◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 43 (Send out your light and truth); Malachi 1:6—2:9 (False and true priests); Matthew 23:13-28 (Woe to the scribes and Pharisees) (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

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.

Malachi 1:6-2:9

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

⁶“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects^[a] his master. If I am your^[b] father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’ ⁷You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table^[c] of the Lord as if it is of no importance. ⁸For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick,^[d] is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them^[e] to your governor! Will he be pleased with you^[f] or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁹“But now plead for God’s favor^[g] that he might be gracious to us.”^[h] “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

¹⁰“I wish that one of you would close the temple doors,^[i] so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. ¹¹For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,”^[j] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹²“But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings^[k] despicable. ¹³You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?”^[l] asks the Lord. ¹⁴“There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,”^[m] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

2 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. ²If you do not listen and take seriously^[n] the need to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will send judgment^[o] on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. ³I am about to discipline your children^[p] and will spread offal^[q] on your faces,^[r] the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. ⁴Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant^[s] may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁵“My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. ⁶He taught what was true;^[t] sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. ⁷For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him^[u] because he is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁸You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law;^[v] you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,”^[w] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁹“Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent that you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your^[x] instruction.”

Footnotes

Malachi 1:6 tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).
Malachi 1:6 tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).
Malachi 1:7 sn The word table, here a synonym for “altar,” has overtones of covenant imagery in which a feast shared by the covenant partners was an important element (see Exod 24:11). It also draws attention to the analogy of sitting down at a common meal with the governor (v. 8).
Malachi 1:8 sn Offerings of animals that were lame or sick were strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law (see Deut 15:21).
Malachi 1:8 tn Heb “it” (so NAB, NASB). Contemporary English more naturally uses a plural pronoun to agree with “the lame and sick” in the previous question (cf. NIV, NCV).
Malachi 1:8 tc The LXX and Vulgate read “with it” (which in Hebrew would be הֲיִרְצֵהוּ, hayirtsehu, a reading followed by NAB) rather than “with you” of the MT (הֲיִרְצְךָ, hayirts^ekha). The MT (followed here by most English versions) is to be preferred because of the parallel with the following phrase פָנֶיךָ (fanekha, “receive you,” which the present translation renders as “show you favor”).
Malachi 1:9 tn Heb “seek the face of God.”
Malachi 1:9 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).
Malachi 1:10 sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.
Malachi 1:11 sn My name will be great among the nations. In what is clearly a strongly ironic shift of thought, the Lord contrasts the unbelief and virtual paganism of the postexilic community with the conversion and obedience of the nations that will one day worship the God of Israel.
Malachi 1:12 tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ʾokhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.
Malachi 1:13 tn Heb “from your hand,” a metonymy of part (the hand) for whole (the person).
Malachi 1:14 sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.
Malachi 2:2 tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”
Malachi 2:2 tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”
Malachi 2:3 tc The phrase “discipline your children” is disputed. The LXX and Vulgate suppose זְרוֹעַ (z^eroaʿ, “arm”) for the MT זֶרַע (zeraʿ, “seed”; hence, “children”). Then, for the MT גֹעֵר (goʿer, “rebuking”) the same versions suggest גָּרַע (garaʿ, “take away”). The resulting translation is “I am about to take away your arm” (cf. NAB “deprive you of the shoulder”). However, this reading is unlikely. It is common for a curse (v. 2) to fall on offspring (see, e.g., Deut 28:18, 32, 41, 53, 55, 57), but a curse never takes the form of a broken or amputated arm. It is preferable to retain the reading of the MT here.
Malachi 2:3 tn The Hebrew term פֶרֶשׁ (feresh, “offal”) refers to the entrails as ripped out in preparing a sacrificial victim (BDB 831 s.v. פֶּרֶשׁ). This graphic term has been variously translated: “dung” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); “refuse” (NKJV, NASB); “offal” (NEB, NIV).
Malachi 2:3 sn See Zech 3:3-4 for similar coarse imagery which reflects cultic disqualification.
Malachi 2:4 sn My covenant refers to the priestly covenant through Aaron and his grandson Phinehas (see Exod 6:16-20; Num 25:10-13; Jer 33:21-22). The point here is to contrast the priestly ideal with the disgraceful manner in which it was being carried out in postexilic times.
Malachi 2:6 tn Heb “True teaching was in his mouth”; cf. NASB, NRSV “True instruction (doctrine NAB) was in his mouth.”
Malachi 2:7 tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).
Malachi 2:8 tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).
Malachi 2:8 tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”
Malachi 2:9 tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).

Matthew 23:13-28

¹³“But woe to you, experts in the law^[a] and you Pharisees, hypocrites!^[b] You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven!^[c] For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.^[d]

¹⁵“Woe to you, experts in the law^[e] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert,^[f] and when you get one,^[g] you make him twice as much a child of hell^[h] as yourselves!

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing.^[i] But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ ¹⁷Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing.^[j] But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ ¹⁹You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. ²²And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, experts in the law^[k] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth^[l] of mint, dill, and cumin,^[m] yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You^[n] should have done these things without neglecting the others. ²⁴Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!^[o]

²⁵“Woe to you, experts in the law^[p] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,^[q] so that the outside may become clean too!

²⁷“Woe to you, experts in the law^[r] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs^[s] that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Footnotes

Matthew 23:13 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 23:13 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (hoti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).
Matthew 23:13 tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”
Matthew 23:13 tc Many of the most significant mss (א B D L Z Θ ƒ¹ 33 892* and several versional witnesses) lack 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W Γ Δ 0102 0107 ƒ¹³ 565 579 700 1241 1424 M and several versions. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually. It is difficult to see this verse as authentic in Matthew in light of the two locations, variants withing this addition, and the key witnesses, early and diverse, that lack the verse itself. It almost certainly is not original. The present translation follows NA²⁸ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.
Matthew 23:15 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 23:15 tn Or “one proselyte.”
Matthew 23:15 tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”
Matthew 23:15 tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (huios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
Matthew 23:16 tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”
Matthew 23:18 tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”
Matthew 23:23 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 23:23 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
Matthew 23:23 sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.
Matthew 23:23 tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ ƒ^{1, 13} 579 700 1241 1424 pm lat mae bo; SBL). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional scribal alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁸ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
Matthew 23:24 tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”
Matthew 23:25 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 23:26 tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most significant Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as key Western, witnesses (א B C L W Γ Δ 0102 0281 ƒ¹³ 33 565 579 1241 1424 M lat co; SBL) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai tēs paropsidos) after “cup,” while a few major witnesses (D Θ ƒ¹ 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning copyists. On the other hand, as Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ektos, “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ƒ¹³ al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autōn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.
Matthew 23:27 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 23:27 sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy—just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 43[a]

Footnotes

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 43^[a]