◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 119:65-72 (The law humbles me); Leviticus 4:27-31; 5:14-16 (Atoning for sin in the community); 1 Peter 2:11-17 (Live as servants of God) (New English Translation)

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September 7, 2026

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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 119:65-72

ט (Tet)

⁶⁵You are good^[a] to your servant,
O Lord, just as you promised.^[b]
⁶⁶Teach me proper discernment^[c] and understanding.
For I consider your commands to be reliable.^[d]
⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I used to stray off,^[e]
but now I keep your instructions.^[f]
⁶⁸You are good and you do good.
Teach me your statutes.
⁶⁹Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies,^[g]
but I observe your precepts with all my heart.
⁷⁰Their hearts are calloused,^[h]
but I find delight in your law.
⁷¹It was good for me to suffer,
so that I might learn your statutes.
⁷²The law you have revealed is more important to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.^[i]

Leviticus 4:27-31

For the Common Person

²⁷“‘If an ordinary individual^[a] sins by straying unintentionally^[b] when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated,^[c] and he pleads guilty, ²⁸or his sin that he committed^[d] is made known to him,^[e] he must bring a flawless female goat^[f] as his offering for the sin^[g] that he committed. ²⁹He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter^[h] the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. ³⁰Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. ³¹Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace-offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement^[i] on his behalf and he will be forgiven.^[j]

Leviticus 5:14-16

Guilt-Offering Regulations: Known Trespass

¹⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses:^[a] ¹⁵“When a person commits a trespass^[b] and sins by straying unintentionally^[c] from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things,^[d] then he must bring his penalty for guilt^[e] to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel,^[f] for a guilt offering.^[g] ¹⁶And whatever holy thing he violated^[h] he must restore and must add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement^[i] on his behalf with the guilt-offering ram and he will be forgiven.^[j]

Footnotes

Leviticus 5:14 sn The quotation introduced here extends from Lev 5:14 through 5:19, encompassing the first main section of guilt offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 1:1; 4:1; and 6:1 [5:20 HT].
Leviticus 5:15 tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, maʿal); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.
Leviticus 5:15 tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”
Leviticus 5:15 sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).
Leviticus 5:15 tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ʾasham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (ʾasham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).
Leviticus 5:15 tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81). sn The sanctuary shekel was about 10 grams (= ca. two-fifths of an ounce; J. E. Shepherd, NIDOTTE 4:237-38).
Leviticus 5:15 tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.sn The primary purpose of the guilt offering was to “atone” (see the note on Lev 1:4 above) for “trespassing” on the Lord’s “holy things” (see later in this verse) or the property of others in the community (Lev 6:1-7 [5:20-26 HT]; 19:20-22; Num 5:5-10). It was closely associated with reconsecration of the Lord’s sacred things or his sacred people (see, e.g., Lev 14:12-18; Num 6:11b-12). Moreover, there was usually an associated reparation made for the trespass, including restitution of that which was violated plus one-fifth of its value as a fine (Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT]). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:557-66.
Leviticus 5:16 tn Heb “and which he sinned from the holy thing.”
Leviticus 5:16 sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.
Leviticus 5:16 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

1 Peter 2:11-17

¹¹Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, ¹²and maintain good conduct^[a] among the non-Christians,^[b] so that though^[c] they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.^[d]

Submission to Authorities

¹³Be subject to every human institution^[e] for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme ¹⁴or to governors as those he commissions^[f] to punish wrongdoers and praise^[g] those who do good. ¹⁵For God wants you^[h] to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. ¹⁶Live^[i] as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves.^[j] ¹⁷Honor all people, love the family of believers,^[k] fear God, honor the king.

Footnotes

1 Peter 2:12 tn Grk “keeping your conduct good.”
1 Peter 2:12 tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.
1 Peter 2:12 tn Grk “in order that in what they malign you.”
1 Peter 2:12 tn Or “when he visits.” Grk “in the day of visitation,” denoting a time when God intervenes directly in human affairs, either for blessing (Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16; 19:44) or for judgment (Isa 10:3; Jer 6:15). This phrase may be a quotation from Isa 10:3, in which case judgment is in view here. But blessing seems to be the point, since part of the motive for good behavior is winning the non-Christian over to the faith (as in 3:1; also apparently in 3:15; cf. Matt 5:16).
1 Peter 2:13 tn Or “every human being”; Grk “every human creation,” denoting either everything created for mankind (NRSV mg: “every institution ordained for human beings”) or every creature who is human. The meaning of the verb “be subject” and the following context supports the rendering adopted in the text.
1 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “those sent by him.”
1 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “for the punishment…and the praise.”
1 Peter 2:15 tn Grk “because thus it is God’s will.”
1 Peter 2:16 tn There is no main verb in this verse, but it continues the sense of command from v. 13, “be subject…, as free people…not using…but as slaves of God.”
1 Peter 2:16 tn Traditionally, “servants” or “bondservants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). One good translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force. Also, many slaves in the Roman world became slaves through Rome’s subjugation of conquered nations, kidnapping, or by being born into slave households. sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”
1 Peter 2:17 tn Grk “love the brotherhood.” The Greek term “brotherhood” is used in a broad sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God. BDAG 19 s.v. ἀδελφότης 1 suggests “a fellowship,” but in the present context “love the fellowship of believers” could be taken to mean “love to participate in fellowship with believers,” whereas the present verse suggests the Christian community as a whole, in familial terms, is in view. This same word occurs in 5:9; there it has been translated “brothers and sisters.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ט (Tet)

Footnotes

For the Common Person

Footnotes

Guilt-Offering Regulations: Known Trespass

Footnotes

Submission to Authorities

Footnotes