◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Isaiah 12:2-6 (In your midst is the Holy One of Israel); Amos 8:4-12 (Do not trample the needy); 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 (Generous giving bears fruit) (New English Translation)

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December 13, 2024

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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

Isaiah 12:2-6

²Look, God is my deliverer!^[a]
I will trust in him^[b] and not fear.
For the Lord gives me strength and protects me;^[c]
he has become my deliverer.”^[d]
³Joyfully you will draw water
from the springs of deliverance.^[e]
⁴At that time^[f] you will say:
“Praise the Lord!
Ask him for help!^[g]
Publicize his mighty acts among the nations.
Make it known that he is unique.^[h]
⁵Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things;
let this be known^[i] throughout the earth.
⁶Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel^[j] acts mightily^[k] among you!”

Amos 8:4-12

⁴Listen to this, you who trample^[a] the needy
and do away with^[b] the destitute in the land.

⁵You say,

“When will the new moon festival^[c] be over,^[d] so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath end,^[e] so we can open up the grain bins?^[f]
We’re eager^[g] to sell less for a higher price,^[h]
and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales!^[i]
⁶We’re eager to trade silver for the poor,^[j]
a pair of sandals^[k] for the needy.
We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”^[l]

⁷The Lord confirms this oath^[m] by the arrogance of Jacob:^[n]

“I swear^[o] I will never forget all you have done!^[p]
⁸Because of this the earth^[q] will quake,^[r]
and all who live in it will mourn.
The whole earth^[s] will rise like the Nile River,^[t]
it will surge upward^[u] and then grow calm,^[v] like the Nile in Egypt.^[w]
⁹In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon
and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.^[x]
¹⁰I will turn your festivals into funerals^[y]
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes^[z]
and cause every head to be shaved bald.^[aa]
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son;^[ab]
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.^[ac]
¹¹Be certain of this,^[ad] the time is^[ae] coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a shortage of food or water
but an end to divine revelation.^[af]
¹²People^[ag] will stagger from sea to sea,^[ah]
and from the north around to the east.
They will wander about looking for a message from the Lord,
but they will not find any.^[ai]

Footnotes

Amos 8:4 tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.
Amos 8:4 tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”
Amos 8:5 sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.
Amos 8:5 tn Heb “pass by.”
Amos 8:5 tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.
Amos 8:5 tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.
Amos 8:5 tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Amos 8:5 tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.
Amos 8:5 tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; cf. NASB, NIV “dishonest scales,” NRSV “false balances.”sn Rigged scales may refer to bending the crossbar or shifting the center point of the scales to make the amount weighed appear heavier than it actually was, thus cheating the buyer.
Amos 8:6 tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”sn The expression trade silver for the poor refers to the slave trade.
Amos 8:6 tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.
Amos 8:6 tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”
Amos 8:7 tn Or “swears.”
Amos 8:7 sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).
Amos 8:7 tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.
Amos 8:7 tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”
Amos 8:8 tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).
Amos 8:8 tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.
Amos 8:8 tn Heb “all of it.”
Amos 8:8 tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, khaʾor; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, kiʾor). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the Nile River.
Amos 8:8 tn Or “churn.”
Amos 8:8 tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqaʿ), following the Qere.
Amos 8:8 tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions that anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.
Amos 8:9 tn Heb “in a day of light.”
Amos 8:10 tn Heb “mourning.”
Amos 8:10 tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”sn Mourners wore sackcloth (funeral clothes) as an outward expression of grief.
Amos 8:10 tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).sn Shaving the head or tearing out one’s hair was a ritual act of mourning. See Lev 21:5; Deut 14:1; Isa 3:24; 15:2; Jer 47:5; 48:37; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Mic 1:16.
Amos 8:10 tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”
Amos 8:10 tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.
Amos 8:11 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
Amos 8:11 tn Heb “the days are.”
Amos 8:11 tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”
Amos 8:12 tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Amos 8:12 tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east—namely, across the whole land.
Amos 8:12 tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

2 Corinthians 9

Preparing the Gift

9 For it is not necessary^[a] for me to write you about this service^[b] to the saints, ²because I know your eagerness to help.^[c] I keep boasting to the Macedonians about this eagerness of yours,^[d] that Achaia has been ready to give^[e] since last year, and your zeal to participate^[f] has stirred up most of them.^[g] ³But I am sending^[h] these brothers so that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case, so that you may be ready^[i] just as I kept telling them. ⁴For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated^[j] (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you.^[k] ⁵Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution^[l] you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift^[m] and not as something you feel forced to do.^[n] ⁶My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously^[o] will also reap generously. ⁷Each one of you should give^[p] just as he has decided in his heart,^[q] not reluctantly^[r] or under compulsion,^[s] because God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace overflow^[t] to you so that because you have enough^[u] of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow^[v] in every good work. ⁹Just as it is written, “He^[w] has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”^[x] ¹⁰Now God^[y] who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. ¹¹You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion,^[z] which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, ¹²because the service of this ministry is not only providing for^[aa] the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. ¹³Through the evidence^[ab] of this service^[ac] they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing^[ad] with them and with everyone. ¹⁴And in their prayers on your behalf, they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you.^[ae] ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!^[af]

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 9:1 tn Or “it is superfluous.”
2 Corinthians 9:1 tn Or “this ministry,” “this contribution.”
2 Corinthians 9:2 tn The words “to help” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
2 Corinthians 9:2 tn Grk “concerning which I keep boasting to the Macedonians about you.” A new sentence was started here and the translation was simplified by removing the relative clause and repeating the antecedent “this eagerness of yours.”
2 Corinthians 9:2 tn The words “to give” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
2 Corinthians 9:2 tn The words “to participate” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
2 Corinthians 9:2 sn Most of them is a reference to the Macedonians (cf. v. 4).
2 Corinthians 9:3 tn This verb has been translated as an epistolary aorist.
2 Corinthians 9:3 tn That is, ready with the collection for the saints.
2 Corinthians 9:4 tn Or “be disgraced”; Grk “be put to shame.”
2 Corinthians 9:4 tn Grk “by this confidence”; the words “we had in you” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied as a necessary clarification for the English reader.
2 Corinthians 9:5 tn Grk “the blessing.”
2 Corinthians 9:5 tn Grk “a blessing.”
2 Corinthians 9:5 tn Grk “as a covetousness”; that is, a gift given grudgingly or under compulsion.
2 Corinthians 9:6 tn Or “bountifully”; so also in the next occurrence in the verse.
2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “must do.” The words “of you” and “should give” are not in the Greek text, which literally reads, “Each one just as he has decided in his heart.” The missing words are an ellipsis; these or similar phrases must be supplied for the English reader.
2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “in his mind.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “not from regret”; Grk “not out of grief.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “not out of a sense of duty”; Grk “from necessity.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 tn Or “abound.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 tn Or “so that by having enough.” The Greek participle can be translated as a participle of cause (“because you have enough”) or means (“by having enough”).
2 Corinthians 9:8 tn Or “abound.”
2 Corinthians 9:9 sn He in the quotation refers to the righteous person.
2 Corinthians 9:9 sn A quotation from Ps 112:9.
2 Corinthians 9:10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Corinthians 9:11 tn Grk “in every way for every generosity,” or “he will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times” (L&N 57.29).
2 Corinthians 9:12 tn Or “not only supplying.”
2 Corinthians 9:13 tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).
2 Corinthians 9:13 tn Or “ministry.”
2 Corinthians 9:13 tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”
2 Corinthians 9:14 tn Grk “the extraordinary grace of God to you”; the point is that God has given or shown grace to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 9:15 tn “Let us thank God for his gift which cannot be described with words” (L&N 33.202).

New English Translation (NET)

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Preparing the Gift

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