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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 3

Psalm 3^[a]

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom.^[b]

3 Lord, how^[c] numerous are my enemies!
Many attack me.^[d]
²Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.”^[e] (Selah)^[f]
³But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me;^[g]
you are my glory^[h] and the one who restores me.^[i]
⁴To the Lord I cried out,^[j]
and he answered me from his holy hill.^[k] (Selah)
⁵I rested and slept;
I awoke,^[l] for the Lord protects^[m] me.
⁶I am not afraid^[n] of the multitude of people^[o]
who attack me from all directions.^[p]
⁷Rise up,^[q] Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Yes,^[r] you will strike^[s] all my enemies on the jaw;
you will break the teeth^[t] of the wicked.^[u]
⁸The Lord delivers;^[v]
you show favor to your people.^[w] (Selah)

Footnotes

Psalm 3:1 sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).
Psalm 3:1 sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).
Psalm 3:1 tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).
Psalm 3:1 tn Heb “many rise up against me.”
Psalm 3:2 tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”
Psalm 3:2 sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.
Psalm 3:3 tn Heb “a shield round about me.”
Psalm 3:3 tn Heb “my glory,” or “my honor.” The psalmist affirms that the Lord is his source of honor, i.e., the one who gives him honor in the sight of others. According to BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 7, the phrase refers to God as the one to whom the psalmist gives honor. But the immediate context focuses on what God does for the psalmist, not vice-versa.
Psalm 3:3 tn Heb “[the one who] lifts my head.” This phrase could be understood to refer to a general strengthening of the psalmist by God during difficult circumstances. However, if one takes the suggestion of the superscription that this is a Davidic psalm written during the revolt of Absalom, the phrase “lift the head” could refer to the psalmist’s desire for restoration to his former position (cf. Gen 40:13 where the same phrase is used). Like the Hebrew text, the present translation (“who restores me”) can be understood in either sense.
Psalm 3:4 tn The prefixed verbal form could be an imperfect, yielding the translation “I cry out,” but the verb form in the next line (a vav [ו] consecutive with the preterite) suggests this is a brief narrative of what has already happened. Consequently the verb form in v. 4a is better understood as a preterite, “I cried out.” (For another example of the preterite of this same verb form, see Ps 30:8.) Sometime after the crisis arose, the psalmist prayed to the Lord and received an assuring answer. Now he confidently awaits the fulfillment of the divine promise.
Psalm 3:4 sn His holy hill. That is, Zion (see Pss 2:6; 48:1-2). The psalmist recognizes that the Lord dwells in his sanctuary on Mount Zion.
Psalm 3:5 tn The three verbal forms that appear in succession here (perfect + vav [ו] consecutive with preterite + perfect) are most naturally taken as narrational. When the psalmist received an assuring word from the Lord, he was able to sleep calmly. Because the Lord was protecting him, he awoke safely from his sleep.
Psalm 3:5 tn Or “supports”; “sustains.” In this explanatory causal clause the imperfect verbal form probably has a habitual or present progressive nuance, for the psalmist is confident of God’s continual protection (see v. 3). Another option is to take the verb as a preterite, “for the Lord protected me.” In this case, the psalmist focuses specifically on the protection God provided while he slept.
Psalm 3:6 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s continuing attitude as he faces the crisis at hand.
Psalm 3:6 tn Or perhaps “troops.” The Hebrew noun עָם (ʿam) sometimes refers to a military contingent or army.
Psalm 3:6 tn Heb “who all around take a stand against me.”
Psalm 3:7 tn In v. 1 the psalmist describes his enemies as those who “confront” him (קָמִים [qamim], literally, “rise up against him”). Now, using the same verbal root (קוּם, qum) he asks the Lord to rise up (קוּמָה, qumah) in his defense.
Psalm 3:7 tn Elsewhere in the psalms the particle כִּי (ki), when collocated with a perfect verbal form and subordinated to a preceding imperative directed to God, almost always has an explanatory or causal force (“for, because”) and introduces a motivating argument for why God should respond positively to the request (see Pss 5:10; 6:2; 12:1; 16:1; 41:4; 55:9; 56:1; 57:1; 60:2; 69:1; 74:20; 119:94; 123:3; 142:6; 143:8). (On three occasions the כִּי is recitative after a verb of perception [“see/know that,” see Pss 4:3; 25:19; 119:159]). If כִּי is taken as explanatory here, then the psalmist is arguing that God should deliver him now because that is what God characteristically does. However, such a motivating argument is not used in the passages cited above. The motivating argument usually focuses on the nature of the psalmist’s dilemma or the fact that he trusts in the Lord. For this reason it is unlikely that כִּי has its normal force here. Most scholars understand the particle כִּי as having an asseverative (emphasizing) function here (“indeed, yes”; NEB leaves the particle untranslated).
Psalm 3:7 tn If the particle כִּי (ki) is taken as explanatory, then the perfect verbal forms in v. 7b would describe God’s characteristic behavior. However, as pointed out in the preceding note on the word “yes,” the particle probably has an asseverative force here. If so, the perfects may be taken as indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s assault on his enemies as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm, as expressed before (vv. 3-6) and after this (v. 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“Strike all my enemies on the jaw, break the teeth of the wicked”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
Psalm 3:7 sn The expression break the teeth may envision violent hand-to hand combat, though it is possible that the enemies are pictured here as a dangerous animal (see Job 29:17).
Psalm 3:7 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (r^eshaʿim, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
Psalm 3:8 tn Heb “to the Lord [is] deliverance.”
Psalm 3:8 tn Heb “upon your people [is] your blessing.” In this context God’s “blessing” includes deliverance/protection, vindication, and sustained life (see Pss 21:3, 6; 24:5).

Habakkuk 1:5-17

The Lord’s Surprising Answer

⁵“Look at the nations and pay attention!^[a]
You will be shocked and amazed!^[b]
For I will do something in your lifetime^[c]
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned.^[d]
⁶Look, I am about to empower^[e] the Babylonians,
that ruthless^[f] and greedy^[g] nation.
They sweep across the surface^[h] of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
⁷They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right.^[i]
⁸Their horses are faster than leopards
and more alert^[j] than wolves in the desert.^[k]
Their horses^[l] gallop,^[m]
their horses come a great distance;
like vultures^[n] they swoop down quickly to devour their prey.^[o]
⁹All of them intend^[p] to do violence;
every face is determined.^[q]
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand.^[r]
¹⁰They mock kings
and laugh at rulers.
They laugh at every fortified city;
they build siege ramps^[s] and capture them.
¹¹They sweep by like the wind and pass on.^[t]
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.”^[u]

Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns

¹²Lord, you have been active from ancient times;^[v]
my sovereign God,^[w] you are immortal.^[x]
Lord, you have made them^[y] your instrument of judgment.^[z]
Protector,^[aa] you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment.^[ab]
¹³You are too just^[ac] to tolerate^[ad] evil;
you are unable to condone^[ae] wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people?^[af]
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour^[ag] those more righteous than they are?^[ah]
¹⁴You made people like fish in the sea,
like animals in the sea^[ai] that have no ruler.
¹⁵The Babylonian tyrant^[aj] pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net.^[ak]
When he catches^[al] them in his dragnet,
he is very happy.^[am]
¹⁶Because of his success^[an] he offers sacrifices to his throw net
and burns incense to his dragnet;^[ao]
for because of them he has plenty of food,^[ap]
and more than enough to eat.^[aq]
¹⁷Will he then^[ar] continue to fill and empty his throw net?^[as]
Will he always^[at] destroy^[au] nations and spare none?^[av]

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:5 tn Or “look among the nations and observe.” The imperatival forms in v. 5 are plural, indicating that the Lord’s message is for the whole nation, not just the prophet.
Habakkuk 1:5 tn The Hebrew text combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of the verb תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). A literal translation might read, “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sounds draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572-73 §34.4c.
Habakkuk 1:5 tc Heb “for a work working in your days.” Following the LXX reading, some supply a first person singular pronoun with the participle פֹּעֵל (poʿel). Ellipsis of a first singular pronoun before participles is relatively rare (see GKC 360 §116.s); perhaps an original אֲנֹכִי (ʾanoki; or אֲנִי, ʾani) followed the initial כִּי (ki) and was omitted by homoioteleuton.
Habakkuk 1:5 tn Heb “you will not believe when it is told.” In this context the force of כִּי (ki) may be “when,” “if,” or “even though.”
Habakkuk 1:6 tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).
Habakkuk 1:6 tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”
Habakkuk 1:6 tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.
Habakkuk 1:6 tn Heb “the open spaces.”
Habakkuk 1:7 tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (s^eʾet) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.
Habakkuk 1:8 tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).
Habakkuk 1:8 tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.
Habakkuk 1:8 tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”
Habakkuk 1:8 tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פּוּשׁ (push) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).
Habakkuk 1:8 tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.
Habakkuk 1:8 tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
Habakkuk 1:9 tn Heb “come.”
Habakkuk 1:9 tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”
Habakkuk 1:9 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
Habakkuk 1:10 tn Heb “they heap up dirt.” This is a reference to the piling up of earthen ramps in the process of laying siege to a fortified city.
Habakkuk 1:11 tn The precise meaning of v. 11a is uncertain. The present translation assumes the first line further describes the Babylonian hordes, comparing them to a destructive wind. Another option is to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as “spirit,” rather than “wind,” and take the form וְאָשֵׁם (v^eʾashem) with what precedes (as suggested by the scribal punctuation). Repointing this form as a geminate verb from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be astonished”), one could then translate the line, “The spirit passed on and departed, and I was astonished.” In this case the line would describe the cessation of the divine revelation which began in v. 5. For a detailed defense of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 97-100.
Habakkuk 1:11 tn Heb “and guilty is the one whose strength is his god.” This assumes that אָשֵׁם (ʾashem) is a predicate adjective meaning “guilty” and that it relates to what follows.
Habakkuk 1:12 tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O Lord?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, of course.” The present translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question, rendering it as an affirmation. When used in a temporal sense the phrase מִקֶדֶם (miqedem) means “from antiquity, ancient times,” often referring to earlier periods in Israel’s history. See its use in Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10; Mic 5:2.
Habakkuk 1:12 tn Heb “My God, my holy one.” God’s “holiness” in this context is his sovereign transcendence as the righteous judge of the world (see vv. 12b-13a), thus the translation “My sovereign God.”
Habakkuk 1:12 tc The MT reads, “we will not die,” but an ancient scribal tradition has “you [i.e., God] will not die.” This is preferred as a more difficult reading that can explain the rise of the other variant. Later scribes who copied the manuscripts did not want to associate the idea of death with God in any way, so they softened the statement to refer to humanity.
Habakkuk 1:12 tn Heb “him,” a collective singular referring to the Babylonians. The plural pronoun “them” has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
Habakkuk 1:12 tn Heb “for judgment.”
Habakkuk 1:12 tn Heb “Rock” or “Cliff.” This divine epithet views God as a place where one can go to be safe from danger. The translation “Protector” conveys the force of the metaphor (cf. KJV, NEB “O mighty God”).
Habakkuk 1:12 tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”
Habakkuk 1:13 tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.
Habakkuk 1:13 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
Habakkuk 1:13 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
Habakkuk 1:13 tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.
Habakkuk 1:13 tn Or “swallow up.”
Habakkuk 1:13 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
Habakkuk 1:14 tn The Hebrew word רֶמֶשׂ (remesh) usually refers to animals that creep, but here the referent seems to be marine animals that glide through the water (note the parallelism in the previous line). See also Ps 104:25.
Habakkuk 1:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
Habakkuk 1:15 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
Habakkuk 1:15 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
Habakkuk 1:15 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
Habakkuk 1:16 tn Heb “therefore.”
Habakkuk 1:16 sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).
Habakkuk 1:16 tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”
Habakkuk 1:16 tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”
Habakkuk 1:17 tn Or “therefore.”
Habakkuk 1:17 tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Habakkuk 1:17 tn Or “continually.”
Habakkuk 1:17 tn Heb “kill.”
Habakkuk 1:17 tn Or “without showing compassion.”

James 1:2-11

Joy in Trials

²My brothers and sisters,^[a] consider it nothing but joy^[b] when you fall into all sorts of trials, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. ⁵But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. ⁶But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸since he is a double-minded individual,^[c] unstable in all his ways.

⁹Now the believer^[d] of humble means^[e] should take pride^[f] in his high position.^[g] ¹⁰But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow.^[h] ¹¹For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever.^[i] So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 3[a]

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom.[b]

Footnotes

The Lord’s Surprising Answer

Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns

Footnotes

Joy in Trials

Footnotes

Psalm 3^[a]

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom.^[b]