◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Ezekiel 18:1-4 25-32 (The fairness of God’s way); Psalm 25:1-9 (God’s compassion and love); Philippians 2:1-13 (Christ humbled to the point of death); Matthew 21:23-32 (A parable of doing God’s will) (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

Ezekiel 18:1-4

Individual Retribution

18 The Lord’s message came to me: ²“What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel:

“‘The fathers eat sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth become numb?’^[a]

³“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,^[b] you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! ⁴Indeed! All lives are mine—the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one^[c] who sins will die.

Ezekiel 18:25-32

²⁵“Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct^[a] is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust? ²⁶When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it;^[b] because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. ²⁷When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. ²⁸Because he considered^[c] and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. ²⁹Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

³⁰“Therefore, I will judge each person according to his conduct,^[d] O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent^[e] and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity.^[f] ³¹Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!^[g] Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For I take no delight in the death of anyone,^[h] declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Psalm 25:1-9

Psalm 25^[a]

By David.

25 O Lord, I come before you in prayer.^[b]
²My God, I trust in you.
Please do not let me be humiliated;
do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me.
³Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.
Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted^[c] and humiliated.
⁴Make me understand your ways, O Lord.
Teach me your paths.^[d]
⁵Guide me into your truth^[e] and teach me.
For you are the God who delivers me;
on you I rely all day long.
⁶Remember^[f] your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,
for you have always acted in this manner.^[g]
⁷Do not hold against me^[h] the sins of my youth^[i] or my rebellious acts.
Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord.^[j]
⁸The Lord is both kind and fair;^[k]
that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live.^[l]
⁹May he show^[m] the humble what is right.^[n]
May he teach^[o] the humble his way.

Footnotes

Psalm 25:1 sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.
Psalm 25:1 tn Heb “to you, O Lord, my life I lift up.” To “lift up” one’s “life” to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer. See Pss 86:4; 143:8.
Psalm 25:3 tn Heb “those who deal in treachery in vain.” The adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “in vain”) probably refers to the failure (or futility) of their efforts. Another option is to understand it as meaning “without cause” (cf. NIV “without excuse”; NRSV “wantonly treacherous”).
Psalm 25:4 sn Teach me your paths. In this context the Lord’s “ways” and “paths” refer to the moral principles which the Lord prescribes for his followers. See vv. 8-10.
Psalm 25:5 sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.
Psalm 25:6 tn That is, “remember” with the intention of repeating.
Psalm 25:6 tn Heb “for from antiquity [are] they.”
Psalm 25:7 tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.
Psalm 25:7 sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.
Psalm 25:7 tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”
Psalm 25:8 tn Heb “good and just.”
Psalm 25:8 tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”
Psalm 25:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.
Psalm 25:9 tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (ʿanavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.
Psalm 25:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).

Philippians 2:1-13

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit,^[a] any affection or mercy,^[b] ²complete my joy and be of the same mind,^[c] by having the same love, being united in spirit,^[d] and having one purpose. ³Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition^[e] or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. ⁴Each of you should be concerned^[f] not only^[g] about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.^[h] ⁵You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,^[i]

⁶^[j] who though he existed in the form of God^[k]
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
⁷but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,^[l]
by looking like other men,^[m]
and by sharing in human nature.^[n]
⁸He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
—even death on a cross!
⁹As a result God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow
—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
¹¹and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

¹²So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence,^[o] ¹³for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.

Footnotes

Philippians 2:1 tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumatos) is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.
Philippians 2:1 tn Grk “affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.
Philippians 2:2 tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (hina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”
Philippians 2:2 tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumpsuchoi, literally “fellow souled”).
Philippians 2:3 tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (phronēte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”
Philippians 2:4 tn On the meaning “be concerned about” for σκοπέω (skopeō), see L&N 27.36.
Philippians 2:4 tn The word “only” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the ἀλλὰ καί (alla kai) in the second clause (“but…as well”).
Philippians 2:4 tc The bulk of the Western witnesses (D*^,c F G K it) dropped καί (kai) here, most likely due to ascetic concerns (the absence of the καί makes the statement express absolute self-denial). Strong external attestation for its inclusion from excellent witnesses as well as the majority (P⁴⁶ א A B C D¹ Ψ 075 0278 33 1175 1241 1505 1739 1881 2464 M sy) also marks it as autographic.tn Verses 1-4 constitute one long conditional sentence in Greek. The protasis is in verse 1, while vv. 2-4 constitute the apodosis. There is but one verb not in a subordinate clause in vv. 2-4, the imperative “complete” in v. 2. This is followed by a subjunctive after ἵνα (hina, translated as an epexegetical clause, “and be of the same mind”) and three instrumental participles. Thus the focus of these four verses is to “be of the same mind” and all that follows this instruction is the means for accomplishing that.
Philippians 2:5 tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 2:6 sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.
Philippians 2:6 sn The Greek term translated form indicates a correspondence with reality. Thus the meaning of this phrase is that Christ was truly God.
Philippians 2:7 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 1:1.
Philippians 2:7 tn Grk “by coming in the likeness of people.”sn The Greek expression underlying by looking like other men is similar to Paul’s wording in Rom 8:3 (“in the likeness of sinful flesh”). The same word “likeness” is used in both passages. It implies that there is a form that does not necessarily correspond to reality. In Rom 8:3, the meaning is that Christ looked like sinful humanity. Here the meaning is similar: Jesus looked like other men (note anthrōpoi), but was in fact different from them in that he did not have a sin nature.
Philippians 2:7 tn Grk “and by being found in form as a man.” The versification of vv. 7 and 8 (so also NRSV) is according to the versification in the NA²⁸ and UBS⁵ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the verses in front of this phrase (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.sn By sharing in human nature. This last line of v. 7 (line d) stands in tension with the previous line, line c (“by looking like other men”). Both lines have a word indicating form or likeness. Line c, as noted above, implies that Christ only appeared to be like other people. Line d, however, uses a different term that implies a correspondence between form and reality. Further, line c uses the plural “men” while line d uses the singular “man.” The theological point being made is that Christ looked just like other men, but he was not like other men (in that he was not sinful), though he was fully human.
Philippians 2:12 tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.

Matthew 21:23-32

The Authority of Jesus

²³Now after Jesus^[a] entered the temple courts,^[b] the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority^[c] are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus^[d] answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from people?”^[e] They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.” ²⁷So^[f] they answered Jesus,^[g] “We don’t know.”^[h] Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell you^[i] by what authority^[j] I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸“What^[k] do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹The boy answered,^[l] ‘I will not.’ But later he had a change of heart^[m] and went. ³⁰The father^[n] went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered,^[o] ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.”^[p] Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth,^[q] tax collectors^[r] and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although^[s] you saw this, you did not later change your minds^[t] and believe him.

Footnotes

Matthew 21:23 tn Grk “he.”
Matthew 21:23 tn Grk “the temple.”
Matthew 21:23 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.1
Matthew 21:24 tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 21:25 tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) is used here (and in v. 26) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).sn The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.
Matthew 21:27 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to indicate that the clause is a result of the deliberations of the leaders.
Matthew 21:27 tn Grk “answering Jesus, they said.” This construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been simplified in the translation.
Matthew 21:27 sn Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were—hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“We do not know”). The point of Matt 21:23-27 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question, they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.
Matthew 21:27 sn Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.
Matthew 21:27 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 23.
Matthew 21:28 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 21:29 tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here the referent (“the boy”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Matthew 21:29 tn The Greek text reads here μεταμέλομαι (metamelomai): “to change one’s mind about something, with the probable implication of regret” (L&N 31.59); cf. also BDAG 639 s.v. The idea in this context involves more than just a change of mind, for the son regrets his initial response. The same verb is used in v. 32.
Matthew 21:30 tn “And he”; here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 21:30 tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated. Here the referent (“this boy”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Matthew 21:31 tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western witnesses (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this group of witnesses, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in א C L W (Z) Δ 0102 0281 ƒ¹ 33 565 579 1241 1424*^,c M and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ ƒ¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two variants make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles, tax collectors, and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32). For more discussion see TCGNT 44-46.
Matthew 21:31 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
Matthew 21:31 sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.
Matthew 21:32 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 21:32 sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Individual Retribution

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 25[a]

By David.

Footnotes

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

Lights in the World

Footnotes

The Authority of Jesus

The Parable of the Two Sons

Footnotes

Psalm 25^[a]