◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 109:21-31 (Praise for healing); Ezekiel 20:33-44 (God restores rebellious Israel); Luke 6:6-11 (Jesus heals on the sabbath) (New English Translation)

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August 24, 2022

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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 109:21-31

²¹O Sovereign Lord,
intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation.^[a]
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me.
²²For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart beats violently within me.^[b]
²³I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day;^[c]
I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴I am so starved my knees shake;^[d]
I have turned into skin and bones.^[e]
²⁵I am disdained by them.^[f]
When they see me, they shake their heads.^[g]
²⁶Help me, O Lord my God.
Because you are faithful to me, deliver me.^[h]
²⁷Then they will realize^[i] this is your work,^[j]
and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
²⁸They curse, but you will bless.^[k]
When they attack, they will be humiliated,^[l]
but your servant will rejoice.
²⁹My accusers will be covered^[m] with shame,
and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.
³⁰I will thank the Lord profusely.^[n]
In the middle of a crowd^[o] I will praise him,
³¹because he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to deliver him from those who threaten^[p] his life.

Footnotes

Psalm 109:21 tn Heb “but you, Lord, Master, deal with me for the sake of your name” or “on account of your name.” Here “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation. The Psalmist’s appeal is for God to act consistently with, and therefore maintain, his reputation (as a deliverer of the righteous and one who punishes evildoers). Note that “for your name’s sake” is paralleled by “because your loyal love is good.” The point is that the Psalmist is making an appeal not based on his own personal whim or vendetta but is calling for judicial penalties (or the fulfillment of prior prophetic indictment).
Psalm 109:22 tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a Polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbi yakhil b^eqirbbi, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).
Psalm 109:23 tn Heb “like a shadow when it is extended I go.” He is like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.
Psalm 109:24 tn Heb “my knees stagger from fasting.”
Psalm 109:24 tn Heb “and my flesh is lean away from fatness [i.e., “lean so as not to be fat”].”
Psalm 109:25 tn Heb “as for me, I am a reproach to them.”
Psalm 109:25 sn They shake their heads. Apparently shaking the head was a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 22:7; Lam 2:15.
Psalm 109:26 tn Heb “deliver me according to your faithfulness.”
Psalm 109:27 tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
Psalm 109:27 tn Heb “that your hand [is] this.”
Psalm 109:28 tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).
Psalm 109:28 tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.
Psalm 109:29 tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).
Psalm 109:30 tn Heb “I will thank the Lord very much with my mouth.”
Psalm 109:30 tn Heb “many.”
Psalm 109:31 tn Heb “judge.”

Ezekiel 20:33-44

³³As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm^[a] and with an outpouring of rage, I will be king over you. ³⁴I will bring you out from the nations and will gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm and with an outpouring of rage! ³⁵I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³⁷I will make you pass under^[b] the shepherd’s staff,^[c] and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt^[d] against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹“‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols,^[e] if you will not listen to me.^[f] But my holy name will not be profaned^[g] again by your sacrifices^[h] and your idols. ⁴⁰For there on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them^[i] in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things. ⁴¹When I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, I will accept you along with your soothing aroma. I will display my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. ⁴²Then you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I swore^[j] to give to your fathers. ⁴³And there you will remember your conduct^[k] and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves. You will despise yourselves^[l] because of all the evil deeds you have done. ⁴⁴Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my reputation and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Luke 6:6-11

Healing a Withered Hand

⁶On^[a] another Sabbath, Jesus^[b] entered the synagogue^[c] and was teaching. Now^[d] a man was there whose right hand was withered.^[e] ⁷The experts in the law^[f] and the Pharisees^[g] watched^[h] Jesus^[i] closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath,^[j] so that they could find a reason to accuse him. ⁸But^[k] he knew^[l] their thoughts,^[m] and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand here.”^[n] So^[o] he rose and stood there. ⁹Then^[p] Jesus said to them, “I ask you,^[q] is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰After^[r] looking around^[s] at them all, he said to the man,^[t] “Stretch out your hand.” The man^[u] did so, and his hand was restored.^[v] ¹¹But they were filled with mindless rage^[w] and began debating with one another what they would do^[x] to Jesus.

Footnotes

Luke 6:6 tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Luke 6:6 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 6:6 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.
Luke 6:6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. In addition, because the Greek sentence is rather long and complex, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
Luke 6:6 tn Grk “a man was there and his right hand was withered.”sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.
Luke 6:7 tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
Luke 6:7 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
Luke 6:7 sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.
Luke 6:7 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 6:7 sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).
Luke 6:8 tn Here the conjunction δέ (de) has been translated as contrastive.
Luke 6:8 sn The statement that Jesus knew their thoughts adds a prophetic note to his response; see Luke 5:22.
Luke 6:8 tn Grk “their reasonings.” The implication is that Jesus knew his opponents’ plans and motives, so the translation “thoughts” was used here.
Luke 6:8 sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.
Luke 6:8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s action was a result of Jesus’ order.
Luke 6:9 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Luke 6:9 sn With the use of the plural pronoun (“you”), Jesus addressed not just the leaders but the crowd with his question to challenge what the leadership was doing. There is irony as well. As Jesus sought to restore on the Sabbath (but improperly according to the leaders’ complaints) the leaders were seeking to destroy, which surely is wrong. The implied critique recalls the OT: Isa 1:1-17; 58:6-14.
Luke 6:10 tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 6:10 tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (periblepsamenos) has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around…he said”).
Luke 6:10 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man with the withered hand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 6:10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Luke 6:10 sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.
Luke 6:11 tn The term ἄνοια (anoia) denotes a kind of insane or mindless fury; the opponents were beside themselves with rage. They could not rejoice in the healing, but could only react against Jesus.
Luke 6:11 tn The use of the optative (ποιήσαιεν, poiēsaien, “might do”) in an indirect question indicates that the formal opposition and planning of Jesus’ enemies started here (BDF §§385.1; 386.1).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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Healing a Withered Hand

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