◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 107:1-3 17-22 (God delivers from distress); Genesis 9:8-17 (The covenant with Noah); Ephesians 1:3-6 (Blessed be God who chose us in Christ) (New English Translation)

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March 4, 2027

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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 107:1-3

Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)

Psalm 107^[a]

107 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.^[b]
²Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,^[c]
those whom he delivered^[d] from the power^[e] of the enemy,
³and gathered from foreign lands,^[f]
from east and west,
from north and south.

Psalm 107:17-22

¹⁷They acted like fools in their rebellious ways,^[a]
and suffered because of their sins.
¹⁸They lost their appetite for all food,^[b]
and they drew near the gates of death.
¹⁹They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
²⁰He sent them an assuring word^[c] and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.^[d]
²¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.^[e]
²²Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done.^[f]

Genesis 9:8-17

⁸God said to Noah and his sons,^[a] ⁹“Look. I now confirm^[b] my covenant with you and your descendants after you^[c] ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature of the earth.^[d] ¹¹I confirm^[e] my covenant with you: Never again will all living things^[f] be wiped out^[g] by the waters of a flood;^[h] never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

¹²And God said, “This is the guarantee^[i] of the covenant I am making^[j] with you^[k] and every living creature with you, a covenant^[l] for all subsequent^[m] generations: ¹³I will place^[n] my rainbow^[o] in the clouds, and it will become^[p] a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever^[q] I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵then I will remember my covenant with you^[r] and with all living creatures of all kinds.^[s] Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy^[t] all living things.^[u] ¹⁶When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember^[v] the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things^[w] that are on the earth.”

Footnotes

Genesis 9:8 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
Genesis 9:9 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hin^eni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
Genesis 9:9 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
Genesis 9:10 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
Genesis 9:11 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
Genesis 9:11 tn Heb “all flesh.”
Genesis 9:11 tn Heb “cut off.”
Genesis 9:11 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
Genesis 9:12 tn Heb “sign.”
Genesis 9:12 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
Genesis 9:12 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
Genesis 9:12 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Genesis 9:12 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (ʿolam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
Genesis 9:13 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
Genesis 9:13 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
Genesis 9:13 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
Genesis 9:14 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, v^ehayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
Genesis 9:15 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
Genesis 9:15 tn Heb “all flesh.”
Genesis 9:15 tn Heb “to destroy.”
Genesis 9:15 tn Heb “all flesh.”
Genesis 9:16 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
Genesis 9:17 tn Heb “all flesh.”

Ephesians 1:3-6

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³Blessed^[a] is^[b] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed^[c] us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. ⁴For^[d] he chose us in Christ^[e] before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless^[f] before him^[g] in love.^[h] ⁵He did this by predestining^[i] us to adoption as his^[j] legal heirs^[k] through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure^[l] of his will— ⁶to the praise of the glory of his grace^[m] that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.^[n]

Footnotes

Ephesians 1:3 sn Eph 1:3-14 comprises one long sentence in Greek, with three major sections. Each section ends with a note of praise for God (vv. 6, 12, 14), focusing on a different member of the Trinity. After an opening summary of all the saints’ spiritual blessings (v. 3), the first section (vv. 4-6) offers up praise that the Father has chosen us in eternity past; the second section (vv. 7-12) offers up praise that the Son has redeemed us in the historical past (i.e., at the cross); the third section (vv. 13-14) offers up praise that the Holy Spirit has sealed us in our personal past, at the point of conversion.
Ephesians 1:3 tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (eulogētos), the author’s intention at this point in the epistle, and the literary genre of this material must all come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. As an adjective εὐλογητός can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. The meaning “blessed” would be more naturally paired with an indicative verb here and would suggest that blessedness is an intrinsic part of God’s character. The meaning “praised” would be more naturally paired with an optative verb here and would suggest that God ought to be praised. Pauline style in the epistles generally moves from statements to obligations, expressing the reality first and then the believer’s necessary response, which would favor the indicative. However, many scholars regard Eph 1:3-14 as a berakah psalm (cf. A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 10-11). Rooted in the OT and Jewish worship, berakah psalms were songs of praise in which the worshiper gave praise to God; this would favor the optative (although not all scholars are agreed on this genre classification here; see H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 153-59, for discussion and an alternate conclusion). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the indicative seems to fit all the factors better. The author seems to be pointing to who God is and what he has done for believers in this section; the indicative more naturally fits that emphasis. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3.
Ephesians 1:3 tn Or “enriched,” “conferred blessing.”
Ephesians 1:4 tn Grk “just as.” Eph 1:3-14 are one long sentence in Greek that must be broken up in English translation. Verse 4 expresses the reason why God the Father is blessed (cf. BDAG 494 s.v. καθώς 3).
Ephesians 1:4 tn Grk “in him.”
Ephesians 1:4 sn The Greek word translated blameless (ἀμώμους, amōmous) is often translated “unblemished” when used of an acceptable sacrifice in the LXX. In the NT Christ our sacrifice is also said to be unblemished (Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19). Since believers are in Christ, God views them positionally and will make them ultimately without blemish as well (Jude 24; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22).
Ephesians 1:4 tn Or “in his sight.”
Ephesians 1:4 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agapē, “in love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of ἀγάπη to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious actions toward believers. In Eph 3:17 the same prepositional phrase, ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agapē, “in love”), occurs in the Greek text ahead of the participles it modifies, presumably for emphasis, and the same could be the case here.
Ephesians 1:5 tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”). sn By predestining. The aorist participle may be translated either causally (“because he predestined,” “having predestined”) or instrumentally (“by predestining”). A causal nuance would suggest that God’s predestination of certain individuals prompted his choice of them. An instrumental nuance would suggest that the means by which God’s choice was accomplished was by predestination. The instrumental view is somewhat more likely in light of normal Greek syntax (i.e., an aorist participle following an aorist main verb is more likely to be instrumental than causal).
Ephesians 1:5 tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 1:5 tn Grk “to adoption as sons.” The Greek term υἱοθεσία (huiothesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…legal heirs.”sn Adoption as his legal heirs is different from spiritual birth as children. All true believers have been born as children of God and will be adopted as legal heirs of God. The adoption is both a future reality, and in some sense, already true. To be “adopted as a son” means to have the full rights of a legal heir. Thus, although in the ancient world, only boys could be adopted as legal heirs, in God’s family all children—both male and female—are adopted in this way.
Ephesians 1:5 tn Or “good pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:6 tn Or “to the praise of his glorious grace.” Many translations translate δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (doxēs tēs charitos autou, literally “of the glory of his grace”) with τῆς χάριτος as an attributed genitive (cf., e.g., NIV, NRSV, ESV). The translation above has retained a literal rendering in order to make clear the relationship of this phrase to the other two similar phrases in v. 12 and 14, which affect the way one divides the material in the passage.
Ephesians 1:6 tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (ēgapēmenō) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.sn God’s grace can be poured out on believers only because of what Christ has done for them. Hence, he bestows his grace on us because we are in his dearly loved Son.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)

Psalm 107[a]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Footnotes

Psalm 107^[a]