◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 138 (Your love endures forever); Esther 2:19—3:6 (The Jews save a king’s life); Acts 1:15-20 (A traitor’s life ends) (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 138

Psalm 138^[a]

By David.

138 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
before the heavenly assembly^[b] I will sing praises to you.
²I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.^[c]
³When^[d] I cried out for help, you answered me.
You made me bold and energized me.^[e]
⁴Let all the kings of the earth give thanks^[f] to you, O Lord,
when they hear the words you speak.^[g]
⁵Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds,^[h]
for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent.^[i]
⁶Though the Lord is exalted, he looks after the lowly,
and from far away humbles^[j] the proud.
⁷Even when I must walk in the midst of danger,^[k] you revive me.
You oppose my angry enemies,^[l]
and your right hand delivers me.
⁸The Lord avenges me.^[m]
O Lord, your loyal love endures.
Do not abandon those whom you have made.^[n]

Footnotes

Psalm 138:1 sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.
Psalm 138:1 tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.
Psalm 138:2 tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God’s mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.
Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “in the day.”
Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”
Psalm 138:4 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.
Psalm 138:4 tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”
Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “ways.”
Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “great.”
Psalm 138:6 tc The form of the verb is יְיֵדָע (y^eyedaʿ) commonly understood to be Qal of יָדַע I (yadaʿ), although the Qal should not have two yod’s. Most likely one י (yod) should be deleted as dittography, or the second should be read as a ו (vav) and the form be understood as a Hifil.tn The Hifil of יָדַע II (yadaʿ) means “to humiliate,” causative of the Qal “be submissive, humbled, quiet” (cf. Job 21:19; Prov 5:6; Isa 45:4; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7). DCH supposes that the Qal can mean “to humiliate” in this verse. The more common homophonous root יָדַע means “to know,” sometimes with the nuance “to care for.” Alternatively the adjective גָּבֹהַּ (gavoah) can be understood as the subject, referring to God, “the exalted one cares for [the lowly] from a distance,” but the parallel thought in the next verse favors a contrast in this verse also.
Psalm 138:7 tn Or “distress.”
Psalm 138:7 tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”
Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.
Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”

Esther 2:19-3:6

Mordecai Learns of a Plot against the King

¹⁹Now when the young women were being gathered again,^[a] Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.^[b] ²⁰Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people,^[c] just as Mordecai had instructed her.^[d] Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

²¹In those days while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan^[e] and Teresh,^[f] two of the king’s eunuchs who protected the entrance,^[g] became angry and plotted to assassinate^[h] King Ahasuerus. ²²When Mordecai learned of the conspiracy,^[i] he informed Queen Esther,^[j] and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name. ²³The king then had the matter investigated and, finding it to be so, had the two conspirators^[k] hanged on a gallows.^[l] It was then recorded in the daily chronicles in the king’s presence.

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

3 Some time later^[m] King Ahasuerus promoted^[n] Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position^[o] above that of all the officials who were with him. ²As a result,^[p] all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow,^[q] nor did he pay him homage.

³Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you violating the king’s commandment?” ⁴And after they had spoken to him day after day^[r] without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted.^[s] Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew.^[t]

⁵When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing or paying homage to him, he^[u] was filled with rage. ⁶But the thought of striking out against^[v] Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed^[w] of the identity of Mordecai’s people.^[x] So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai)^[y] who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Footnotes

Esther 2:19 tc The LXX does not include the words “Now when the young women were being gathered again.” The Hebrew word שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) is difficult in v. 19, but apparently it refers to a subsequent regathering of the women to the harem.
Esther 2:19 sn That Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate apparently means that he was a high-ranking government official. It was at the city gate where important business was transacted. Being in this position afforded Mordecai an opportunity to become aware of the plot against the king’s life, although the author does not include the particular details of how this information first came to Mordecai’s attention.
Esther 2:20 sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.
Esther 2:20 tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”
Esther 2:21 tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthana,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 6:2.
Esther 2:21 tc The LXX does not include the names “Bigthan and Teresh” here.
Esther 2:21 tn Heb “guarders of the threshold”; NIV “who guarded the doorway.”
Esther 2:21 tn Heb “sought to send a hand against”; CEV “decided to kill.”
Esther 2:22 sn The text of Esther does not disclose exactly how Mordecai learned about the plot against the king’s life. Ancient Jewish traditions state that Mordecai overheard conspiratorial conversation, or that an informant brought this information to him, or that it came to him as a result of divine prompting. These conjectures are all without adequate support from the biblical text. The author simply does not tell the source of Mordecai’s insight into this momentous event.
Esther 2:22 tc The LXX simply reads “Esther” and does not include “the queen.”
Esther 2:23 tn Heb “they both were hanged.” The referent (the two eunuchs who conspired against the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Esther 2:23 tn Or “on a pole”; KJV, ASV “on a tree.”
Esther 3:1 tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”
Esther 3:1 tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.” sn The promotion of Haman in 3:1 for reasons unexplained contrasts noticeably with 2:19-23, where Mordecai’s contribution to saving the king’s life goes unnoticed. The irony is striking.
Esther 3:1 tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”
Esther 3:2 tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).
Esther 3:2 sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).
Esther 3:4 sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.
Esther 3:4 tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”
Esther 3:4 sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 2:10, 20.
Esther 3:5 tn Heb “Haman.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. Repeating the proper name here is redundant according to contemporary English style, although the name is repeated in NASB and NRSV.
Esther 3:6 tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”
Esther 3:6 tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.
Esther 3:6 tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.
Esther 3:6 tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (ʿam, “people”) to עִם (ʿim, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

Acts 1:15-20

¹⁵In those days^[a] Peter stood up among the believers^[b] (a gathering of about 120 people) and said, ¹⁶“Brothers,^[c] the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through^[d] David concerning Judas—who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus— ¹⁷for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.”^[e] ¹⁸(Now this man Judas^[f] acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed,^[g] and falling headfirst^[h] he burst open in the middle and all his intestines^[i] gushed out. ¹⁹This^[j] became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so that in their own language^[k] they called that field^[l] Hakeldama, that is, “Field of Blood.”) ²⁰“For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted,^[m] and let there be no one to live in it,’^[n] and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’^[o]

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 138[a]

By David.

Footnotes

Mordecai Learns of a Plot against the King

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 138^[a]