◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 89:1-4 15-18 (I sing of your love); Jeremiah 28:1-4 (Hananiah prophesies falsely); Luke 17:1-4 (Causing little ones to stumble) (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 89:1-4

Psalm 89^[a]

A well-written song^[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.

89 I will sing continually^[c] about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.^[d]
²For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;^[e]
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”^[f]
³The Lord said,^[g]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
⁴‘I will give you an eternal dynasty^[h]
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”^[i] (Selah)

Psalm 89:15-18

¹⁵How blessed are the people who worship you!^[a]
O Lord, they experience your favor.^[b]
¹⁶They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated^[c] by your justice.
¹⁷For you give them splendor and strength.^[d]
By your favor we are victorious.^[e]
¹⁸For our shield^[f] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.^[g]

Jeremiah 28:1-4

Jeremiah Confronted by a False Prophet

28 The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign.^[a] The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah^[b] in the Lord’s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people:^[c] ²“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,^[d] says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude^[e] to the king of Babylon. ³Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon. ⁴I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.’ Indeed, the Lord affirms,^[f] ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.’”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 28:1 tc The original text is unusually full here: Heb “And it happened in that year in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah…said to…” Many scholars see a contradiction between “in the fourth year” and “in the beginning of the reign.” These scholars point to the fact that the Greek version does not have “in that year” and “in the beginning of the reign of”; it merely reads, “in the fourth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month.” These scholars generally also regard the heading at 27:1 to be unoriginal and interpret the heading in the MT here as a faulty harmonization of the original (that in the Greek version) with the erroneous one in the Hebrew of 27:1. However, it is just as possible that the Greek version in both places is an attempt to harmonize the data of 27:1 and 28:1. That is, it left out both the heading at 27:1, and “in that year” and “at the beginning of the reign of” in the heading here because it thought the data was contradictory. On the other hand, it is just as likely that no contradiction really exists here because the term “beginning of the reign” can include the fourth year. E. H. Merrill has argued that the term here refers not to the accession year (see the translator’s note on 26:1) but to the early years in general (“The ‘Accession Year’ and Davidic Chronology,” JANESCU 19 [1989]: 105-6, and cf. note 18 for bibliography on Akkadian parallels). Hence the phrase has been translated both here and in 27:1 as “early in the reign of…” For other attempts at harmonization see the discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 41, n. 1a.sn The dating here is very full and precise. “In that same year” ties the events here in with the messages that Jeremiah delivered to the envoys, the king and his court, and the priests and people while wearing the yoke symbolizing servitude to Nebuchadnezzar. The text wants to show that the events here transpired shortly after those in Jer 27 and that Jeremiah is still wearing the yoke. The supplying of the precise month is important because the end of the chapter will show that Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding Hananiah was fulfilled two months later. Hence Jeremiah is the true prophet, and Hananiah and the others (27:16) are false. The supplying of the year is perhaps significant because the author states in 51:59 that Zedekiah went to Babylon that same year, probably to pledge his loyalty. The suggestion lies ready to hand that the events of this chapter and the preceding one lead to his dismissal of the false prophet Hananiah’s advice and the acceptance of Jeremiah’s.
Jeremiah 28:1 tn Heb “to me.” The rest of the chapter is all in third person narrative (see vv. 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 15). Hence, many explain the first person here as a misunderstanding of the abbreviation “to Jeremiah” (אֶל יִרְמִיָּה [ʾel yirmiyyah] = אֵלַי, [ʾelay]). It is just as likely that there is a similar kind of disjunction here that occurred in 27:1-2, only in the opposite direction. There what started out as a third person report was really a first person report. Here what starts out as a first person report is really a third person report. The text betrays both the hands of the narrator, probably Baruch, and the account-giver, Jeremiah, who dictated a synopsis of his messages and his stories to Baruch to write down (Jer 36:4, 32).
Jeremiah 28:1 tn Heb “And it happened in that year in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, said to me in…” The sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the flavor given in modern equivalent terms.
Jeremiah 28:2 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.
Jeremiah 28:2 sn See the study note on 27:2 for this figure. Hananiah is given the same title, “the prophet,” as Jeremiah throughout the chapter, and he claims to speak with the same authority (compare v. 2a with 27:21a). He even speaks like the true prophet; the verb form “I will break” is in the “prophetic perfect,” emphasizing certitude. His message here is a contradiction of Jeremiah’s message recorded in the preceding chapter (compare especially v. 3 with 27:16, 19-22, and v. 4 with 22:24-28). The people and the priests are thus confronted with a choice of whom to believe. Who is the “true” prophet and who is the “false” one? Only fulfillment of their prophecies will prove which is which (see Deut 18:21-22).
Jeremiah 28:4 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”sn Notice again that the “false” prophet uses the same formula and claims the same source for his message as the true prophet has (cf. 27:22).

Luke 17:1-4

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

17 Jesus^[a] said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe^[b] to the one through whom they come! ²It would be better for him to have a millstone^[c] tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea^[d] than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.^[e] ³Watch^[f] yourselves! If^[g] your brother^[h] sins, rebuke him. If^[i] he repents, forgive him. ⁴Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive^[j] him.”

Footnotes

Luke 17:1 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Luke 17:1 sn See Luke 6:24-26.
Luke 17:2 tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός). sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
Luke 17:2 tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have…and be thrown.”
Luke 17:2 tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalisē), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.
Luke 17:3 tn It is difficult to know if this looks back or forward or both. The warning suggests it looks back. For this verb, see Luke 8:18; 12:1, 15; 20:46; 21:8, 34. The present imperative reflects an ongoing spirit of watchfulness.
Luke 17:3 tn Both the “if” clause in this verse and the “if” clause in v. 4 are third class conditions in Greek.
Luke 17:3 tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a, contra BDAG 19 s.v. 2.c), but with a familial connotation. It refers equally to men, women, or children. However, because of the familial connotations, “brother” has been retained in the translation here in preference to the more generic “fellow believer” (“fellow Christian” would be anachronistic in this context).
Luke 17:3 tn Grk “And if.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 17:4 sn You must forgive him. Forgiveness is to be readily given and not withheld. In a community that is to have restored relationships, grudges are not beneficial.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 89[a]

A well-written song[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Jeremiah Confronted by a False Prophet

Footnotes

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

Footnotes

Psalm 89^[a]

A well-written song^[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.