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September 15, 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 113

Psalm 113^[a]

113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
²May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
³From east to west^[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
⁴The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.^[c]
⁵Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?^[d]
⁶He bends down to look^[e]
at the sky and the earth.
⁷He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,^[f]
⁸that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
⁹He makes the barren woman of the family^[g]
a happy mother of children.^[h]
Praise the Lord.

Exodus 23:1-9

Justice

23 ^[a] “You must not give^[b] a false report.^[c] Do not make common cause^[d] with the wicked^[e] to be a malicious^[f] witness.

²“You must not follow a crowd^[g] in doing evil things;^[h] in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice,^[i] ³and you must not show partiality^[j] to a poor man in his lawsuit.

⁴“If you encounter^[k] your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return^[l] it to him. ⁵If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him,^[m] but be sure to help^[n] him with it.^[o]

⁶“You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. ⁷Keep your distance^[p] from a false charge^[q]—do not kill the innocent and the righteous,^[r] for I will not justify the wicked.^[s]

⁸“You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see^[t] and subverts the words of the righteous.

⁹“You must not oppress^[u] a resident foreigner, since you know the life^[v] of a foreigner, for you were foreigners^[w] in the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

Exodus 23:1 sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).
Exodus 23:1 tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasaʾ). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.
Exodus 23:1 tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shavʾ).
Exodus 23:1 tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”
Exodus 23:1 tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rashaʿ) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.
Exodus 23:1 tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-3, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.
Exodus 23:2 tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).
Exodus 23:2 tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.
Exodus 23:2 tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”
Exodus 23:3 tn The point here is one of false sympathy and honor, the bad sense of the word הָדַר (hadar; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 237).
Exodus 23:4 tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
Exodus 23:4 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
Exodus 23:5 tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him”—refrain from leaving your enemy without help.
Exodus 23:5 tn The law is emphatic here as well, using the infinitive absolute and the imperfect of instruction (or possibly obligation). There is also a wordplay here: two words עָזַב (ʿazav) are used, one meaning “forsake” and the other possibly meaning “arrange” based on Arabic and Ugaritic evidence (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 297-98).
Exodus 23:5 sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.
Exodus 23:7 tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”
Exodus 23:7 tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.
Exodus 23:7 tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).
Exodus 23:7 sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.
Exodus 23:8 tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”
Exodus 23:9 tn The verb means “to crush.” S. R. Driver notes that in this context this would probably mean with an unfair judgment in the courts (Exodus, 239).sn In Mosaic Law the foreign resident, גֵּר (ger), was essentially a naturalized citizen who joined the covenant community (see Exod 12:19, 48; Deut 29:10-13). Besides not oppressing the ger (Exod 22:21), Israel was told to love the ger (Lev 19:33-34). Several passages emphasize equal standing under Mosaic Law (Exod 12:49; 20:10; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 29).
Exodus 23:9 tn Heb “soul, life, feelings.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers here to the soul “as the centre and transmitter of feelings and perceptions” (HALOT 713 s.v.). The Israelites should be motivated by knowing what it feels like to be oppressed.
Exodus 23:9 sn The same term גֵּר (ger) is used for the resident foreigner living in Israel and of the Israelite who lived in Israel, despite the very different social conditions of each. A foreign resident has differing status in different countries. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but the resident foreigner in Israel was under the same laws (civil and religious) as the Israelite and could worship the Lord as part of the covenant community. Several passages emphasize equal standing under Mosaic Law (Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 26, 29; 19:10; 35:15; Deut 1:16 or similar obligations Exod 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:10, 12, 13; 18:26; 24:16; Num 15:14.

Romans 3:1-8

3 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? ²Actually, there are many advantages.^[a] First of all,^[b] the Jews^[c] were entrusted with the oracles of God.^[d] ³What then? If some were unfaithful, their unfaithfulness will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? ⁴Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being^[e] shown up as a liar,^[f] just as it is written: “so that you will be justified^[g] in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”^[h]

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates^[i] the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)^[j] ⁶Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? ⁷For if by my lie the truth of God enhances^[k] his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? ⁸And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?—as some who slander us allege that we say.^[l] (Their^[m] condemnation is deserved!)

Footnotes

Romans 3:2 tn Grk “much in every way.”
Romans 3:2 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 M) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁸ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.tn Grk “first indeed that.”
Romans 3:2 tn Grk “they were.”
Romans 3:2 tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.
Romans 3:4 tn Grk “every man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.
Romans 3:4 tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.
Romans 3:4 tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.
Romans 3:4 tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.
Romans 3:5 tn Or “shows clearly.”
Romans 3:5 sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.
Romans 3:7 tn Grk “abounded unto.”
Romans 3:8 tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”
Romans 3:8 tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 113[a]

Footnotes

Justice

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 113^[a]