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October 29, 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 43

Psalm 43^[a]

43 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me^[b] against an ungodly nation.
Deliver me^[c] from deceitful and evil men.^[d]
²For you are the God who shelters me.^[e]
Why do you reject me?^[f]
Why must I walk around^[g] mourning^[h]
because my enemies oppress me?
³Reveal^[i] your light^[j] and your faithfulness.
They will lead me;^[k]
they will escort^[l] me back to your holy hill,^[m]
and to the place where you live.^[n]
⁴Then I will go^[o] to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,^[p]
so that I may express my thanks to you,^[q] O God, my God, with a harp.
⁵Why are you depressed,^[r] O my soul?^[s]
Why are you upset?^[t]
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.^[u]

Footnotes

Psalm 43:1 sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.
Psalm 43:1 tn Or “argue my case.”
Psalm 43:1 tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.
Psalm 43:1 tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.
Psalm 43:2 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.
Psalm 43:2 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).
Psalm 43:2 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.
Psalm 43:2 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.
Psalm 43:3 tn Heb “send.”
Psalm 43:3 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
Psalm 43:3 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
Psalm 43:3 tn Heb “bring.”
Psalm 43:3 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.
Psalm 43:3 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special dwelling place (see Pss 46:4; 84:1; 132:5, 7).
Psalm 43:4 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
Psalm 43:4 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
Psalm 43:4 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
Psalm 43:5 tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”
Psalm 43:5 sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.
Psalm 43:5 tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”
Psalm 43:5 tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (y^eshuʿot f^ene ʾelohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.

1 Samuel 2:27-36

The Lord Judges the House of Eli

²⁷Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘I plainly^[a] revealed^[b] myself to your ancestor’s house when they were slaves to the house of Pharaoh in Egypt.^[c] ²⁸I chose^[d] your ancestor^[e] from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear^[f] the ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor’s house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites. ²⁹Why are you^[g] scorning my sacrifice and my offering that I commanded for my dwelling place?^[h] You have honored your sons more than you have me by having made yourselves fat from the best parts of all the offerings of my people Israel.’

³⁰“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say^[i] that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve^[j] me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be!^[k] For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed! ³¹In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength^[l] and the strength^[m] of your father’s house. There will not be an old man in your house! ³²You will see trouble in my dwelling place!^[n] Israel will experience blessings,^[o] but there will not be an old man in your^[p] house for all time.^[q] ³³Any man of yours that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause his^[r] eyes to fail^[s] and will cause him grief.^[t] All those born to your family^[u] will die by the sword of man.^[v] ³⁴This will be a confirming sign for you that will be fulfilled through your two sons,^[w] Hophni and Phinehas: in a single day they both will die! ³⁵Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what is in my heart and soul. I will build for him a lasting dynasty,^[x] and he will serve my chosen one for all time.^[y] ³⁶Everyone who remains in your house will come to bow before him for a little money^[z] and for a scrap of bread. Each will say, “Assign me to a priestly task so I can eat a scrap of bread.”’”

Footnotes

1 Samuel 2:27 tn Or “certainly.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb to emphasize its modality, here the indicative mode.
1 Samuel 2:27 tc The MT poses as a question “Did I actually reveal myself…?” The LXX records as a statement “I revealed myself…” The syntax of the Hebrew can either ask for information that is not known or be used as a rhetorical question which expects the answer “no.” In this context the expected answer would be “yes.” One approach is to leave the question as in the Hebrew, probably expecting the reader to still think the answer should be “yes,” even though it is the not the syntax for it (ESV, KJV). Another is to add a missing negative “did I not reveal myself…” so that the question expects the answer “yes” (NIV, NAS, NKJV). More likely the interrogative הֲ (ha) is a case of dittography, as the previous word ends with the same letter ה (he) (NRSV, NLT).
1 Samuel 2:27 tc Reading with 4QSam^a and the LXX “when they were in the land of Egypt, slaves to the house of Pharaoh.” The MT omits “slaves,” probably lost due to homoioteleuton.
1 Samuel 2:28 tn Heb “even choosing.” The finite verb shortens the sentence for better English style.
1 Samuel 2:28 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Eli’s ancestor, i.e., Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 2:28 tn The verb נָשָׁא (nasaʾ) normally means “to carry” or “to bear” and refers to an ephod three times. The issue is whether the context here views the ephod more as a piece of clothing or as a cultic object. Exodus 28:4 classifies the ephod as a garment, which is made of linen (Exod 39:2). But a different verb is used in 1 Sam 2:18 and elsewhere to describe wearing an ephod. The ephod also includes stones with cultic significance as a memorial (Exod 28:12; 39:7). An ephod is associated with or appears as a cultic object (Judg 8:27 and possibly 17:5 and 18:14-20) and can be “in the hand” (1 Sam 23:6) or brought as an object (1 Sam 30:7). David uses an ephod, brought by Abiathar the priest, to consult the Lord’s will (1 Sam 23:9-10; 30:7-8). In keeping with the other infinitives in this verse that refer to priestly activities and functions, the translation “bear the ephod” reflects carrying the ephod which was used for divine consultation.
1 Samuel 2:29 tc The MT has a plural “you” here, but the LXX and a Qumran ms have the singular. The singular may be the correct reading; the verb “you have honored” later in the verse is singular even in the MT. However, it is more probable that the Lord here refers to Eli and his sons. Note the plural in the second half of the verse (“you have made yourselves fat”).
1 Samuel 2:29 tn Heb “which I commanded, dwelling place.” The noun is functioning as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb. Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun “my” is supplied in the translation.tc The LXX reads “Why did you look at my incense and my sacrifice with a shameless eye?” The LXX may have read the first verb as being from the root נָבַט (nabat) “to look at” rather than the rare בָּעַט (baʿat) “to kick.” And the final consonants of מָעוֹן (maʿon) are easily confused with עַיִן (ʿayin). But the rest of the variation appears inexplicable as a copying error from either direction.
1 Samuel 2:30 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
1 Samuel 2:30 tn Heb “walk about before.”
1 Samuel 2:30 tn Heb “may it be far removed from me.”
1 Samuel 2:31 tn Heb “chop off your arm.” The arm here symbolizes strength and activity.
1 Samuel 2:31 tn Heb “arm.”
1 Samuel 2:32 tn Heb “you will see [the] trouble of [the] dwelling place.” Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun is supplied in the translation (see v. 29).
1 Samuel 2:32 tn Heb “in all which he does good with Israel.”
1 Samuel 2:32 tc The LXX and a Qumran manuscript have the first person pronoun “my” here.
1 Samuel 2:32 tn Heb “all the days.”
1 Samuel 2:33 tc The MT reads “your eyes.” The LXX, a Qumran ms, and a few old Latin mss read “his eyes.”
1 Samuel 2:33 tn Heb “to cause your eyes to fail.” Elsewhere this verb, when used of eyes, refers to bloodshot eyes resulting from weeping, prolonged staring, or illness (see Lev 26:16; Pss 69:3; 119:82; Lam 2:11; 4:17).
1 Samuel 2:33 tn The MT reads “and to cause your soul grief.” The LXX, a Qumran ms, and a few old Latin mss read “his soul.”
1 Samuel 2:33 tn Heb “and all the increase of your house.”
1 Samuel 2:33 tc The MT says “all the increase of your house will die men.” The LXX and a Qumran ms, read “all…will die by the sword of men.” This reading (cf. ESV, NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT) makes sense syntactically. Some translations take “men” adverbially, “die as men,” and then understand it to mean something like “all…will die in the prime of life” (cf. NASB, NIV, KJV). However, the proposed syntax is very odd and such an adverbial function for “men” is otherwise unattested.
1 Samuel 2:34 tn Heb “and this to you [is] the sign which will come to both of your sons.”
1 Samuel 2:35 tn Heb “house.”
1 Samuel 2:35 tn Heb “and he will walk about before my anointed one all the days.”
1 Samuel 2:36 tn Heb “a piece of silver” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

Romans 2:17-29

The Condemnation of the Jew

¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law^[a] and boast of your relationship to God^[b] ¹⁸and know his will^[c] and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,^[d] ¹⁹and if you are convinced^[e] that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth— ²¹therefore^[f] you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor^[g] idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! ²⁴For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”^[h]

²⁵For circumcision^[i] has its value if you practice the law, but^[j] if you break the law,^[k] your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys^[l] the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷And the physically uncircumcised man,^[m] by keeping the law, will judge you to be the transgressor of the law, even though^[n] you have the letter^[o] and circumcision! ²⁸For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, ²⁹but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart^[p] by the Spirit^[q] and not by the letter.^[r] This person’s^[s] praise is not from people but from God.

Footnotes

Romans 2:17 sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Romans 2:17 tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.
Romans 2:18 tn Grk “the will.”
Romans 2:18 tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”
Romans 2:19 tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated.
Romans 2:21 tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).
Romans 2:22 tn Or “detest.”
Romans 2:24 sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.
Romans 2:25 sn Circumcision refers to male circumcision as prescribed in the OT, which was given as a covenant to Abraham in Gen 17:10-14. Its importance for Judaism can hardly be overstated: According to J. D. G. Dunn (Romans [WBC], 1:120) it was the “single clearest distinguishing feature of the covenant people.” J. Marcus has suggested that the terms used for circumcision (περιτομή, peritomē) and uncircumcision (ἀκροβυστία, akrobustia) were probably derogatory slogans used by Jews and Gentiles to describe their opponents (“The Circumcision and the Uncircumcision in Rome,” NTS 35 [1989]: 77-80).
Romans 2:25 tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.
Romans 2:25 tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”
Romans 2:26 tn The Greek word φυλάσσω (phulassō, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.
Romans 2:27 tn Grk “the uncircumcision by nature.” The word “man” is supplied here to make clear that male circumcision (or uncircumcision) is in view.
Romans 2:27 tn Grk “through,” but here the preposition seems to mean “(along) with,” “though provided with,” as BDAG 224 s.v. διά A.3.c indicates.
Romans 2:27 tn Or “written code.”
Romans 2:29 sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.
Romans 2:29 tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV).
Romans 2:29 tn Or “written code.”
Romans 2:29 tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 43[a]

Footnotes

The Lord Judges the House of Eli

Footnotes

The Condemnation of the Jew

Footnotes

Psalm 43^[a]