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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 7

Psalm 7^[a]

A musical composition^[b] by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning^[c] a Benjaminite named Cush.^[d]

7 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter.^[e]
Deliver me from all who chase me. Rescue me!
²Otherwise they will rip^[f] me^[g] to shreds like a lion;
they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me.^[h]
³O Lord my God, if I have done what they say,^[i]
or am guilty of unjust actions,^[j]
⁴or have wronged my ally,^[k]
or helped his lawless enemy,^[l]
⁵may an enemy relentlessly chase^[m] me^[n] and catch me;^[o]
may he trample me to death^[p]
and leave me lying dishonored in the dust.^[q] (Selah)
⁶Stand up angrily,^[r] Lord.
Rise up with raging fury against my enemies.^[s]
Wake up for my sake, and execute the judgment you have decreed for them.^[t]
⁷The countries are assembled all around you;^[u]
take once more your rightful place over them.^[v]
⁸The Lord judges the nations.^[w]
Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent,^[x]
because I am blameless,^[y] O Exalted One.^[z]
⁹May the evil deeds of the wicked^[aa] come to an end.^[ab]
But make the innocent^[ac] secure,^[ad]
O righteous God,
you who examine^[ae] inner thoughts and motives.^[af]
¹⁰The Exalted God is my shield,^[ag]
the one who delivers the morally upright.^[ah]
¹¹God is a just judge;
he is angry throughout the day.^[ai]
¹²If a person^[aj] does not repent, God will wield his sword.^[ak]
He has prepared to shoot his bow.^[al]
¹³He has prepared deadly weapons to use against him;^[am]
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows.^[an]
¹⁴See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies—
¹⁵he digs a pit^[ao]
and then falls into the hole he has made.^[ap]
¹⁶He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans^[aq]—
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head.^[ar]
¹⁷I will thank the Lord for^[as] his justice;
I will sing praises to the Lord Most High!^[at]

Footnotes

Psalm 7:1 sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.
Psalm 7:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.
Psalm 7:1 tn Or “on account of.”
Psalm 7:1 sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.
Psalm 7:1 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
Psalm 7:2 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew text, even though “all who chase me” in v. 1 refers to a whole group of enemies. The singular is also used in vv. 4-5, but the psalmist returns to the plural in v. 6. The singular is probably collective, emphasizing the united front that the psalmist’s enemies present. This same alternation between a collective singular and a plural referring to enemies appears in Pss 9:3, 6; 13:4; 31:4, 8; 41:6, 10-11; 42:9-10; 55:3; 64:1-2; 74:3-4; 89:22-23; 106:10-11; 143:3, 6, 9.
Psalm 7:2 tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
Psalm 7:2 tn Heb “tearing and there is no one rescuing.” The verbal form translated “tearing” is a singular active participle.
Psalm 7:3 tn Heb “if I have done this.”
Psalm 7:3 tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.
Psalm 7:4 tn Heb “if I have repaid the one at peace with me evil.” The form שׁוֹלְמִי (shol^emi, “the one at peace with me”) probably refers to a close friend or ally, i.e., one with whom the psalmist has made a formal agreement. See BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלוֹם 4.a.
Psalm 7:4 tn Heb “or rescued my enemy in vain.” The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive (the verb form is pseudo-cohortative; see IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3) carries on the hypothetical nuance of the perfect in the preceding line. Some regard the statement as a parenthetical assertion that the psalmist is kind to his enemies. Others define חָלַץ (khalats) as “despoil” (cf. NASB, NRSV “plundered”; NIV “robbed”), an otherwise unattested nuance for this verb. Still others emend the verb to לָחַץ (lakhats, “oppress”). Most construe the adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “emptily, vainly”) with “my enemy,” i.e., the one who is my enemy in vain.” The present translation (1) assumes an emendation of צוֹרְרִי (tsor^eri, “my enemy”) to צוֹרְרוֹ (tsor^ero, “his [i.e., the psalmist’s ally’s] enemy”) following J. Tigay, “Psalm 7:5 and Ancient Near Eastern Treaties,” JBL 89 (1970): 178-86, (2) understands the final mem (ם) on רֵיקָם as enclitic, and (3) takes רִיק (riq) as an adjective modifying “his enemy.” (For other examples of a suffixed noun followed by an attributive adjective without the article, see Pss 18:17 (“my strong enemy”), 99:3 (“your great and awesome name”) and 143:10 (“your good spirit”). The adjective רִיק occurs with the sense “lawless” in Judg 9:4; 11:3; 2 Chr 13:7. In this case the psalmist affirms that he has not wronged his ally, nor has he given aid to his ally’s enemies. Ancient Near Eastern treaties typically included such clauses, with one or both parties agreeing not to lend aid to the treaty partner’s enemies.
Psalm 7:5 tn The vocalization of the verb form seems to be a mixture of Qal and Piel (see GKC 168 §63.n). The translation assumes the Piel, which would emphasize the repetitive nature of the action. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a jussive. The psalmist is so certain that he is innocent of the sins mentioned in vv. 3-4, he pronounces an imprecation on himself for rhetorical effect.
Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “and may he overtake.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive. The object “me,” though unexpressed, is understood from the preceding statement.
Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “and may he trample down to the earth my life.”
Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “and my honor in the dust may he cause to dwell.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive. Some emend כְבוֹדִי (kh^evodi, “my honor”) to כְבֵדִי (kh^evedi, “my liver” as the seat of life), but the term כְבוֹדִי (kh^evodi) is to be retained since it probably refers to the psalmist’s dignity or honor.
Psalm 7:6 tn Heb “in your anger.”
Psalm 7:6 tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (ʿavrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.
Psalm 7:6 tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (ʾeliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (ʾelay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
Psalm 7:7 tn Heb “and the assembly of the peoples surrounds you.” Some understand the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may the assembly of the peoples surround you.”
Psalm 7:7 tn Heb “over it (the feminine suffix refers back to the feminine noun “assembly” in the preceding line) on high return.” Some emend שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return”) to שֵׁבָה (shevah, “sit [in judgment]”) because they find the implication of “return” problematic. But the psalmist does not mean to imply that God has abandoned his royal throne and needs to regain it. Rather he simply urges God, as sovereign king of the world, to once more occupy his royal seat of judgment and execute judgment, as the OT pictures God doing periodically.
Psalm 7:8 sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).
Psalm 7:8 tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”
Psalm 7:8 tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.
Psalm 7:8 tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (ʿalay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (ʿal, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (ʿalah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.
Psalm 7:9 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (r^eshaʿim, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
Psalm 7:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.
Psalm 7:9 tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.
Psalm 7:9 tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.
Psalm 7:9 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.
Psalm 7:9 tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, righteous God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
Psalm 7:10 tn Traditionally, “my shield is upon God” (cf. NASB). As in v. 8, עַל (ʿal) should be understood as a divine title, here compounded with “God” (cf. NIV, “God Most High”). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:45-46. The shield metaphor pictures God as a protector against deadly attacks.
Psalm 7:10 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
Psalm 7:11 tn Heb “God (the divine name אֵל [ʾel] is used) is angry during all the day.” The verb זֹעֵם (zoʿem) means “be indignant, be angry, curse.” Here God’s angry response to wrongdoing and injustice leads him to prepare to execute judgment as described in the following verses.
Psalm 7:12 tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).
Psalm 7:12 tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he wields.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The verb לָטַשׁ (latash) appears only five times in the Bible. It is typically taken as a reference to sharpening, as in 1 Sam 13:20. But the meaning “wield” known from Ugaritic, a close cognate language, seems to fit the context better. The following verbs describe past actions of having gotten instruments prepared for battle. It is more consistent with that setting to picture God taking his sword and swinging it as a final act of preparation or as an immediate threat.
Psalm 7:12 tn Heb “his bow he has stepped [on] and prepared it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to bend and string it and thus prepare it for battle. The verbs are a perfect and a preterite, thus referring to past action.
Psalm 7:13 tn Heb “and for him he has prepared the weapons of death.”
Psalm 7:13 tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.” The verb is a prefixed form and understood as an imperfect. As a parallel to the first verb in the series, יִלְטֹשׁ (yiltosh; he will wield), it describes a final act of preparation or the beginning of engaging in battle. It is also possible that the form is a preterite and should be understood as past tense, like the preceding perfect and preterite verbs.
Psalm 7:15 tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.
Psalm 7:15 tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.
Psalm 7:16 tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”
Psalm 7:16 tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”
Psalm 7:17 tn Heb “according to.”
Psalm 7:17 tn Heb “[to] the name of the Lord Most High.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case the compound “Lord Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

Ezekiel 33:7-20

⁷“As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman^[a] for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. ⁸When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’^[b] and you do not warn^[c] the wicked about his behavior,^[d] the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death.^[e] ⁹But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior,^[f] and he refuses to change,^[g] he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

¹⁰“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us,^[h] and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ ¹¹Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior^[i] and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds!^[j] Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

¹²“And you, son of man, say to your people,^[k] ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels.^[l] As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it.^[m] The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness^[n] if he sins.’^[o] ¹³Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die. ¹⁴Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. ¹⁵He^[p] returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life,^[q] committing no iniquity. He will certainly live—he will not die. ¹⁶None of the sins he has committed will be counted^[r] against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

¹⁷“Yet your people^[s] say, ‘The behavior^[t] of the Lord is not right,’^[u] when it is their behavior that is not right. ¹⁸When a righteous man turns from his godliness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. ¹⁹When the wicked turns from his sin and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. ²⁰Yet you say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior.”^[v]

John 5:19-40

¹⁹So Jesus answered them,^[a] “I tell you the solemn truth,^[b] the Son can do nothing on his own initiative,^[c] but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[d] does, the Son does likewise.^[e] ²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,^[f] so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.^[g] ²²Furthermore, the Father does not judge^[h] anyone, but has assigned^[i] all judgment to the Son, ²³so that all people^[j] will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

²⁴“I tell you the solemn truth,^[k] the one who hears^[l] my message^[m] and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,^[n] but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵I tell you the solemn truth,^[o] a time^[p] is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, ²⁷and he has granted the Son^[q] authority to execute judgment,^[r] because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸“Do not be amazed at this, because a time^[s] is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.^[t] ³⁰I can do nothing on my own initiative.^[u] Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,^[v] because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.^[w]

More Testimony About Jesus

³¹“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³²There is another^[x] who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. ³³You have sent to John,^[y] and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴(I do not accept^[z] human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) ³⁵He was a lamp that was burning and shining,^[aa] and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time^[ab] in his light.

³⁶“But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds^[ac] that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds^[ad] I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people^[ae] have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,^[af] ³⁸nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. ³⁹You study the scriptures thoroughly^[ag] because you think in them you possess eternal life,^[ah] and it is these same scriptures^[ai] that testify about me, ⁴⁰but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

Footnotes

John 5:19 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
John 5:19 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
John 5:19 tn Grk “nothing from himself.”
John 5:19 tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 5:19 sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does—and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.
John 5:21 tn Grk “and makes them live.”
John 5:21 tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”
John 5:22 tn Or “condemn.”
John 5:22 tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”
John 5:23 tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).
John 5:24 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
John 5:24 tn Or “obeys.”
John 5:24 tn Or “word.”
John 5:24 tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”
John 5:25 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
John 5:25 tn Grk “an hour.”
John 5:27 tn Grk “him.”
John 5:27 tn Grk “authority to judge.”
John 5:28 tn Grk “an hour.”
John 5:29 tn Or “a resurrection resulting in judgment.”
John 5:30 tn Grk “nothing from myself.”
John 5:30 tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”
John 5:30 tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”
John 5:32 sn To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.
John 5:33 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
John 5:34 tn Or “I do not receive.”
John 5:35 sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah “burned like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.
John 5:35 tn Grk “for an hour.”
John 5:36 tn Or “works.”
John 5:36 tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.
John 5:37 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.
John 5:37 sn You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Cf. Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer—their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century a.d. the giving of the law at Sinai was being celebrated.
John 5:39 tn Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, TDNT 2:655-57.
John 5:39 sn In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate Pirqe Avot (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): Pirqe Avot 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; Pirqe Avot 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”
John 5:39 tn The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 7[a]

A musical composition[b] by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning[c] a Benjaminite named Cush.[d]

Footnotes

Footnotes

More Testimony About Jesus

Footnotes

Psalm 7^[a]

A musical composition^[b] by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning^[c] a Benjaminite named Cush.^[d]