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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 123

Psalm 123^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]

123 I look up^[c] toward you,
the one enthroned^[d] in heaven.
²Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,^[e]
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
³Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.^[f]
⁴We have had our fill^[g]
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.

Job 21:1

Job’s Reply to Zophar^[a]

21 Then Job answered:

Job 21:17-34

How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?

¹⁷“How often^[a] is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their^[b] misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain^[c] to them^[d] in his anger?
¹⁸How often^[e] are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff swept away^[f] by a whirlwind?
¹⁹You may say,^[g] ‘God stores up a man’s^[h] punishment for his children!’^[i]
Instead let him repay^[j] the man himself^[k]
so that^[l] he may be humbled!^[m]
²⁰Let his own eyes see his destruction;^[n]
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
²¹For what is his interest^[o] in his home
after his death,^[p]
when the number of his months
has been broken off?^[q]
²²Can anyone teach^[r] God knowledge,
since^[s] he judges those that are on high?^[t]

Death Levels Everything

²³“One man dies in his full vigor,^[u]
completely secure and prosperous,
²⁴his body^[v] well nourished,^[w]
and the marrow of his bones moist.^[x]
²⁵And another man^[y] dies in bitterness of soul,^[z]
never having tasted^[aa] anything good.
²⁶Together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover over them both.

Futile Words, Deceptive Answers

²⁷“Yes, I know what you are thinking,^[ab]
the schemes^[ac] by which you would wrong me.^[ad]
²⁸For you say,
‘Where now is the nobleman’s house,^[ae]
and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’^[af]
²⁹Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accounts^[ag]—
³⁰that the evil man is spared
from the day of his misfortune,
that he is delivered^[ah]
from the day of God’s wrath?
³¹No one denounces his conduct to his face;
no one repays him for what^[ai] he has done.^[aj]
³²And when he is carried to the tombs,
and watch is kept^[ak] over the funeral mound,^[al]
³³The clods of the torrent valley^[am] are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
³⁴So how can you console me with your futile words?
Nothing is left of your answers but deception!”^[an]

Footnotes

Job 21:17 tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.
Job 21:17 tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (boʾ) followed by עַל (ʿal), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.
Job 21:17 tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”
Job 21:17 tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.
Job 21:18 tn To retain the sense that the wicked do not suffer as others, this verse must either be taken as a question or a continuation of the question in v. 17.
Job 21:18 tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.
Job 21:19 tn These words are supplied. The verse records an idea that Job suspected they might have, namely, that if the wicked die well God will make their children pay for their sins (see Job 5:4; 20:10; as well as Exod 20:5).
Job 21:19 tn The text simply has אוֹנוֹ (ʾono, “his iniquity”), but by usage, “the punishment for the iniquity.”
Job 21:19 tn Heb “his sons.”
Job 21:19 tn The verb שָׁלַם (shalam) in the Piel has the meaning of restoring things to normal, making whole, and so reward, repay (if for sins), or recompense in general.
Job 21:19 tn The text simply has “let him repay [to] him.”
Job 21:19 tn The imperfect verb after the jussive carries the meaning of a purpose clause, and so taken as a final imperfect: “in order that he may be humbled.”
Job 21:19 tn The common verb יָדַע (yadaʿ) means “to know.” Among homophonous roots DCH includes יָדַע II meaning “be quiet, at rest; be submissive, humbled” (cf. Prov 5:6; Isa 45:4; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7).
Job 21:20 tc This word occurs only here. The word כִּיד (kid) was connected to Arabic kaid, “fraud, trickery,” or “warfare.” The word is emended by the commentators to other ideas, such as פִּיד (pid, “[his] calamity”). Dahood and others alter it to “cup”; Wright to “weapons.” A. F. L. Beeston argues for a meaning “condemnation” for the MT form, and so makes no change in the text (Mus 67 [1954]: 315-16). If the connection to Arabic “warfare” is sustained, or if such explanations of the existing MT can be sustained, then the text need not be emended. In any case, the sense of the line is clear.
Job 21:21 tn Heb “his desire.” The meaning is that after he is gone he does not care about what happens to his household (“house” meaning “family” here).
Job 21:21 tn Heb “after him,” but clearly the meaning is “after he is gone.”
Job 21:21 tc The rare word חֻצָּצוּ (khutsatsu) is probably a cognate of hassa in Arabic, meaning “to cut off.” There is also an Akkadian word “to cut in two” and “to break.” These fit the context here rather well. The other Hebrew words that are connected to the root חָצַץ (khatsats) do not offer any help.
Job 21:22 tn The imperfect verb in this question should be given the modal nuance of potential imperfect. The question is rhetorical—it is affirming that no one can teach God.
Job 21:22 tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) and the pronoun, “and he.” This is to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause. See GKC 456 §142.d.
Job 21:22 tc The Hebrew has רָמִים (ramim), a plural masculine participle of רוּם (rum, “to be high; to be exalted”). This is probably a reference to the angels. But M. Dahood restores an older interpretation that it refers to “the Most High” (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,”Bib 38 [1957]: 316-17). He would take the word as a singular form with an enclitic mem (ם). He reads the verse, “will he judge the Most High?”
Job 21:23 tn The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (ʾetsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see GKC 449 §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.
Job 21:24 tn The verb עָטַן (ʿatan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs—but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev)—“his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by NASB. However, this weakens the parallelism.
Job 21:24 tn This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. NAB, NIV), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.
Job 21:24 tn The verb שָׁקָה (shaqah) means “to water” and here “to be watered thoroughly.” The picture in the line is that of health and vigor.
Job 21:25 tn The expression “this (v. 23)…and this” (v. 25) means “one…the other.”
Job 21:25 tn The text literally has “and this [man] dies in soul of bitterness.” Some simply reverse it and translate “in the bitterness of soul.” The genitive “bitterness” may be an attribute adjective, “with a bitter soul.”
Job 21:25 tn Heb “eaten what is good.” It means he died without having enjoyed the good life.
Job 21:27 tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.
Job 21:27 tn For the meaning of this word, and its root זָמַם (zamam), see Job 17:11. It usually means the “plans” or “schemes” that are concocted against someone.
Job 21:27 tn E. Dhorme (Job, 321) distinguishes the verb חָמַס (khamas) from the noun for “violence.” He proposes a meaning of “think, imagine”: “and the ideas you imagined about me.”
Job 21:28 sn The question implies the answer will be “vanished” or “gone.”
Job 21:28 tn Heb “And where is the tent, the dwellings of the wicked.” The word “dwellings of the wicked” is in apposition to “tent.” A relative pronoun must be supplied in the translation.
Job 21:29 tc The LXX reads, “Ask those who go by the way, and do not disown their signs.”tn The idea is that the merchants who travel widely will talk about what they have seen and heard. These travelers give a different account of the wicked; they tell how he is spared. E. Dhorme (Job, 322) interprets “signs” concretely: “Their custom was to write their names and their thoughts somewhere at the main cross-roads. The main roads of Sinai are dotted with these scribblings made by such passers of a day.”
Job 21:30 tn The verb means “to be led forth.” To be “led forth in the day of trouble” means to be delivered.
Job 21:31 tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”
Job 21:31 tn Heb “Who declares his way to his face? // Who repays him for what he has done?” These rhetorical questions, which expect a negative answer (“No one!”) have been translated as indicative statements to bring out their force clearly.
Job 21:32 tn The verb says “he will watch.” The subject is unspecified, so the translation is passive.
Job 21:32 tn The Hebrew word refers to the tumulus, the burial mound that is erected on the spot where the person is buried.
Job 21:33 tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.
Job 21:34 tn The word מָעַל (maʿal) is used for “treachery; deception; fraud.” Here Job is saying that their way of interpreting reality is dangerously unfaithful.

2 John

Introduction and Thanksgiving

¹From^[a] the elder,^[b] to an elect lady^[c] and her children, whom I love in truth^[d] (and not I alone, but also all those^[e] who know the truth), ²because of the truth^[f] that resides in us and will be with us forever. ³Grace, mercy, and^[g] peace will be with us from God the Father and from^[h] Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴I rejoiced greatly because I have found some^[i] of your children living according to the truth,^[j] just as the Father commanded us.^[k]

Warning Against False Teachers

⁵But now^[l] I ask you, lady (not as if I were^[m] writing a new commandment^[n] to you, but the one^[o] we have had from the beginning),^[p] that^[q] we love one another. ⁶(Now this is love: that we walk^[r] according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus^[s] you should walk in it.^[t] ⁷For^[u] many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as^[v] Christ^[w] coming in the flesh.^[x] This person is the deceiver and the antichrist!^[y] ⁸Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for,^[z] but receive a full reward.^[aa]

⁹Everyone^[ab] who goes on ahead and does not remain^[ac] in the teaching of Christ^[ad] does not have God.^[ae] The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting,^[af] ¹¹because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds.^[ag]

Conclusion

¹²Though I have many other^[ah] things to write to you, I do not want to do so with^[ai] paper and ink,^[aj] but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face,^[ak] so that our joy may be complete.

¹³The children of your elect sister greet you.^[al]

Footnotes

2 John 1:1 tn The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
2 John 1:1 tn Or “presbyter.”sn The author’s self-designation, the elder, is in keeping with the reticence of the author of the Gospel of John to identify himself. This is the same self-designation used by the author of 3 John.
2 John 1:1 tn This phrase may refer to an individual or to a church (or the church at large). Some have suggested that the addressee is a Christian lady named “Electa,” but the same word in v. 13 is clearly an adjective, not a proper name. Others see the letter addressed to a Christian lady named “Kyria” (first proposed by Athanasius) or to an unnamed Christian lady. The internal evidence of 2 John clearly supports a collective reference, however. In v. 6 the addressee is mentioned using second person plural, and this is repeated in vv. 8, 10, and 12. Only in v. 13 does the singular reappear. The uses in vv. 1 and 13 are most likely collective. Some have seen a reference to the church at large, but v. 13, referring to “the children of your elect sister” is hard to understand if the universal church is in view. Thus the most probable explanation is that the “elect lady” is a particular local church at some distance from where the author is located.sn 2 John is being written to warn a “sister” church some distance away, referred to as an elect lady, of the missionary efforts of the secessionist false teachers (discussed in 1 John) and the dangers of welcoming them whenever they arrive.
2 John 1:1 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀληθείᾳ (en alētheia) in 2 John 1 is similar to 3 John 1, although it is not qualified there as it is here (see 3 John 1). “Truth” is the author’s way of alluding to theological orthodoxy in the face of the challenge by the opponents (see 1 John 3:19).
2 John 1:1 sn All those who know the truth refers to true Christians who are holding fast to the apostolic Christology in the face of the secessionist opponents described in 1 John.
2 John 1:2 tc The prepositional phrase that begins v. 2, διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν (dia tēn alētheian, “because of the truth”), is missing in a number of significant mss, among them Ψ 614 1241 1505 1611 1739 1852 al. However, it looks to be a simple case of homoioteleuton, for v. 1 ends with τὴν ἀλήθειαν. For some of these mss it could be an intentional omission, for the sense of the passage is largely the same without the prepositional phrase (the following adjectival participle, in this case, would simply attach itself to the previous τὴν ἀλήθειαν). The phrase could thus have been viewed as redundant and for this reason expunged from the text.sn While truth certainly has a doctrinal aspect in this context, the following phrase that resides in us and will be with us forever suggests more than doctrine is involved. A close parallel is John 14:16-17 where Jesus promised his disciples that the Spirit (Paraclete) would be with them forever: “He remains with you and will be in you.” The “truth” the author speaks of here is a manifestation of the Spirit of Truth who is permanently with the believer.
2 John 1:3 tn “And” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for smoothness in English.
2 John 1:3 tc Most witnesses, including some early and significnt ones (א P 5 33 1175 1611 2344 2492 M sy^{ph mss,h}), have κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”) before ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Iēsou Christou, “Jesus Christ”), but this is a typical scribal addition, motivated by pietistic and liturgical concerns. Further, early and excellent mss (A B Ψ 048 0232 81 323 436 442 1243 1735 1739 1852sy^{ph mss}) lack κυρίου. Thus, both internally and externally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.
2 John 1:4 tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied because the prepositional phrase beginning with ἐκ (ek) has partitive force. The partitive force of the prepositional phrase here has been taken by some interpreters to mean that the author has found some of the elect lady’s children who are living according to the truth and some who are not. This is grammatically possible, but the author has merely stated that he knows of some Christians in the church addressed who are “walking in the truth.” He does not know for certain that all of them are, and concern over this is probably part of the motivation for writing the letter.
2 John 1:4 sn Living according to the truth (Grk “walking in [the] truth”). The use of the Greek verb περιπατέω (peripateō) to refer to conduct or lifestyle is common in the NT (see 1 John 1:6, 3 John 3-4, as well as numerous times in Paul). Here the phrase refers to conduct that results when a person has “truth” residing within, and possibly alludes to the indwelling Spirit of Truth (see 2 John 2). In the specific context of 2 John the phrase refers to true Christians who are holding fast to an apostolic Christology in the face of the secessionist opponents’ challenge to orthodoxy.
2 John 1:4 tn Grk “just as we received commandment from the Father.” The idiom “we received commandment from the Father” means the Father gave (a) commandment to them (the author plus the recipients).
2 John 1:5 tn The introductory καὶ νῦν (kai nun) has some adversative (contrastive) force: The addressees are already “living according to the truth” (v. 4) but in the face of the threat posed by the opponents, the author has to stress obedience all the more.
2 John 1:5 tn The words “if I were” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity in English.
2 John 1:5 sn An allusion to John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:7-8.
2 John 1:5 tn “The one” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English.
2 John 1:5 sn See 1 John 2:7.
2 John 1:5 tn The ἵνα (hina) clause indicates content.
2 John 1:6 tn Or “that we live.”
2 John 1:6 tn The ἵνα (hina) clause indicates result, parallel to John 13:34 where the final ἵνα clause also indicates result.
2 John 1:6 tn Or “should live in obedience to it.”
2 John 1:7 tn Technically this ὅτι (hoti) clause is subordinate to the verb περιπατῆτε (peripatēte) at the end of v. 6, giving the reason why the readers should walk in the commandment to love one another. But BDF §456.1 notes that subordination “is often very loose” in such cases and can be translated “for.” Thus the ὅτι assumes something of an inferential sense, drawing an inference based on what has preceded.
2 John 1:7 tn “As” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English, since (like in the same confession in 1 John 4:2) ᾿Ιησοῦν (Iēsoun) should be understood as object and Χριστόν (Christon) as complement of an object-complement double accusative construction.
2 John 1:7 tn Or “Messiah.”
2 John 1:7 tn This is the same confession as in 1 John 4:2 except the perfect participle used there is replaced by a present participle (ἐρχόμενον, erchomenon) here. It is not clear why the author changed from a perfect participle in 1 John 4:2 to a present participle here. The perfect participle suggests a reference to the incarnation (past). The present participle could suggest a reference to the (future) second advent, but based on the similarity to 1 John 4:2 it is probably best to take it as referring to the incarnation.
2 John 1:7 sn The statement This person is the Deceiver and the Antichrist! is a metaphor (metonymy). The author does not mean that each individual is to be identified as the Antichrist. The opponents are compared to the Deceiver (Satan) and the Antichrist since they are accomplishing Satan’s work and preparing the way for the Antichrist.
2 John 1:8 sn The things we have worked for probably refers to the pastoral and missionary efforts undertaken by the recipients of the letter in their own community and surrounding communities. This work would be “lost” if the opponents with their false teaching were allowed to proselytize unopposed.
2 John 1:8 sn The idea of a reward for Christians who serve faithfully is not common in the Johannine writings, but can be found in Rev 11:18 and 22:12.
2 John 1:9 tn The construction πᾶς ὁ (pas ho) + participle occurs frequently in 1 John (13 times) where it is used by the author to divide people into categories: “everyone who does this” as opposed to “everyone who does the opposite.”
2 John 1:9 tn Here μένω (menō) has been translated “remain” rather than “reside” since a change in status or position is present in the context: The opponents did not “remain” but “ran on ahead.”
2 John 1:9 tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Christou, “of Christ”) is difficult because it may be understood as objective (the teaching about Christ), subjective (Christ’s own teaching), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). An objective genitive (with Christ as the object of the “apostolic” teaching) might seem to be the obvious reading in context, especially since verse 7 makes reference to what a person “confesses” about Jesus Christ. A good case can also be made for a subjective genitive, however, since other Johannine uses of the genitive following the noun διδαχή (didachē, “teaching”) favor a subjective sense here. In John 7:16, 17 Jesus himself refers to “my teaching” and “teaching from me,” and 18:19 refers to “his (Jesus’) teaching.” Rev 2:14, 15 refers to the “teaching of Balaam” and “the teaching of the Nicolaitans,” both of which are clearly subjective in context. In the present context, to speak of “Christ’s teaching” as a subjective genitive would make Christ himself (in the person of the indwelling Spirit) the teacher, and this is consistent with the author’s position in 1 John 2:27 that the community does not need other teachers. In 1 John 2:27 it is the Paraclete, referred to as “his anointing,” who does the teaching. Since the dispute with the opponents concerns the salvific significance of the earthly life and ministry of Jesus, the “teaching” here would refer to Jesus’ own teaching (reflected in the Gospel of John) concerning his person and work. Since this is ultimately one with the apostolic eyewitness testimony about Jesus, it is perhaps best to view the genitive here as both objective and subjective (perhaps the author deliberately intended not to be specific).
2 John 1:9 sn The idiom translated have God means to have a relationship to God as a genuine believer. The phrase has both the Father and the Son later in this verse should be understood the same way.
2 John 1:10 sn Do not give him any greeting does not mean to insult the person. It means “do not greet the person as a fellow Christian” (which is impossible anyway since the opponents are not genuine believers in the author’s opinion).
2 John 1:11 sn Shares in his evil deeds. Giving a public greeting could be understood by an onlooker to suggest agreement with the (false) teaching of the opponents and is thus prohibited by John.
2 John 1:12 tn “Other” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity in English.
2 John 1:12 tn Grk “by means of.”
2 John 1:12 sn Presumably the author means he would rather say the additional things he wants to say to the recipients in person rather than by letter (with paper and ink).
2 John 1:12 tn Grk “speak mouth to mouth,” an idiom for which the English equivalent is “speak face-to-face.”
2 John 1:13 tc The Byzantine text, along with 1175 1611 1852, has ἀμήν (amēn, “amen”) at the conclusion of this letter. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the particle is lacking in excellent, early, and diffuse witnesses (א A B P Ψ 33 81 323 1739 1881 al co), rendering its omission the strongly preferred reading.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 123[a]

A song of ascents.[b]

Footnotes

Job’s Reply to Zophar[a]

Footnotes

How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?

Death Levels Everything

Futile Words, Deceptive Answers

Footnotes

Introduction and Thanksgiving

Warning Against False Teachers

Conclusion

Footnotes

Psalm 123^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]

Job’s Reply to Zophar^[a]