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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 54

Psalm 54^[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song^[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”^[c]

54 O God, deliver me by your name.^[d]
Vindicate me^[e] by your power.
²O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to what I say.^[f]
³For foreigners^[g] attack me;^[h]
ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.^[i] (Selah)
⁴Look, God is my deliverer.^[j]
The Lord is among those who support me.^[k]
⁵May those who wait to ambush me^[l] be repaid for their evil.^[m]
As a demonstration of your faithfulness,^[n] destroy them.
⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice^[o] to you.
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
⁷Surely^[p] he rescues me from all trouble,^[q]
and I triumph over my enemies.^[r]

Footnotes

Psalm 54:1 sn Psalm 54. The psalmist asks God for protection against his enemies, confidently affirms that God will vindicate him, and promises to give thanks to God for his saving intervention.
Psalm 54:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
Psalm 54:1 tn Heb “Is not David hiding with us?”sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion the Ziphites informed Saul that David was hiding in their territory (see 1 Sam 23:19-20).
Psalm 54:1 tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:17).
Psalm 54:1 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
Psalm 54:2 tn Heb “to the words of my mouth.”
Psalm 54:3 tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). This is a case of confusing ד (dalet) and ר (resh). The term זֵדִים (zedim) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (ʿaritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim) is parallel to עָרִיצִים in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.
Psalm 54:3 tn Heb “rise against me.”
Psalm 54:3 tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”
Psalm 54:4 tn Or “my helper.”
Psalm 54:4 tn Or “sustain my life.”
Psalm 54:5 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
Psalm 54:5 tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.
Psalm 54:5 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
Psalm 54:6 tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve/vow to praise.
Psalm 54:7 tn Or “for,” indicating a more specific reason why he will praise the Lord’s name (cf. v. 6).
Psalm 54:7 tn The perfects in v. 7 are probably rhetorical, indicating the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance and his own vindication as if they were occurring or had already occurred.
Psalm 54:7 tn Heb “and on my enemies my eyes look.”

1 Kings 22:24-40

²⁴Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the Lord’s Spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?” ²⁵Micaiah replied, “Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide.” ²⁶Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city official and Joash the king’s son. ²⁷Say, ‘This is what the king says, “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water^[a] until I safely return.”’”^[b] ²⁸Micaiah said, “If you really do safely return, then the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take note,^[c] all you people.”

²⁹The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and then enter^[d] into the battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and then entered into the battle. ³¹Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers;^[e] fight only the king of Israel.” ³²When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel.” So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. ³⁴Now an archer shot an arrow at random,^[f] and it struck the king of Israel between the plates of his armor. The king^[g] ordered his charioteer, “Turn around and take me from the battle line,^[h] because I’m wounded.” ³⁵While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening; the blood from the wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶As the sun was setting, a cry went through the camp, “Each one should return to his city and to his homeland.” ³⁷So the king died and was taken to Samaria, where they buried him.^[i] ³⁸They washed off the chariot at the pool of Samaria. Then the dogs licked his blood, while the prostitutes bathed, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken.^[j]

³⁹The rest of the events of Ahab’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments and how he built a luxurious palace and various cities, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^[k] ⁴⁰Ahab passed away.^[l] His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.

Romans 11:25-32

²⁵For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters,^[a] so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel^[b] until the full number^[c] of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶And so^[d] all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
²⁷And this is my covenant with them,^[e]
when I take away their sins.”^[f]

²⁸In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now^[g] receive mercy. ³²For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.^[h]

Footnotes

Romans 11:25 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
Romans 11:25 tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”
Romans 11:25 tn Grk “fullness.”
Romans 11:26 tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai houtōs, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).
Romans 11:27 sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.
Romans 11:27 sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.
Romans 11:31 tc Some significant Alexandrian and Western mss (א B D*^,c 1506 bo) read νῦν (nun, “now”) here. A few other mss (33 365 sa) have ὕστερον (husteron, “finally”). mss that lack the word are P⁴⁶ A D¹ F G Ψ 81 1175 1241 1505 1739 1881 M latt. External evidence slightly favors omission with good representatives from the major text-forms, and because of the alliance of Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (with the Byzantine going against its normal tendency to embrace the longer reading). Internally, scribes could have added νῦν here to give balance to the preceding clause (οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν…αὐτοὶ νῦν ἐλεηθῶσιν [|outoi nun ēpeithēsan…autoi nun eleēthōsin; “they have now been disobedient…they may now receive mercy”]). However, it seems much more likely that they would have deleted it because of its seeming inappropriateness in this context. That some witnesses have ὕστερον presupposes the presence of νῦν in their ancestors. A decision is difficult, but νῦν is slightly preferred, since it is the more difficult reading and is adequately represented in the mss.
Romans 11:32 tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 54[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”[c]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 54^[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song^[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”^[c]