographic, giving rise to the reading πνεύματος.
Ephesians 5:9 tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”
Ephesians 5:10 tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 translates δοκιμάζοντες (dokimazontes) in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”
Ephesians 5:11 tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”
Ephesians 5:11 tn Grk “rather even expose.”
Ephesians 5:12 tn The participle τὰ…γινόμενα (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν (hup’ autōn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.
Ephesians 5:14 sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.
Ephesians 5:14 tn Grk “Rise up.”
Ephesians 5:14 tn The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων (ho katheudōn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. To reflect this, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”
Ephesians 5:14 sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19; 51:17; 52:1; and 60:1.
Ephesians 5:17 tn “become wise by understanding”; Grk “understanding.” The imperative “be wise” is apparently implied by the construction of vv. 15-21. See the following text-critical note for discussion.
Ephesians 5:17 tc ‡ The best witnesses read the imperative here (so P⁴⁶ א A B P 0278 33 81 1739 pc). The participle is found primarily in the Western and Byzantine families (D² Ψ 1175 1505 1881 2464 M latt [D* F G are slightly different, but support the participial reading]). But the participle is superior on internal grounds: The structure of v. 17 almost requires an imperative after ἀλλά (alla), for this gives balance to the clause: “Do not become foolish, but understand…” If the participle is authentic, it may be imperatival (and thus should be translated just like an imperative), but such is quite rare in the NT. More likely, there is an implied imperative as follows: “Do not become foolish, but become wise, understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Either way, the participle is the harder reading and ought to be considered original. It is significant that seeing an implied imperative in this verse affords a certain symmetry to the author’s thought in vv. 15-21: There are three main sections (vv. 15-16, v. 17, vv. 18-21), each of which provides a negative injunction, followed by a positive injunction, followed by a present adverbial participle. If συνίετε (suniete) is original, this symmetry is lost. Thus, even though the external evidence for συνιέντες (sunientes) is not nearly as weighty as for the imperative, both the transcriptional and intrinsic evidence support it.
Ephesians 5:18 tn Grk “in which.”
Ephesians 5:18 tn Or “dissipation.” See BDAG 148 s.v. ἀσωτία.
Ephesians 5:18 tn Many have taken ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati) as indicating content, i.e., one is to be filled with the Spirit. ExSyn 375 states, “There are no other examples in biblical Greek in which ἐν + the dative after πληρόω indicates content. Further, the parallel with οἴνῳ as well as the common grammatical category of means suggest that the idea intended is that believers are to be filled by means of the [Holy] Spirit. If so there seems to be an unnamed agent. The meaning of this text can only be fully appreciated in light of the πληρόω language in Ephesians. Always the term is used in connection with a member of the Trinity. Three considerations seem to be key: (1) In Eph 3:19 the ‘hinge’ prayer introducing the last half of the letter makes a request that the believers ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’ (πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ). The explicit content of πληρόω is thus God’s fullness (probably a reference to his moral attributes). (2) In 4:10 Christ is said to be the agent of filling (with v. 11 adding the specifics of his giving spiritual gifts). (3) The author then brings his argument to a crescendo in 5:18: Believers are to be filled by Christ by means of the Spirit with the content of the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 5:19 tn See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω.
Ephesians 5:19 tn Or “with.”
Ephesians 5:20 tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine, and an alternative view is “for all” referring to people. The context could suggest believers (“one another” in v. 19). In other places this Greek phrase occurs in the NT, it refers to people (1 Tim 2:6; 2 Cor 5:14-15).

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 140[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Live in the Light

Live Wisely

Footnotes

Psalm 140^[a]