◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 119:9-16 (I treasure your promise in my heart); Haggai 2:1-9 20-23 (God promises future blessings); John 12:34-50 (God gives eternal life) (New English Translation)

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March 17, 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]

Haggai 2:1-9

The Glory to Come

2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,^[a] the Lord’s message came through^[b] the prophet Haggai again: ²“Ask the following questions to^[c] Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,^[d] and the remnant of the people: ³‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple?^[e] How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?’ ⁴Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,” decrees the Lord. “Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And take heart all you citizens of the land,”^[f] decrees the Lord, “and begin to work. For I am with you,” decrees the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁵“Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my Spirit^[g] even now testifies to you.”^[h] ⁶Moreover, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said: “In just a little while^[i] I will once again shake the sky^[j] and the earth, the sea and the dry ground. ⁷I will also shake up all the nations, and they^[k] will offer their treasures;^[l] then I will fill this temple with glory.” So the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said. ⁸“The silver and gold will be mine,” decrees the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁹“The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,”^[m] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared. “And in this place I will give peace,” decrees the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.^[n]

Footnotes

Haggai 2:1 tn Heb “In the seventh [month], on the twenty-first day of the month.”sn The seventh month was the month Tishri, according to the modern (Julian) calendar October 17, 520 b.c. The twenty-first day of Tishri marked the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Num 29:32-34). It also coincided with the date 440 years earlier (960 b.c.) when Solomon finished building his temple (1 Kgs 6:38; 8:2).
Haggai 2:1 tc The MT has בְּיַד (b^eyad, “by the hand of” = “through” [so NAB, NIV, NLT] as in 1:1, 3); the Murabba’at Dead Sea text reads אֶל (ʾel, “to”), perhaps because the following command is given to the prophet.
Haggai 2:2 tn Heb “say to”; NAB “Tell this to.”
Haggai 2:2 tn Many English versions have “Joshua (the) son of Jehozadak the high priest,” but this is subject to misunderstanding. See the note on the name “Jehozadak” at the end of v. 1.
Haggai 2:3 tn Heb “this house in its earlier splendor”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “in its former glory.”sn Solomon’s temple was demolished in 586 b.c., 66 years prior to Haggai’s time. There surely would have been some older people who remembered the former splendor of that magnificent structure and who lamented the contrast to the small, unimpressive temple they were building (see Ezra 3:8-13).
Haggai 2:4 tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ʿam haʾarets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.
Haggai 2:5 sn My Spirit. It is theologically anachronistic to understand “Spirit” here in the NT sense as a reference to third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit; nevertheless during this postexilic period the conceptual groundwork was being laid for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit later revealed in the NT.
Haggai 2:5 tc The MT of v. 5 reads “with the word which I cut with you when you went out from Egypt and my Spirit [which] stands in your midst, do not fear.” BHS proposes emending “with the word” to זֹאת הַבְּרִית (zoʾt habb^erit, “this is the covenant”) at the beginning of the verse. The proposed emendation makes excellent sense and is expected with the verb כָּרַת (karat, “cut” or “make” a covenant), but it has no textual support. Most English versions (including the present translation) therefore follow the MT here.
Haggai 2:6 tc The difficult MT reading עוֹד אַחַת מְעַט הִיא (ʿod ʾakhat m^eʿat hiʾ, “yet once, it is little”; cf. NAB “One moment yet, a little while”) appears as “yet once” in the LXX, omitting the last two Hebrew words. However, the point being made is that the anticipated action is imminent; thus the repetition provides emphasis.
Haggai 2:6 tn Or “the heavens.” The same Hebrew word, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “sky” or “heavens” depending on the context. Although many English versions translate the term as “heavens” here, the other three elements present in this context (earth, sea, dry ground) suggest “sky” is in view.
Haggai 2:7 tn Heb “all the nations.”
Haggai 2:7 tn Though the subject here is singular (חֶמְדַּה, khemdah; “desire”), the preceding plural predicate mandates a collective subject, “desired (things)” or, better, an emendation to a plural form, חֲמֻדֹת (khamudot, “desirable [things],” hence “treasures”). Cf. ASV “the precious things”; NASB “the wealth”; NRSV “the treasure.” In the OT context this has no direct reference to the coming of the Messiah.
Haggai 2:9 tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”
Haggai 2:9 tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (y^erushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).

Haggai 2:20-23

Zerubbabel the Chosen One

²⁰Then the Lord spoke to Haggai^[a] a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:^[b] ²¹“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah: ‘I am ready^[c] to shake the sky^[d] and the earth. ²²I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms.^[e] I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another.^[f] ²³On that day,’^[g] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’^[h] says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring,^[i] for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”^[j]

John 12:34-50

³⁴Then the crowd responded,^[a] “We have heard from the law that the Christ^[b] will remain forever.^[c] How^[d] can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵Jesus replied,^[e] “The light is with you for a little while longer.^[f] Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.^[g] The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”^[h] When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them.

The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold

³⁷Although Jesus^[i] had performed^[j] so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, ³⁸so that the word^[k] of the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled. He said,^[l] “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord^[m] been revealed?”^[n] ³⁹For this reason they could not believe,^[o] because again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,^[p]
so that they would not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart,^[q]
and turn to me,^[r] and I would heal them.”^[s]

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ’s^[t] glory, and spoke about him.

⁴²Nevertheless, even among the rulers^[u] many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees^[v] they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ,^[w] so that they would not be put out of^[x] the synagogue.^[y] ⁴³For they loved praise^[z] from men more than praise^[aa] from God.

Jesus’ Final Public Words

⁴⁴But Jesus shouted out,^[ab] “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me,^[ac] ⁴⁵and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.^[ad] ⁴⁶I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷If anyone^[ae] hears my words and does not obey them,^[af] I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.^[ag] ⁴⁸The one who rejects me and does not accept^[ah] my words has a judge;^[ai] the word^[aj] I have spoken will judge him at the last day. ⁴⁹For I have not spoken from my own authority,^[ak] but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me^[al] what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰And I know that his commandment is eternal life.^[am] Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”^[an]

Footnotes

John 12:34 tn Grk “Then the crowd answered him.”
John 12:34 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
John 12:34 tn Probably an allusion to Ps 89:35-37. It is difficult to pinpoint the passage in the Mosaic law to which the crowd refers. The ones most often suggested are Pss 89:36-37; 110:4, Isa 9:7, Ezek 37:25, and Dan 7:14. None of these passages are in the Pentateuch per se, but “law” could in common usage refer to the entire OT (compare Jesus’ use in John 10:34). Of the passages mentioned, Ps 89:36-37 is the most likely candidate. This verse speaks of David’s “seed” remaining forever. Later in the same psalm, v. 51 speaks of the “anointed” (Messiah), and the psalm was interpreted messianically in both the NT (Acts 13:22, Rev 1:5; 3:14) and in the rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 97).
John 12:34 tn Grk “And how”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.
John 12:35 tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”
John 12:35 tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”
John 12:35 sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.
John 12:36 tn The idiom “sons of light” means essentially “people characterized by light,” that is, “people of God.”sn The expression sons of light refers to men and women to whom the truth of God has been revealed and who are therefore living according to that truth, thus, “people of God.”
John 12:37 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 12:37 tn Or “done.”
John 12:38 tn Or “message.”
John 12:38 tn Grk “who said.”
John 12:38 tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (ho brachiōn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).
John 12:38 sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
John 12:39 sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.
John 12:40 tn Or “closed their mind.”
John 12:40 tn Or “their mind.”
John 12:40 tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (straphōsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
John 12:40 sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.
John 12:41 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent supplied here is “Christ” rather than “Jesus” because it involves what Isaiah saw. It is clear that the author presents Isaiah as having seen the preincarnate glory of Christ, which was the very revelation of the Father (see John 1:18; John 14:9).sn Because he saw Christ’s glory. The glory which Isaiah saw in Isa 6:3 was the glory of Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT). Here John speaks of the prophet seeing the glory of Christ since in the next clause and spoke about him, “him” can hardly refer to Yahweh, but must refer to Christ. On the basis of statements like 1:14 in the prologue, the author probably put no great distinction between the two. Since the author presents Jesus as fully God (cf. John 1:1), it presents no problem to him to take words originally spoken by Isaiah of Yahweh himself and apply them to Jesus.
John 12:42 sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.
John 12:42 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
John 12:42 tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (hōmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
John 12:42 tn Or “be expelled from.”
John 12:42 sn Cf. John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.
John 12:43 tn Grk “the glory.”
John 12:43 tn Grk “the glory.”
John 12:44 tn Grk “shouted out and said.”
John 12:44 sn The one who sent me refers to God the Father.
John 12:45 sn Cf. John 1:18 and 14:9.
John 12:47 tn Grk “And if anyone”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.
John 12:47 tn Or “guard them,” “keep them.”
John 12:47 sn Cf. John 3:17.
John 12:48 tn Or “does not receive.”
John 12:48 tn Grk “has one who judges him.”
John 12:48 tn Or “message.”
John 12:49 tn Grk “I have not spoken from myself.”
John 12:49 tn Grk “has given me commandment.”
John 12:50 tn Or “his commandment results in eternal life.”
John 12:50 tn Grk “The things I speak, just as the Father has spoken to me, thus I speak.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ב (Bet)

Footnotes

The Glory to Come

Footnotes

Zerubbabel the Chosen One

Footnotes

The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold

Jesus’ Final Public Words

Footnotes