◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Numbers 21:4-9 (The lifting up of the serpent); Psalm 107:1-3 17-22 (God delivers from distress); Ephesians 2:1-10 (Alive in Christ); John 3:14-21 (The lifting up of the Son of Man) (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

Numbers 21:4-9

Fiery Serpents

⁴Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea,^[a] to go around the land of Edom, but the people^[b] became impatient along the way. ⁵And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we^[c] detest this worthless^[d] food.”

⁶So the Lord sent venomous^[e] snakes^[f] among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. ⁷Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away^[g] the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks^[h] at it, he will live.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived.^[i]

Footnotes

Numbers 21:4 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
Numbers 21:4 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
Numbers 21:5 tn Heb “our souls.”
Numbers 21:5 tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough—“worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (q^eloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).
Numbers 21:6 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
Numbers 21:6 tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (n^ekhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, n^ekhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.
Numbers 21:7 tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.
Numbers 21:8 tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”
Numbers 21:9 sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people—if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.

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]

Ephesians 2:1-10

New Life Individually

2 And although you were^[a] dead^[b] in your offenses and sins, ²in which^[c] you formerly lived^[d] according to this world’s present path,^[e] according to the ruler of the domain^[f] of the air, the ruler of^[g] the spirit^[h] that is now energizing^[i] the sons of disobedience,^[j] ³among whom^[k] all of us^[l] also^[m] formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath^[n] even as the rest…^[o]

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, ⁵even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!^[p]— ⁶and he raised us up together with him and seated us together with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷to demonstrate in the coming ages^[q] the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward^[r] us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you are saved^[s] through faith,^[t] and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹it is not from^[u] works, so that no one can boast.^[v] ¹⁰For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.^[w]

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:1 tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.
Ephesians 2:1 sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.
Ephesians 2:2 sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
Ephesians 2:2 tn Grk “walked.” sn The Greek verb translated lived (περιπατέω, peripateō) in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.
Ephesians 2:2 tn Or possibly “Aeon.”sn The word translated present path is the same as that which has been translated [this] age in 1:21 (αἰών, aiōn).
Ephesians 2:2 tn That is, “[place of] authority”; see BDAG 353 s.v. ἐξουσία 6.
Ephesians 2:2 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
Ephesians 2:2 sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).
Ephesians 2:2 tn Grk “working in.”
Ephesians 2:2 sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.
Ephesians 2:3 sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en hais], ἐν οἵς [en hois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
Ephesians 2:3 tn Grk “we all.”
Ephesians 2:3 tn Or “even.”
Ephesians 2:3 sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”
Ephesians 2:3 sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.
Ephesians 2:5 tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).
Ephesians 2:7 tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”
Ephesians 2:7 tn Or “upon.”
Ephesians 2:8 tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.
Ephesians 2:8 tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pisteōs, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1241 1881 al. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia tēs pisteōs) is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1175 1505 1739 al bo) lack the article. Without the article, the meaning of the text is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” On both internal and external grounds the anarthrous wording is preferred.
Ephesians 2:9 tn Or “not as a result of.”
Ephesians 2:9 tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”
Ephesians 2:10 tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).sn So that we may do them. Before the devil began to control our walk in sin and among sinful people, God had already planned good works for us to do.

John 3:14-21

¹⁴Just as^[a] Moses lifted up the serpent^[b] in the wilderness,^[c] so must the Son of Man be lifted up,^[d] ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”^[e]

¹⁶For this is the way^[f] God loved the world: He gave his one and only^[g] Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish^[h] but have eternal life.^[i] ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,^[j] but that the world should be saved through him. ¹⁸The one who believes in him is not condemned.^[k] The one who does not believe has been condemned^[l] already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only^[m] Son of God. ¹⁹Now this is the basis for judging:^[n] that the light has come into the world and people^[o] loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. ²¹But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.^[p]

Footnotes

John 3:14 tn Grk “And just as.”
John 3:14 sn Or the snake, referring to the bronze serpent mentioned in Num 21:9.
John 3:14 sn An allusion to Num 21:5-9.
John 3:14 sn So must the Son of Man be lifted up. This is ultimately a prediction of Jesus’ crucifixion. Nicodemus could not have understood this, but John’s readers, the audience to whom the Gospel is addressed, certainly could have (compare the wording of John 12:32). In John, being lifted up refers to one continuous action of ascent, beginning with the cross but ending at the right hand of the Father. Step 1 is Jesus’ death; step 2 is his resurrection; and step 3 is the ascension back to heaven. It is the upward swing of the “pendulum” which began with the incarnation, the descent of the Word become flesh from heaven to earth (cf. Paul in Phil 2:5-11). See also the note on the title Son of Man in 1:51.
John 3:15 tn This is the first use of the term ζωὴν αἰώνιον (zōēn aiōnion) in the Gospel, although ζωή (zōē) in chap. 1 is to be understood in the same way without the qualifying αἰώνιος (aiōnios).sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of Jesus’ words through v. 21.
John 3:16 tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (houtōs) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16, ” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (hōste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God’s love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.
John 3:16 tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12; 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna theou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18).
John 3:16 tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.
John 3:16 sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.
John 3:17 sn That is, “to judge the world to be guilty and liable to punishment.”
John 3:18 tn Grk “judged.”
John 3:18 tn Grk “judged.”
John 3:18 tn See the note on the term “one and only” in 3:16.
John 3:19 tn Or “this is the reason for God judging,” or “this is how judgment works.”
John 3:19 tn Grk “and men,” but in a generic sense, referring to people of both genders (as “everyone” in v. 20 makes clear).
John 3:21 sn John 3:16-21 provides an introduction to the (so-called) “realized” eschatology of the Fourth Gospel: Judgment has come; eternal life may be possessed now, in the present life, as well as in the future. The terminology “realized eschatology” was originally coined by E. Haenchen and used by J. Jeremias in discussion with C. H. Dodd, but is now characteristically used to describe Dodd’s own formulation. See L. Goppelt, Theology of the New Testament, 1:54, note 10, and R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:cxvii-cxviii) for further discussion. Especially important to note is the element of choice portrayed in John’s Gospel. As Brown observes, “If there is a twofold reaction to Jesus in John’s Gospel, it should be emphasized that that reaction is very much dependent on a person’s choice, a choice that is influenced by his way of life, whether his deeds are wicked or are done in God (John 3:20-21). Thus, there is nodeterminism in John as there seems to be in some of the passages of the Qumranscrolls” (John [AB], 1:148). Only when one looks beneath the surface does one find statements like “no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Fiery Serpents

Footnotes

Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)

Psalm 107[a]

Footnotes

Footnotes

New Life Individually

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 107^[a]