◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 140 (Prayer for deliverance); Genesis 24:34-41 50-67 (Rebekah follows Abraham’s servant); 1 John 2:7-11 (Living in the light of love) (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 140

Psalm 140^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

140 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.^[b]
Protect me from violent men,^[c]
²who plan ways to harm me.^[d]
All day long they stir up conflict.^[e]
³Their tongues wound like a serpent;^[f]
a viper’s^[g] venom is behind^[h] their lips. (Selah)
⁴O Lord, shelter me from the power^[i] of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.^[j]
⁵Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men^[k] spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
⁷O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,^[l]
you shield^[m] my head in the day of battle.
⁸O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.^[n]
Do not allow their^[o] plan to succeed when they attack.^[p] (Selah)
⁹As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by^[q] their lips overwhelm them.
¹⁰May he rain down^[r] fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.^[s]
¹¹A slanderer^[t] will not endure on^[u] the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.^[v]
¹²I know^[w] that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.^[x]
¹³Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.

Footnotes

Psalm 140:1 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
Psalm 140:2 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
Psalm 140:2 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (y^egaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
Psalm 140:3 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “under.”
Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “hands.”
Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
Psalm 140:5 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khov^elim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “cover.”
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).
Psalm 140:9 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
Psalm 140:10 tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.
Psalm 140:10 tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition ב (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “be established in.”
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:12 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.
Psalm 140:12 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”

Genesis 24:34-41

³⁴“I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. ³⁵“The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy.^[a] The Lord^[b] has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him^[c] when she was old,^[d] and my master^[e] has given him everything he owns. ³⁷My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, ³⁸but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find^[f] a wife for my son.’ ³⁹But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go^[g] with me?’^[h] ⁴⁰He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked,^[i] will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. ⁴¹You will be free from your oath^[j] if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’

Genesis 24:50-67

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing.^[a] Our wishes are of no concern.^[b] ⁵¹Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become^[c] the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.”^[d]

⁵²When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. ⁵³Then he^[e] brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight.^[f]

When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.”^[g] ⁵⁵But Rebekah’s^[h] brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.” ⁵⁶But he said to them, “Don’t detain me—the Lord^[i] has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return^[j] to my master.” ⁵⁷Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.”^[k] ⁵⁸So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want^[l] to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”

⁵⁹So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰They blessed Rebekah with these words:^[m]

“Our sister, may you become the mother^[n] of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds^[o] of their enemies.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with^[p] the man. So Abraham’s servant^[q] took Rebekah and left.

⁶²Now^[r] Isaac came from^[s] Beer Lahai Roi,^[t] for^[u] he was living in the Negev.^[v] ⁶³He^[w] went out to relax^[x] in the field in the early evening.^[y] Then he looked up^[z] and saw that^[aa] there were camels approaching. ⁶⁴Rebekah looked up^[ab] and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel ⁶⁵and asked^[ac] Abraham’s servant,^[ad] “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied.^[ae] So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought Rebekah^[af] into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her^[ag] as his wife and loved her.^[ah] So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.^[ai]

Footnotes

Genesis 24:50 tn Heb “From the Lord the matter has gone out.”
Genesis 24:50 tn Heb “We are not able to speak to you bad or good.” This means that Laban and Bethuel could not say one way or the other what they wanted, for they viewed it as God’s will.
Genesis 24:51 tn Following the imperatives, the jussive with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
Genesis 24:51 tn Heb “as the Lord has spoken.”
Genesis 24:53 tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 24:54 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
Genesis 24:54 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
Genesis 24:55 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Rebekah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 24:56 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, indicating a reason for the preceding request.
Genesis 24:56 tn After the preceding imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
Genesis 24:57 tn Heb “and we will ask her mouth.”
Genesis 24:58 tn The imperfect verbal form here has a modal nuance, expressing desire.
Genesis 24:60 tn Heb “and said to her.”
Genesis 24:60 tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”sn May you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands. The blessing expresses their prayer that she produce children and start a family line that will greatly increase (cf. Gen 17:16).
Genesis 24:60 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.
Genesis 24:61 tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”
Genesis 24:61 tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 24:62 tn The disjunctive clause switches the audience’s attention to Isaac and signals a new episode in the story.
Genesis 24:62 tn Heb “from the way of.”
Genesis 24:62 sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, b^eʾer lakhay roʾi) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” See Gen 16:14.
Genesis 24:62 tn This disjunctive clause is explanatory.
Genesis 24:62 tn Or “the South [country].”sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 24:63 tn Heb “Isaac”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 24:63 tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain (cf. NASB, NIV “to meditate”; NRSV “to walk”).
Genesis 24:63 tn Heb “at the turning of the evening.”
Genesis 24:63 tn Heb “And he lifted up his eyes.” This idiom emphasizes the careful look Isaac had at the approaching caravan.
Genesis 24:63 tn Heb “and look.” The clause introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the audience to view the scene through Isaac’s eyes.
Genesis 24:64 tn Heb “lifted up her eyes.”
Genesis 24:65 tn Heb “and she said to.”
Genesis 24:65 tn Heb “the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 24:65 tn Heb “and the servant said.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 24:67 tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 24:67 tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 24:67 tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”
Genesis 24:67 tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.

1 John 2:7-11

⁷Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning.^[a] The old commandment is the word that you have already^[b] heard. ⁸On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him^[c] and in you, because^[d] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.^[e] ⁹The one who says he is in the light but still hates^[f] his fellow Christian^[g] is still in the darkness. ¹⁰The one who loves his fellow Christian^[h] resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.^[i] ¹¹But the one who hates his fellow Christian^[j] is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.^[k]

Footnotes

1 John 2:7 sn See John 13:34-35.
1 John 2:7 tn “Already” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.
1 John 2:8 tn “In him” probably refers to Jesus Christ since the last third person pronoun in 2:6 referred to Jesus Christ and there is no indication in the context of a change in referent.
1 John 2:8 tn The clause beginning with ὅτι (hoti) is often taken as (1) epexegetical or (2) appositional to the commandment (ἐντολήν, entolēn) giving a further explanation or clarification of it. But the statement following the ὅτι is about light and darkness, and it is difficult to see how this has anything to do with the commandment, especially as the commandment is related to the “new commandment” of John 13:34 for believers to love one another. It is far more likely that (3) the ὅτι clause should be understood as causal, but this still does not answer the question of whether it offers the reason for writing the “new commandment” itself or the reason for the relative clause (“that is true in him and in you”). It probably gives the reason for the writing of the commandment, although R. E. Brown (Epistles of John [AB], 268) thinks it refers to both.
1 John 2:8 sn The reference to the darkness…passing away and the true light…already shining is an allusion to John 1:5, 9, and 8:12. Because the author sees the victory of light over darkness as something already begun, he is writing Jesus’ commandment to love one another to the readers as a reminder to (1) hold fast to what they have already heard (see 1 John 2:7) and (2) not be influenced by the teaching of the opponents.
1 John 2:9 tn Grk “the one saying he is in the light and hating his brother.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” because of the contrast present in the two clauses.
1 John 2:9 tn Grk “his brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a). In the repeated uses of this form of address throughout the letter, it is important to remember that sometimes it refers (1) to genuine Christians (those who have remained faithful to the apostolic eyewitness testimony about who Jesus is, as outlined in the Prologue to the letter, 1:1-4; examples of this usage are 2:10; 3:14, 16), but often it refers (2) to the secessionist opponents whose views the author rejects (examples are found here at 2:9, as well as 2:11; 3:10; 3:15; 3:17; 4:20). Of course, to be technically accurate, in the latter case the reference is really to a “fellow member of the community”; the use of the term “fellow Christian” in the translation no more implies that such an individual is genuinely saved than the literal term “brother” which the author uses for such people. But a translation like “fellow member of the community” or “fellow member of the congregation” is extremely awkward and simply cannot be employed consistently throughout.
1 John 2:10 tn See note on the term “fellow Christian” in 2:9.
1 John 2:10 tn The third person pronoun αὐτῷ (autō) could refer either (1) to the person who loves his brother or (2) to the light itself which has no cause for stumbling “in it.” The following verse (2:11) views darkness as operative within a person, and the analogy with Ps 119:165, which says that the person who loves God’s law does not stumble, expresses a similar concept in relation to an individual. This evidence suggests that the person is the referent here.
1 John 2:11 sn The one who hates his fellow Christian. The author’s paradigm for the opponents portrays them as those who show hatred for fellow Christians (Grk “brothers,” but not referring to one’s physical siblings). This charge will be much more fully developed in chap. 3, where the author will compare the opponents to Cain (who is the model for one who hates a brother, since he ultimately murdered his own brother). In 1 John 3:17 the specific charge against the opponents will be failing to give material aid to a brother in need.
1 John 2:11 sn 1 John 2:3-11. The section 2:3-11 contains three claims to intimate knowledge of God, each introduced by the phrase the one who says (participles in the Greek text) in 2:4, 6, and 9. As with the three claims beginning with “if” in the previous section (1:6, 8, 10), these indirectly reflect the claims of the opponents. Each claim is followed by the author’s evaluation and its implications.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 140[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

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Footnotes

Psalm 140^[a]