◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 3 (Deliverance comes from God); Habakkuk 2:12-20 (Knowledge of the glory of God); Mark 11:12-14 20-24 (Faith that moves mountains) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

October 8, 2025

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

October 2025
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Return to today's reading

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 2:12-20

¹²Woe to the one who builds a city by bloodshed—

he who starts^[a] a town by unjust deeds.
¹³Be sure of this! The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has decreed:
The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;
their exhausting work will be for nothing.^[b]
¹⁴For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth
just as the waters fill up the sea.^[c]

¹⁵“Woe to you who force your neighbor to drink wine^[d]—

you who make others intoxicated
by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger^[e]
so you can look at their naked bodies.^[f]
¹⁶But you will become drunk^[g] with shame, not majesty.^[h]
Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin!^[i]
The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand^[j] is coming to you,
and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!
¹⁷For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon;^[k]
terrifying judgment will come upon you
because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there.^[l]
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
¹⁸What good^[m] is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it?^[n]
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles?^[o]
Why would its creator place his trust in it^[p]
and make^[q] such mute, worthless things?
¹⁹Woe to the one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’—
he who says^[r] to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance?^[s]
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
²⁰But the Lord is in his majestic palace.^[t]
The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”^[u]

Footnotes

Habakkuk 2:12 tn Or “establishes”; or “founds.”
Habakkuk 2:13 tn Heb “Is it not, look, from the Lord of hosts that the nations work hard for fire, and the peoples are exhausted for nothing?”
Habakkuk 2:14 tn Heb “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover over the sea.”
Habakkuk 2:15 tn No direct object is present after “drink” in the Hebrew text. “Wine” is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
Habakkuk 2:15 tc Heb “pouring out your anger and also making drunk”; or “pouring out your anger and [by] rage making drunk.” The present translation assumes that the final khet (ח) on מְסַפֵּחַ (m^esappeakh, “pouring”) is dittographic and that the form should actually be read מִסַּף (missaf, “from a bowl”). sn Forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger. The Babylonian’s harsh treatment of others is compared to intoxicating wine which the Babylonians force the nations to drink so they can humiliate them. Cf. the imagery in Rev 14:10.
Habakkuk 2:15 sn Metaphor and reality are probably blended here. This may refer to the practice of publicly humiliating prisoners of war by stripping them naked. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 124.
Habakkuk 2:16 tn Heb “are filled.” The translation assumes the verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of Babylon’s coming judgment, which will reduce the majestic empire to shame and humiliation.
Habakkuk 2:16 tn Or “glory.”
Habakkuk 2:16 tc Heb “drink, even you, and show the foreskin.” Instead of הֵעָרֵל (heʿarel, “show the foreskin”) one of the Dead Sea scrolls has הֵרָעֵל (heraʿel, “stumble”). This reading also has support from several ancient versions and is followed by the NEB (“you too shall drink until you stagger”) and NRSV (“Drink, you yourself, and stagger”). For a defense of the Hebrew text, see P. D. Miller, Jr., Sin and Judgment in the Prophets, 63-64.
Habakkuk 2:16 sn The Lord’s right hand represents his military power. He will force the Babylonians to experience the same humiliating defeat they inflicted on others.
Habakkuk 2:17 tn Heb “for the violence against Lebanon will cover you.”
Habakkuk 2:17 tc The Hebrew appears to read literally, “and the violence against the animals [which] he terrified.” The verb form יְחִיתַן (y^ekhitan) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with third feminine plural suffix (the antecedent being the animals) from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). The translation above follows the LXX and assumes a reading יְחִתֶּךָ (y^ekhittekha, “[the violence against the animals] will terrify you”; cf. NRSV “the destruction of the animals will terrify you”; NIV “and your destruction of animals will terrify you”). In this case the verb is a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with second masculine singular suffix (the antecedent being Babylon). This provides better symmetry with the preceding line, where Babylon’s violence is the subject of the verb “cover.” sn The language may anticipate Nebuchadnezzar’s utilization of trees from the Lebanon forest in building projects. Lebanon and its animals probably represent the western Palestinian states conquered by the Babylonians.
Habakkuk 2:18 tn Or “of what value.”
Habakkuk 2:18 tn Heb “so that the one who forms it fashions it?” Here כִּי (ki) is taken as resultative after the rhetorical question. For other examples of this use, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.
Habakkuk 2:18 tn Heb “or a metal image, a teacher of lies.” The words “What good is” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line. “Teacher of lies” refers to the false oracles that the so-called god would deliver through a priest. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 126.
Habakkuk 2:18 tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.
Habakkuk 2:18 tn Heb “to make.”
Habakkuk 2:19 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
Habakkuk 2:19 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).
Habakkuk 2:20 tn Or “holy temple.” The Lord’s heavenly palace, rather than the earthly temple, is probably in view here (see Ps 11:4; Mic 1:2-3). The Hebrew word קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) here refers to the sovereign transcendence associated with his palace.
Habakkuk 2:20 tn Or “Be quiet before him, all the earth!”

Mark 11:12-14

Cursing of the Fig Tree

¹²Now^[a] the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit^[b] on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it,^[c] “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.^[d]

Mark 11:20-24

The Withered Fig Tree

²⁰In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” ²²Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³I tell you the truth,^[a] if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 3[a]

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

Footnotes

Footnotes

Cursing of the Fig Tree

Footnotes

The Withered Fig Tree

Footnotes

Psalm 3^[a]

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