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April 12, 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 150

Psalm 150^[a]

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength!^[b]
²Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness!
³Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with the lyre and the harp!
⁴Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
⁵Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with clanging cymbals!
⁶Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Jeremiah 30:1-11

Introduction to the Book of Consolation

30 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah.^[a] ²“The Lord God of Israel says,^[b] ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll.^[c] ³For I, the Lord, affirm^[d] that the time will come when I will reverse the plight^[e] of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors^[f] and they will take possession of it once again.’”^[g]

Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered after a Time of Deep Distress

⁴So here is what the Lord has to say about Israel and Judah.^[h]

⁵Yes,^[i] here is what he says:

“You hear cries of panic and of terror;
there is no peace in sight.^[j]
⁶Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully:^[k]
Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?
Why then do I see all these strong men
grabbing their stomachs in pain like^[l] a woman giving birth?
And why do their faces
turn so deathly pale?
⁷Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is!^[m]
There has never been any like it.
It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,
but some of them will be rescued out of it.^[n]
⁸When the time for them to be rescued comes,”^[o]
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,^[p]
“I will rescue you from foreign subjugation.^[q]
I will deliver you from captivity.^[r]
Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.
⁹But they will be subject to^[s] the Lord their God
and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them.^[t]
¹⁰So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,
you descendants of Jacob, my servants.^[u]
Do not be terrified, people of Israel.
For I will rescue you and your descendants
from a faraway land where you are captives.^[v]
The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.
They will be secure and no one will terrify them.^[w]
¹¹For I, the Lord, affirm^[x] that
I will be with you and will rescue you.
I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.
But I will not completely destroy you.
I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.
I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”^[y]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 30:1 tn Compare the headings at 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1, as well as the translator’s note at those places.
Jeremiah 30:2 tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, saying….” For significance of the title “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel,” see the note at 2:19.
Jeremiah 30:2 tn Heb “Write all the words that I speak to you in a scroll.” The verb “that I speak” is the instantaneous use of the perfect tense (cf. GKC 311-12 §106.i or IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d). The words that the Lord is about to speak follow in chs. 30-31.sn Reference is made here to the so-called “Book of Consolation,” which is the most extended treatment of the theme of hope or deliverance in the book. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet both of judgment (tearing down and destroying) and of deliverance (replanting and rebuilding; see Jer 1:10). Jeremiah lamented that predominantly he had to pronounce judgment, but he has periodically woven in prophecies of hope after judgment in 3:14-18; 16:14-15; 23:3-8; 24:4-7; 29:10-14, 32. The oracles of hope contained in these chapters are undated, but reference is made in them to the restoration of both Israel, which had gone into exile in Assyria in 722 b.c., and Judah, which began to be exiled in 605 and 597 b.c. Jeremiah had already written as early as the reign of Zedekiah about the exiles, who were the good figs and were to experience the “good” of restoration (24:4-7; 29:10-14), and he had spoken of the further exile of those who remained in Judah. So it is possible that these oracles fit in roughly the same time frame as chapters 27-29.
Jeremiah 30:3 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 30:3 tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom, see the note at 29:14.
Jeremiah 30:3 tn Heb “fathers.”
Jeremiah 30:3 sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate—that of exile and dispersion—(cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17), so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David; and will regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.
Jeremiah 30:4 tn Heb “And these are the words/things that the Lord speaks concerning Israel and Judah.”
Jeremiah 30:5 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here as loosely causal or epexegetical of the preceding introduction. For this usage see BDB 473-74, s.v. כִּי 3.c. This nuance borders on that of the intensive use of כִּי. See the discussion in BDB 472, s.v. כִּי note and כִּי 1.e.
Jeremiah 30:5 tn Heb “We have heard the sound of panic and of fear, and there is no peace.” It is generally agreed that the person of the verb presupposes that this is an unintroduced quote of the people.
Jeremiah 30:6 tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”
Jeremiah 30:6 tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.
Jeremiah 30:7 tn Heb “Alas [or Woe] for that day will be great.” For the use of the particle “Alas” to signal a time of terrible trouble, even to sound the death knell for someone, see the translator’s note on 22:13.sn The reference to a terrible time of trouble (Heb “that day”) is a common shorthand reference in the prophets to “the Day of the Lord.” The “Day of the Lord” refers to a time when God intervenes in judgment against the wicked. The time referent can be either near or far, referring to something as near as the Assyrian threat in the time of Ahaz (Isa 7:18, 20, 21, 23) or as distant as the eschatological battle of God against Gog when he attacks Israel (Ezek 38:14, 18). The judgment can be against Israel’s enemies and result in Israel’s deliverance (Jer 50:30-34). At other times, as here, the Day of the Lord involves judgment on Israel itself. Here reference is to the judgment that the northern kingdom, Israel, has already experienced (cf., e.g., Jer 3:8) and that the southern kingdom, Judah, is in the process of experiencing. Jeremiah has lamented over it several times and even described it in hyperbolic and apocalyptic terms in Jer 4:19-31.
Jeremiah 30:7 tn Heb “It is a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”sn Jacob here is figurative for the people descended from him. Moreover the figure moves from Jacob, equal to descendants of Jacob, to only a part of those descendants. Not all of his descendants who have experienced and are now experiencing trouble will be saved. Only a remnant (i.e., the good figs; cf., e.g., Jer 23:3; 31:7) will see the good things that the Lord has in store for them (Jer 24:5-6). The bad figs will suffer destruction through war, starvation, and disease (cf., e.g., Jer 24:8-10, among many other references).
Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “And it shall happen in that day.”sn The time for them to be rescued (Heb “that day”) is the day of deliverance from the trouble alluded to at the end of the preceding verse, not the day of trouble mentioned at the beginning. Israel (even the good figs) will still need to go through the period of trouble (cf. vv. 10-11).
Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of Armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the title for God.
Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “I will break his yoke from upon your neck.” For the explanation of the figure see the study note on 27:2. The shift from third person at the end of v. 7, to second person in v. 8c, d, and back to third person in v. 8e is typical of Hebrew poetry in the book of Psalms and in the prophetic books (cf., GKC 351 §114.p, and compare usage in Deut 32:15 and Isa 5:8, listed there). The present translation, like several other modern ones, has typically leveled them to the same person to avoid confusion for modern readers who are not accustomed to this poetic tradition.sn In the immediate context the reference to the yoke of their servitude to foreign domination (Heb “his yoke”) should be understood of the yoke of servitude to Nebuchadnezzar that has been referred to often in Jer 27-28 (see, e.g., 27:8, 12; 28:2, 4, 11). The end of that servitude has already been mentioned in 25:11-14 and 29:11-14. Like many other passages in the OT, it has been given a later eschatological reinterpretation in the light of subsequent bondages and lack of complete fulfillment, i.e., of restoration to the land and restoration of the Davidic monarchy.
Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “I will tear off their bands.” The “bands” are the leather straps that held the yoke bars in place (cf. 27:2). The metaphor of the “yoke on the neck” is continued. The translation reflects the sense of the metaphor but not the specific referent.
Jeremiah 30:9 tn The verb “be subject to” in this verse and “subjugate” are from the same root word in Hebrew. A deliberate contrast is drawn between the two powers that the Israelites will serve.
Jeremiah 30:9 tn Heb “and to David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”sn The Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them refers to a descendant of David who would rule over a regathered and reunited Israel and Judah. He is called “David” in Hos 3:5, Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25 and is referred to as a shoot or sprig of Jesse in Isa 11:1, 10, and as a “righteous branch” springing from David (the Davidic line). He is called “David” because he is from the Davidic line and because David is the type of the ideal king whom the prophets anticipated. See further the study notes on 23:5 for this ideal king and for his relation to the NT fulfillment in the person of Jesus the Christ.
Jeremiah 30:10 tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.
Jeremiah 30:10 tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”
Jeremiah 30:10 sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.
Jeremiah 30:11 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 30:11 tn The translation “entirely unpunished” is intended to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb.

1 John 3:10-16

¹⁰By this^[a] the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness—the one who does not love his fellow Christian^[b]—is not of God.

God Is Love, So We Must Love One Another

¹¹For^[c] this is the gospel^[d] message^[e] that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another,^[f] ¹²not like Cain^[g] who was of the evil one and brutally^[h] murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.

¹³Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters,^[i] if the world hates you.^[j] ¹⁴We know that^[k] we have crossed over^[l] from death to life^[m] because^[n] we love our fellow Christians.^[o] The one who does not love remains in death.^[p] ¹⁵Everyone who hates his fellow Christian^[q] is a murderer,^[r] and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing^[s] in him. ¹⁶We have come to know love by this:^[t] that Jesus^[u] laid down^[v] his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians.

Footnotes

1 John 3:10 tn Once again there is the problem (by now familiar to the interpreter of 1 John) of determining whether the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) in 3:10 refers (1) to what precedes or (2) to what follows. If it refers to what precedes, it serves to conclude the unit which began with 2:28. The remainder of 3:10 would then form a transition to the following material (another “hinge” passage). On the other hand, if the phrase ἐν τούτῳ refers to what follows, then the entirety of 3:10 is a summary statement at the end of 2:28-3:10 which recapitulates the section’s major theme (conduct is the clue to paternity), and provides at the same time a transition to the theme of loving one’s brother which will dominate the following section (3:11-24). Although R. E. Brown (Epistles of John [AB], 416) prefers to see the phrase as referring to the preceding material, it makes better sense to refer it to the remainder of 3:10 that follows, and see the entirety of 3:10 as both a summary of the theme of the preceding section 2:28-3:10 and a transition to the following section 3:11-24.
1 John 3:10 tn See note on the term “fellow Christian” in 2:9.sn Does not love his fellow Christian. The theme of loving one’s fellow Christian appears in the final clause of 3:10 because it provides the transition to the second major section of 1 John, 3:11-5:12, and specifically to the following section 3:11-24. The theme of love will dominate the second major section of the letter (see 1 John 4:8).
1 John 3:11 tn It could be argued (1) that the ὅτι (hoti) at the beginning of 3:11 is grammatically subordinate to the preceding statement at the end of 3:10. As BDF §456.1 points out, however, “Subordination with ὅτι and διότι is often very loose…and must be translated ‘for.’” Thus (2) ὅτι assumes an inferential sense, standing at the beginning of a new sentence and drawing an inference based upon all that has preceded. This is confirmed by the structural parallel between the present verse and 1:5.
1 John 3:11 tn The word “gospel” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to clarify the meaning. See the notes on the words “gospel” and “message” in 1 John 1:5.
1 John 3:11 tn See the note on the word “message” in 1 John 1:5, where this same phrase occurs.
1 John 3:11 sn For this is the gospel message…that we should love one another. The structure of this verse is parallel to 1:5, indicating the beginning of a second major section of the letter.
1 John 3:12 sn Since the author states that Cain…was of the evil one (ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ, ek tou ponērou), in the immediate context this imagery serves as an illustration of 3:8a: The person who practices sin is of the devil (ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου, ek tou diabolou). This is similar to John 8:44, where Jesus told his opponents “you people are from your father the devil…[who] was a murderer from the beginning.” In both Jewish and early Christian writings Cain is a model for those who deliberately disbelieve; Testament of Benjamin 7:5 looks forward to the punishment of those who “are like Cain in the envy and hatred of brothers.” It is not difficult to see why the author of 1 John used Cain here as a model for the opponents in light of their failure to “love the brothers” (see 1 John 3:17).
1 John 3:12 tn For the Greek verb σφάζω (sphazō) L&N 20.72 states, “to slaughter, either animals or persons; in contexts referring to persons, the implication is of violence and mercilessness—‘to slaughter, to kill.’” As a reflection of this nuance, the translation “brutally murdered” has been used.
1 John 3:13 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). Since the author is addressing his readers directly at this point, “brothers and sisters” (suggesting a degree of familial endearment) has been employed in the translation at this point, while elsewhere the less direct “fellow Christians” has been used (cf. v. 14).
1 John 3:13 sn Cf. John 15:18, where this phrase also occurs.
1 John 3:14 tn The first ὅτι (hoti) clause, following a verb of perception, introduces an indirect discourse clause giving the content of what the readers are assumed to know: that they have passed over from death to life, that is, that they possess eternal life. The author gives a similar reassurance to his readers in 5:13. Alternation between the verbs οἶδα (oida) and γινώσκω (ginōskō) in 1 John is probably a matter of stylistic variation (of which the writer is extremely fond) rather than indicative of a subtle difference in meaning.
1 John 3:14 tn This verb essentially means “to transfer from one place to another, go/pass over,” according to BDAG 638 s.v. μεταβαίνω 1.sn In John 13:1 the same Greek verb translated crossed over here is used to refer to Jesus’ departure from this world as he returns to the Father. Here it is used figuratively to refer to the believer’s transfer from the state of (spiritual) death to the state of (spiritual) life. This use is paralleled in John 5:24, where Jesus states, “the person who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over (same verb) from death to life.”
1 John 3:14 sn Cf. John 5:24, where this phrase also occurs.
1 John 3:14 tn The second ὅτι (hoti) clause in 3:14 is also related to οἴδαμεν (oidamen), but in this case the ὅτι is causal, giving the reason why the readers know that they have passed from death to life: because they love the brothers.
1 John 3:14 tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.sn Because we love our fellow Christians. This echoes Jesus’ words in John 13:35, where he states, “by this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” As in 1 John 2:3 and 5, obedience becomes the basis for assurance. But the relationship between loving one’s fellow Christian (Grk “brother”) and possessing eternal life goes beyond a proof or external test. Our love for our fellow Christians is in fact a form of God’s love for us because as far as the author of 1 John is concerned, all love comes from God (cf. 4:7-11). Therefore he can add the next line of 3:14, “the one who does not love remains in death.” Why? Because such a person does not have God’s love residing in them at all. Rather, this person can be described as a “murderer”—as the following verse goes on to do. Note also that the author’s description here of the person who does not love as remaining in death is another way of describing a person who remains in darkness, which is a description of unbelievers in John 12:46. This provides further confirmation of the spiritual state of the author’s opponents in 2:9-11.
1 John 3:14 sn The one who does not love remains in death. Again, the author has the secessionist opponents in view. Their refusal to show love for the brothers demonstrates that they have not made the transition from (spiritual) death to (spiritual) life, but instead have remained in a state of (spiritual) death.
1 John 3:15 tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.
1 John 3:15 sn Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer. On one level it is easy to see how the author could say this; the person who hates his brother is one and the same with the person who murders his brother. Behind the usage here, however, is John 8:44, the only other occurrence of the Greek word translated murderer (ἀνθρωποκτόνος, anthrōpoktonos) in the NT, where the devil is described as a “murderer from the beginning.” John 8:44 refers to the devil’s role in bringing death to Adam and Eve, but even more to his involvement (not directly mentioned in the Genesis account, but elaborated in the intertestamental literature, especially the writings of Philo) in Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. This was the first incident of murder in human history and also the first outward demonstration of the full implications of sin’s entry into the world. Ultimately, then, the devil is behind murder, just as he was behind Cain’s murder of Abel. When the hater kills, he shows himself to be a child of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:10). Once again, conduct is the clue to paternity.
1 John 3:15 tn The verb μένω (menō) in 3:15 refers to a spiritual reality (eternal life) which in this case does not reside in the person in question. To speak in terms of eternal life not “residing” in such an individual is not to imply that at some time in the past this person did possess eternal life and subsequently lost it, however. The previous verse (3:14) makes it clear that the individual under discussion here has “remained” in death (the realm of spiritual death) and so has never possessed eternal life to begin with, no matter what he may have claimed. Taken together with the use of μένω in 3:14, the use here implies that the opponents have “remained” in death all along, and have not ever been genuine believers. Thus “residing” rather than “remaining” is used as the translation for μένουσαν (menousan) here.
1 John 3:16 tn Here the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) is followed by a ὅτι (hoti) clause which is epexegetical (or explanatory), and thus ἐν τούτῳ refers to what follows.
1 John 3:16 tn Grk “that one.” Context indicates a reference to Jesus. The mention of the sacrificial death in 3:16 (ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν, huper ēmōn tēn psuchēn autou ethēken) points to Jesus as the referent here. (This provides further confirmation that ἐκεῖνος [ekeinos] in 2:6; 3:3, 5, and 7 refers to Jesus.)
1 John 3:16 sn References to the fact that Jesus laid down his life using the verb τίθημι (tithēmi) are unique to the Gospel of John (10:11, 15, 17, 18; 13:37, 38; 15:13) and 1 John (only here). From John’s perspective Jesus’ act in giving up his life sacrificially was a voluntary one; Jesus was always completely in control of the situation surrounding his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (see John 10:18). There is a parallel with 1 John 2:6—there, as here, the life of Jesus (during his earthly ministry) becomes the example for believers to follow. This in turn underscores the importance of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry (especially his sacrificial death on the cross), a point of contention between the author and his opponents in 1 John. See 1 John 4:10 for a further parallel.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 150[a]

Footnotes

Introduction to the Book of Consolation

Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered after a Time of Deep Distress

Footnotes

God Is Love, So We Must Love One Another

Footnotes

Psalm 150^[a]