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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 6

Psalm 6^[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;^[b] a psalm of David.

6 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your raging fury.^[c]
²Have mercy on me,^[d] Lord, for I am frail.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking.^[e]
³I am absolutely terrified,^[f]
and you, Lord—how long will this continue?^[g]
⁴Relent, Lord, rescue me!^[h]
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.^[i]
⁵For no one remembers you in the realm of death.^[j]
In Sheol who gives you thanks?^[k]
⁶I am exhausted as I groan.
All night long I drench my bed in tears;^[l]
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.^[m]
⁷My eyes^[n] grow dim^[o] from suffering;
they grow weak^[p] because of all my enemies.^[q]
⁸Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly,^[r]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.^[s]
⁹The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;
the Lord has accepted^[t] my prayer.
¹⁰They will be humiliated^[u] and absolutely terrified.^[v]
All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.

Footnotes

Psalm 6:1 sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.
Psalm 6:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (sh^eminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.
Psalm 6:1 sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).
Psalm 6:2 tn Or “show me favor.”
Psalm 6:2 tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.
Psalm 6:3 tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
Psalm 6:3 tn Heb “and you, Lord, how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will this (= his suffering) continue?
Psalm 6:4 tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
Psalm 6:4 sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.
Psalm 6:5 tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.
Psalm 6:5 tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 30:9; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!
Psalm 6:6 tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”
Psalm 6:6 tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”
Psalm 6:7 tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.
Psalm 6:7 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
Psalm 6:7 tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”
Psalm 6:7 sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.
Psalm 6:8 tn Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5.
Psalm 6:8 sn The Lord has heard. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes because the Lord responded positively to the lament and petition of vv. 1-7 and promised him deliverance.
Psalm 6:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request.
Psalm 6:10 tn In the structure of the Psalm, this verse is either another petition or a statement of confidence. If a petition, the four prefixed verbal forms in this verse should be understood as jussives. By form, many prefixed verbs can be either imperfect or jussive. But the third verb in the series, יָשֻׁבוּ (yashuvu), can be distinguished as an imperfect by its qibbuts theme vowel, and is not a jussive (which would have had a qamets hatuph or holem). Expecting all four verbs to be the same due to parallelism leads to the conclusion that this section is a statement of confidence, in which the imperfect verbs should be treated as future.
Psalm 6:10 sn The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. He is confident that the tables will be turned and his enemies will know what absolute terror feels like.

Micah 7:1-7

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7 Woe is me!
For I am like those gathering fruit
and those harvesting grapes,
when there is no grape cluster to eat
and no fresh figs that my stomach^[a] craves.
²Faithful men have disappeared^[b] from the land;
there are no godly men left.^[c]
They all wait in ambush to shed blood;^[d]
they hunt their own brother with a net.
³They are experts at doing evil;^[e]
government officials and judges take bribes,^[f]
prominent men announce what they wish,
and then they plan it out.^[g]
⁴The best of them is like a thorn;
their godly are like a thorn bush.^[h]
Woe^[i] to your watchmen;
your appointed punishment is on the way.^[j]
The time of their confusion is now.^[k]
⁵Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Even with the one who lies in your arms,
do not share secrets!^[l]
⁶For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges^[m] her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own family.^[n]
⁷But I will keep watching for the Lord;
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will listen to me.

Footnotes

Micah 7:1 tn Heb “appetite, soul.”
Micah 7:2 tn Or “have perished.”
Micah 7:2 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
Micah 7:2 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
Micah 7:3 tn Heb “their hands [reach] to evil to do [it] well,” or with slight emendation “their hands are skillful at doing evil.”
Micah 7:3 tn Heb “the official asks—and the judge—for a bribe.”
Micah 7:3 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.
Micah 7:4 tc The MT reads יָשָׁר מִמְּסוּכָה (yashar mimm^esukhah) “a godly [person] from a thorn bush.” Theoretically the preposition מִן (min, “from”) could be comparative (“more than”), but it would need an attributive adjective for this meaning. Most likely this is a case of wrong word division, where the מ (mem) is not מִן (min, “from”), but is actually a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, similar to the first clause (“their best”). The line would read יְשָׁרָם מְסוּכָה (y^esharam m^esukhah) “their upright person is a thorn bush.”
Micah 7:4 tc The text is uncertain at several points. Where the MT reads יוֹם (yom, “day [of]”), the LXX reads οὐαὶ (ouai, “woe”) implying הוֹי (hoi, “woe”). The watchmen may be actual sentries or symbolic of true of false prophets. If reading with the MT, the “day of your watchmen,” might be the day they are on the lookout for, or the day they have announced. Reading “woe” either warns the sentries on the lookout or rebukes false prophets.
Micah 7:4 tn Or “has come.”
Micah 7:4 tn Heb “Now will be their confusion.”
Micah 7:5 tn Heb “guard the doors of your mouth.”
Micah 7:6 tn Heb “rises up against.”
Micah 7:6 tn Heb “his house.” Household may include servants as well as family.

Revelation 2:1-7

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write the following:^[a]

“This is the solemn pronouncement of^[b] the one who has a firm grasp on^[c] the seven stars in his right hand^[d]—the one who walks among the seven golden^[e] lampstands: ²‘I know your works as well as your^[f] labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate^[g] evil. You have even put to the test^[h] those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not), and have discovered that they are false. ³I am also aware^[i] that you have persisted steadfastly,^[j] endured much for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you: You have departed^[k] from your first love! ⁵Therefore, remember from what high state^[l] you have fallen and repent! Do^[m] the deeds you did at the first;^[n] if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—that is, if you do not repent.^[o] ⁶But you do have this going for you:^[p] You hate what the Nicolaitans^[q] practice^[r]—practices I also hate. ⁷The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers,^[s] I will permit^[t] him to eat from the tree of life that is^[u] in the paradise of God.’^[v]

Footnotes

Revelation 2:1 tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.
Revelation 2:1 tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” The expression τάδε λέγει (tade legei) occurs eight times in the NT, seven of which are in Rev 2-3. “The pronoun is used to add solemnity to the prophetic utterance that follows.…In classical drama, it was used to introduce a new actor to the scene (Smyth, Greek Grammar, 307 [§1241]). But the τάδε λέγει formula in the NT derives from the OT, where it was used to introduce a prophetic utterance (BAGD, s.v. ὅδε, 1)” (ExSyn 328). Thus, the translation “this is the solemn pronouncement of” for τάδε λέγει is very much in keeping with the OT connotations of this expression.sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. The LXX has the same Greek phrase (τάδε λέγει, tade legei) about 350 times, with nearly 320 of them having “the Lord” (Heb יהוה, Yahweh) as subject. That the author of Revelation would use such an expression seven times with the risen Christ as the speaker may well imply something of Christ’s sovereignty and deity. Cf. also Acts 21:11 in which the Holy Spirit is the speaker of this expression.
Revelation 2:1 tn Grk “holds,” but the term (i.e., κρατῶν, kratōn) with an accusative object, along with the context, argues for a sense of firmness. (Cf. ExSyn 132.)
Revelation 2:1 sn On seven stars in his right hand see 1:16.
Revelation 2:1 tn Grk “lampstands of gold” with the genitive τῶν χρυσῶν (tōn chrusōn) translated as an attributive genitive.
Revelation 2:2 tn Although the first possessive pronoun σου (sou) is connected to τὰ ἔργα (ta erga) and the second σου is connected to ὑπομονήν (hupomonēn), semantically κόπον (kopon) is also to be understood as belonging to the Ephesian church. The translation reflects this.
Revelation 2:2 tn The translation “tolerate” seems to capture the sense of βαστάσαι (bastasai) here. BDAG 171 s.v. βαστάζω 2.b.β says, “bear, endure…κακούς Rv 2:2.…bear patiently, put up with: weaknesses of the weak Ro 15:1; cf. IPol 1:2; evil Rv 2:3.”
Revelation 2:2 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle was broken off from the previous sentence and translated as an indicative verb beginning a new sentence here in the translation.
Revelation 2:3 tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “I am also aware” to link this English sentence back to “I know” at the beginning of v. 2.
Revelation 2:3 tn The Greek word translated “persisted steadfastly” (ὑπομονή, hupomonē) is the same one translated “steadfast endurance” in v. 2.
Revelation 2:4 tn The Greek word translated “departed from” (ἀφίημι, aphiēmi; L&N 15.48) can actually be used of divorce (L&N 34.78), so the imagery here is very strong.
Revelation 2:5 tn Grk “from where,” but status is in view rather than physical position. On this term BDAG 838 s.v. πόθεν 1 states, “from what place? from where?…In imagery μνημόνευε πόθεν πέπτωκες remember from what (state) you have fallen Rv 2:5.”
Revelation 2:5 tn Grk “and do” (a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text). For stylistic reasons in English a new sentence was started here in the translation. The repeated mention of repenting at the end of the verse suggests that the intervening material (“do the deeds you did at first”) specifies how the repentance is to be demonstrated.
Revelation 2:5 tn Or “you did formerly.”
Revelation 2:5 tn Although the final clause is somewhat awkward, it is typical of the style of Revelation.
Revelation 2:6 tn Grk “But you do have this.” The words “going for you” are supplied to complete the English idiom; other phrases like “in your favor” (NIV) or “to your credit” (NRSV) could also be supplied.
Revelation 2:6 sn The Nicolaitans were a sect that apparently taught that Christians could engage in immoral behavior with impunity. They are also mentioned in 2:15. They are sometimes associated with Nicolaus, one of the seven original deacons in the church in Jerusalem according to Acts 6:5. The early church father Irenaeus connected them to Nicolaus and further described them as an immoral Gnostic sect (Adv. Haer. 1.26.3; 3.11.1). It is unclear however if the association of the Nicolaitans with the Nicolaus of Acts 6:5 is correct as this view may have arisen based on simple name identification rather than a real historical connection. It is also possible that the group adopted the name of Nicolaus to give them credibility (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.29.1).
Revelation 2:6 tn The expression τὰ ἔργα τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν (ta erga tōn Nikolaitōn) has been translated as a subjective genitive.
Revelation 2:7 tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.” The pendent dative is allowed to stand in the English translation because it is characteristic of the author’s style in Revelation.
Revelation 2:7 tn Or “grant.”
Revelation 2:7 tn Or “stands.”
Revelation 2:7 tc The omission of “my” (μου, mou) after “God” (θεοῦ, theou) is well attested, supported by א A C and the Andreas of Caesarea group of Byzantine mss (M^A). Its addition in 1611, the M^K group, latt, and others, seems to be evidence of a purposeful conforming of the text to 3:2 and the four occurrences of “my God” (θεοῦ μου) in 3:12.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 6[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;[b] a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

Footnotes

To the Church in Ephesus

Footnotes

Psalm 6^[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;^[b] a psalm of David.