◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 107:1-16 (God gives food and light); Numbers 20:1-13 (God gives water from the rock); 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 (God is faithful) (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 107:1-16

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.
⁴They wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland;^[g]
they found no road to a city in which to live.
⁵They were hungry and thirsty;
they fainted from exhaustion.^[h]
⁶They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
⁷He led them on a level road,^[i]
that they might find a city in which to live.
⁸Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.^[j]
⁹For he has satisfied those who thirst,^[k]
and those who hunger he has filled with food.^[l]
¹⁰They sat in utter darkness,^[m]
bound in painful iron chains,^[n]
¹¹because they had rebelled against God’s commands,^[o]
and rejected the instructions of the Most High.^[p]
¹²So he used suffering to humble them;^[q]
they stumbled and no one helped them up.
¹³They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
¹⁴He brought them out of the utter darkness,^[r]
and tore off their shackles.
¹⁵Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.^[s]
¹⁶For he shattered the bronze gates,
and hacked through the iron bars.^[t]

Footnotes

Psalm 107:1 sn Psalm 107. The psalmist praises God for his kindness to his exiled people.
Psalm 107:1 tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”
Psalm 107:2 tn Or “let the redeemed of the Lord say [so].”
Psalm 107:2 tn Or “redeemed.”
Psalm 107:2 tn Heb “hand.”
Psalm 107:3 tn Heb “from lands.” The word “foreign” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
Psalm 107:4 tc The MT divides the verse so the line ends “on a wasteland of a road.” The LXX divides the line before “road” as in the translation.
Psalm 107:5 tn Heb “and their soul in them fainted.”
Psalm 107:7 sn A level road. See Jer 31:9.
Psalm 107:8 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.”
Psalm 107:9 tn Heb “[the] longing throat.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), which frequently refers to one’s very being or soul, here probably refers to one’s parched “throat” (note the parallelism with נֶפֶשׁ רְעֵבָה, nefesh r^eʿevah, “hungry throat”).
Psalm 107:9 tn Heb “and [the] hungry throat he has filled [with] good.”
Psalm 107:10 tn Heb “those who sat in darkness and deep darkness.” Synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of “darkness” experienced by the exiles. The Hebrew term צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet, “deep darkness”) has traditionally been understood as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (צֵל + מָוֶת [tsel + mavet]; see BDB 853 s.v. צַלְמָוֶת; cf. NASB). Other authorities prefer to vocalize the form צַלְמוּת (tsalmut) and understand it as an abstract noun (from the root צלם) meaning “darkness.” An examination of the word’s usage favors the latter derivation. It is frequently associated with darkness/night and contrasted with light/morning (see Job 3:5; 10:21-22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; Ps 107:10, 14; Isa 9:1; Jer 13:16; Amos 5:8). In some cases the darkness described is associated with the realm of death (Job 10:21-22; 38:17), but this is a metaphorical application of the word and does not reflect its inherent meaning. In Ps 107:10 the word refers metonymically to a dungeon, which in turn metaphorically depicts the place of Israel’s exile (see vv. 2-3).
Psalm 107:10 tn Heb “those bound in suffering and iron.” “Suffering and iron” is a hendiadys (like English “good and angry”), where both words contribute to one idea. In this case the first word characterizes the second; the iron (chains) contribute to the prisoners’ pain and suffering.
Psalm 107:11 tn Heb “the words of God.”
Psalm 107:11 sn 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 Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
Psalm 107:12 tn Heb “and he subdued with suffering their heart.”
Psalm 107:14 tn Heb “darkness and deep darkness.” See the note on the word “darkness” in v. 10.
Psalm 107:15 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.
Psalm 107:16 sn The language of v. 16 recalls Isa 45:2.

Numbers 20:1-13

The Israelites Complain Again

20 ^[a] Then the entire community of Israel^[b] entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month,^[c] and the people stayed in Kadesh.^[d] Miriam died and was buried there.^[e]

²And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. ³The people contended^[f] with Moses, saying,^[g] “If only^[h] we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! ⁴Why^[i] have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that^[j] we and our cattle should die here? ⁵Why^[k] have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring^[l] us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Moses Responds

⁶So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ⁸“Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak^[m] to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth^[n] its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. ¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels,^[o] must we bring^[p] water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

The Lord’s Judgment

¹²Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough^[q] to show me as holy^[r] before^[s] the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.”^[t]

¹³These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained^[u] among them.

Footnotes

Numbers 20:1 sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the Lord, and thereby was prohibited from entering the land. For additional literature on this part, see E. Arden, “How Moses Failed God,” JBL 76 (1957): 50-52; J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54; T. W. Mann, “Theological Reflections on the Denial of Moses,” JBL 98 (1979): 481-94; and J. R. Porter, “The Role of Kadesh Barnea in the Narrative of the Exodus,” JTS 44 (1943): 130-43.
Numbers 20:1 tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”
Numbers 20:1 sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.
Numbers 20:1 sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.
Numbers 20:1 sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.
Numbers 20:3 tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling—it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.
Numbers 20:3 tn Heb “and they said, saying.”
Numbers 20:3 tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line—the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.
Numbers 20:4 tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.
Numbers 20:4 tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the preposition ל (lamed) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”
Numbers 20:5 tn Heb “and why.”
Numbers 20:5 tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.
Numbers 20:8 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, following the two imperatives in the verse. Here is the focus of the instruction for Moses.
Numbers 20:8 tn Heb “give.” The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, as are the next two in the verse. These are not now equal to the imperatives, but imperfects, showing the results of speaking to the rock: “speak…and it will…and so you will….”
Numbers 20:10 tn The word is הַמֹּרִים (hammorim, “the rebels”), but here as a vocative: “you rebels.” It was a harsh address, although well-earned.
Numbers 20:10 tn The word order and the emphasis of the tense are important to this passage. The word order is “from this rock must we bring out to you water?” The emphasis is clearly on “from this rock!” The verb is the imperfect tense; it has one of the modal nuances here, probably obligatory—“must we do this?”
Numbers 20:12 tn Or “to sanctify me.”sn The verb is the main word for “believe, trust.” It is the verb that describes the faith in the Word of the Lord that leads to an appropriate action. Here God says that Moses did not believe him, meaning that what he did showed more of Moses than of what God said. Moses had taken a hostile stance toward the people, and then hit the rock twice. This showed that Moses was not satisfied with what God said, but made it more forceful and terrifying, thus giving the wrong picture of God to the people. By doing this the full power and might of the Lord was not displayed to the people. It was a momentary lack of faith, but it had to be dealt with.
Numbers 20:12 sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile—very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.
Numbers 20:12 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
Numbers 20:12 tn There is debate as to exactly what the sin of Moses was. Some interpreters think that the real sin might have been that he refused to do this at first, but that fact has been suppressed from the text. Some think the text was deliberately vague to explain why they could not enter the land without demeaning them. Others simply, and more likely, note that in Moses there was unbelief, pride, anger, impatience—disobedience.
Numbers 20:13 tn The form is unusual—it is the Niphal preterite, and not the normal use of the Piel/Pual stem for “sanctify/sanctified.” The basic idea of “he was holy” has to be the main idea, but in this context it refers to the fact that through judging Moses God was making sure people ensured his holiness among them. The word also forms a wordplay on the name Kadesh.

1 Corinthians 10:6-13

⁶These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. ⁷So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”^[a] ⁸And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and 23,000 died in a single day.^[b] ⁹And let us not put Christ^[c] to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.^[d] ¹⁰And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.^[e] ¹¹These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. ¹³No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others.^[f] And God is faithful: He^[g] will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear,^[h] but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 10:7 tn The term “play” may refer to idolatrous, sexual play here, although that is determined by the context rather than the meaning of the word itself (cf. BDAG 750 s.v. παίζω).sn A quotation from Exod 32:6.
1 Corinthians 10:8 sn This incident is recorded in Num 25:1-9.
1 Corinthians 10:9 tc Χριστόν (Christon, “Christ”) is attested in the majority of mss, including many significant witnesses of the Alexandrian (P⁴⁶ 1739 1881) and Western (D F G) text-forms, and other mss and versions (Ψ latt sy co). On the other hand, some of the significant Alexandrian witnesses have κύριον (kurion, “Lord”; א B C P 33 104 1175 al). A few mss (A 81) have θεόν (theon, “God”). The nomina sacra for these readings are quite similar (cMn, kMn, and qMn respectively), so one might be able to account for the different readings by way of confusion. On closer examination, the variants appear to be intentional changes. Alexandrian scribes replaced the highly specific term “Christ” with the less specific terms “Lord” and “God” because in the context it seems to be anachronistic to speak of the exodus generation putting Christ to the test. If the original had been “Lord,” it seems unlikely that a scribe would have willingly created a difficulty by substituting the more specific “Christ.” Moreover, even if not motivated by a tendency to overcorrect, a scribe might be likely to assimilate the word “Christ” to “Lord” in conformity with Deut 6:16 or other passages. The evidence from the early church regarding the reading of this verse is rather compelling in favor of “Christ.” Marcion, a second-century, anti-Jewish heretic, would naturally have opposed any reference to Christ in historical involvement with Israel, because he thought of the Creator God of the OT as inherently evil. In spite of this strong prejudice, though, Marcion read a text with “Christ.” Other early church writers attest to the presence of the word “Christ,” including Clement of Alexandria and Origen. What is more, the synod of Antioch in a.d. 268 used the reading “Christ” as evidence of the preexistence of Christ when it condemned Paul of Samosata. (See G. Zuntz, The Text of the Epistles, 126-27; TCGNT 494; C. D. Osburn, “The Text of 1 Corinthians 10:9, ” New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis, 201-11; contra A. Robertson and A. Plummer, First Corinthians [ICC], 205-6.) Since “Christ” is the more difficult reading on all accounts, it is almost certainly the reading that gave rise to the others. In addition, “Christ” is consistent with Paul’s style in this passage (cf. 10:4, a text in which Marcion also reads “Christ”). This text is also christologically significant, since the reading “Christ” makes an explicit claim to the preexistence of Christ. (The textual critic faces a similar dilemma in Jude 5. In a similar exodus context, some of the more significant Alexandrian mss [A B 33 81] and the Vulgate read “Jesus” in place of “Lord.” Two of those mss [A 81] are the same mss that have “God” instead of “Christ” in 1 Cor 10:9. See the tc notes on Jude 5 for more information.) In sum, “Christ” has all the earmarks of authenticity here and should be considered the autographic reading.
1 Corinthians 10:9 sn This incident is recorded in Num 21:5-9.
1 Corinthians 10:10 tn Grk “by the destroyer.” BDAG 703 s.v. ὀλοθρευτῆς mentions the corresponding OT references and notes, “the one meant is the destroying angel as the one who carries out the divine sentence of punishment, or perh. Satan.”sn This incident is recorded in Num 16:41-50.
1 Corinthians 10:13 tn Grk “except a human one” or “except one common to humanity.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 tn Grk “God is faithful who.” The relative pronoun was changed to a personal pronoun in the translation for clarity.
1 Corinthians 10:13 tn The words “to bear” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)

Psalm 107[a]

Footnotes

The Israelites Complain Again

Moses Responds

The Lord’s Judgment

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 107^[a]