◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 119:9-16 (I treasure your promise in my heart); Isaiah 44:1-8 (God gives life to the people); Acts 2:14-24 (Peter proclaims the crucified Christ to be alive) (New English Translation)

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March 16, 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 119:9-16

ב (Bet)

⁹How can a young person^[a] maintain a pure life?^[b]
By guarding it according to your instructions.^[c]
¹⁰With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands.
¹¹In my heart I store up^[d] your words,^[e]
so I might not sin against you.
¹²You deserve praise,^[f] O Lord.
Teach me your statutes.
¹³With my lips I proclaim
all the regulations you have revealed.^[g]
¹⁴I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules^[h]
as if^[i] they were riches of all kinds.^[j]
¹⁵I will meditate on^[k] your precepts
and focus on^[l] your behavior.^[m]
¹⁶I find delight^[n] in your statutes;
I do not forget your instructions.^[o]

Isaiah 44:1-8

The Lord Will Renew Israel

44 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
²This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says—
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun,^[a] whom I have chosen.
³For I will pour water on the parched ground^[b]
and cause streams to flow^[c] on the dry land.
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
⁴They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,^[d]
like poplars beside channels of water.
⁵One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use^[e] the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”^[f]

The Absurdity of Idolatry

⁶This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,
their Protector,^[g] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
⁷Who is like me? Let him make his claim!^[h]
Let him announce it and explain it to me—
since I established an ancient people^[i]—
let them announce future events.^[j]
⁸Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid!^[k]
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock;^[l] I know of none.

Footnotes

Isaiah 44:2 sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.
Isaiah 44:3 tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)
Isaiah 44:3 tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
Isaiah 44:4 tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.
Isaiah 44:5 tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”
Isaiah 44:5 tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”
Isaiah 44:6 tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
Isaiah 44:7 tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”
Isaiah 44:7 tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmiʿim meʿolam ʾotiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.
Isaiah 44:7 tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”
Isaiah 44:8 tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form likely needs to be emended to תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.
Isaiah 44:8 tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

Acts 2:14-24

Peter’s Address on the Day of Pentecost

¹⁴But Peter stood up^[a] with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea^[b] and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this^[c] and listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk,^[d] for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.^[e] ¹⁶But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:^[f]

¹⁷‘And in the last days^[g] it will be,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,^[h]
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸Even on my servants,^[i] both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.^[j]
¹⁹And I will perform wonders in the sky^[k] above
and miraculous signs^[l] on the earth below,
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
²⁰The sun will be changed to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious^[m] day of the Lord comes.
²¹And then^[n] everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’^[o]

²²“Men of Israel,^[p] listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds,^[q] wonders, and miraculous signs^[r] that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know— ²³this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed^[s] by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles.^[t] ²⁴But God raised him up,^[u] having released^[v] him from the pains^[w] of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.^[x]

Footnotes

Acts 2:14 tn Grk “standing up.” The participle σταθείς (statheis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
Acts 2:14 tn Or “You Jewish men.” “Judea” is preferred here because it is paired with “Jerusalem,” a location. This suggests locality rather than ethnic background is the primary emphasis in the context. As for “men,” the Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anēr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, where “all” who live in Jerusalem are addressed, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Peter’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.
Acts 2:14 tn Grk “let this be known to you.”
Acts 2:15 tn Grk “These men are not drunk, as you suppose.”
Acts 2:15 tn Grk “only the third hour.”
Acts 2:16 sn Note how in the quotation that follows all genders, ages, and classes are included. The event is like a hope Moses expressed in Num 11:29.
Acts 2:17 sn The phrase in the last days is not quoted from Joel, but represents Peter’s interpretive explanation of the current events as falling “in the last days.”
Acts 2:17 tn Grk “on all flesh.”
Acts 2:18 tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is conspicuous here; hence the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). One good translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
Acts 2:18 sn The words and they will prophesy in Acts 2:18 are not quoted from Joel 2:29 at this point but are repeated from earlier in the quotation (Acts 2:17) for emphasis. Tongues speaking is described as prophecy, just like intelligible tongues are described in 1 Cor 14:26-33.
Acts 2:19 tn Or “in the heaven.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context. Here, in contrast to “the earth below,” a reference to the sky is more likely.
Acts 2:19 tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned; this is made explicit in the translation.
Acts 2:20 tn Or “and wonderful.”
Acts 2:21 tn Grk “And it will be that.”
Acts 2:21 sn A quotation from Joel 2:28-32.
Acts 2:22 tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anēr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Peter’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.
Acts 2:22 tn Or “miraculous deeds.”
Acts 2:22 tn Again, the context indicates the miraculous nature of these signs, and this is specified in the translation.
Acts 2:23 tn Or “you killed.”
Acts 2:23 tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomos) refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.
Acts 2:24 tn Grk “Whom God raised up.”
Acts 2:24 tn Or “having freed.”
Acts 2:24 sn The term translated pains is frequently used to describe pains associated with giving birth (see Rev 12:2). So there is irony here in the mixed metaphor.
Acts 2:24 tn Or “for him to be held by it” (in either case, “it” refers to death’s power).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ב (Bet)

Footnotes

The Lord Will Renew Israel

The Absurdity of Idolatry

Footnotes

Peter’s Address on the Day of Pentecost

Footnotes