◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 26 (Prayer for acceptance); Obadiah 1-9 (Those who ate your bread set a trap); Revelation 7:9-17 (The nations stand before God’s throne) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

October 11, 2027

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

October 2027
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Return to today's reading

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 26

Psalm 26^[a]

By David.

26 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have integrity,^[b]
and I trust in the Lord without wavering.
²Examine me, O Lord, and test me.
Evaluate my inner thoughts and motives.^[c]
³For I am ever aware of your faithfulness,^[d]
and your loyalty continually motivates me.^[e]
⁴I do not associate^[f] with deceitful men,
or consort^[g] with those who are dishonest.^[h]
⁵I hate the mob^[i] of evil men,
and do not associate^[j] with the wicked.
⁶I maintain a pure lifestyle,^[k]
so I can appear before your altar,^[l] O Lord,
⁷to give you thanks,^[m]
and to tell about all your amazing deeds.^[n]
⁸O Lord, I love the temple where you live,^[o]
the place where your splendor is revealed.^[p]
⁹Do not sweep me away^[q] with sinners,
or execute me along with violent people,^[r]
¹⁰who are always ready to do wrong^[s]
or offer a bribe.^[t]
¹¹But I have integrity.^[u]
Rescue me^[v] and have mercy on me!
¹²I am safe,^[w]
and among the worshipers I will praise the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 26:1 sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.
Psalm 26:1 tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”
Psalm 26:2 tn Heb “evaluate my kidneys and my heart.” The kidneys and heart were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
Psalm 26:3 tn Heb “for your faithfulness [is] before my eyes.”
Psalm 26:3 tn Heb “and I walk about in your loyalty.”sn The psalmist’s awareness of the Lord’s faithfulness and…loyalty toward him motivates him to remain loyal to the Lord and to maintain his moral purity.
Psalm 26:4 tn Heb “sit.”
Psalm 26:4 tn Heb “go.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.
Psalm 26:4 tn Heb “[those who] conceal themselves.”
Psalm 26:5 tn Heb “assembly, company.”
Psalm 26:5 tn Heb “sit.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.
Psalm 26:6 tn Heb “I wash my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The imperfect verbal emphasizes that this is his habit.
Psalm 26:6 tn Heb “so I can go around your altar” (probably in ritual procession). Following the imperfect of the preceding line, the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
Psalm 26:7 tn Heb “to cause to be heard the sound of thanksgiving.”
Psalm 26:7 tn The two infinitival forms (both with prefixed preposition ל, lamed) give the purpose for his appearance at the altar.
Psalm 26:8 tn Heb “the dwelling of your house.”
Psalm 26:8 tn Heb “the place of the abode of your splendor.”
Psalm 26:9 tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”
Psalm 26:9 tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
Psalm 26:10 tn Heb “who [have] in their hands evil.”
Psalm 26:10 tn Heb “and their right hand is full of a bribe.”
Psalm 26:11 tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.
Psalm 26:11 tn Or “redeem me.”
Psalm 26:12 tn Heb “my foot stands in a level place.”

Obadiah 1-9

God’s Judgment on Edom

¹The vision^[a] that Obadiah^[b] saw.^[c]
The Sovereign Lord^[d] says this concerning^[e] Edom:^[f]

Edom’s Approaching Destruction

We have heard a report from the Lord.
An envoy was sent among the nations, saying,^[g]
“Arise! Let us make war against Edom!”^[h]
²The Lord says,^[i] “Look! I will^[j] make you a weak nation;^[k]
you will be greatly despised!
³Your presumptuous heart^[l] has deceived you—
you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs,^[m]
whose home is high in the mountains.^[n]
You think to yourself,^[o]
‘No one can^[p] bring me down to the ground!’^[q]
⁴Even if you were to soar high like an eagle,^[r]
even if you^[s] were to make your nest among the stars,
I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.
⁵“If thieves came to rob you^[t] during the night,^[u]

they would steal only as much as they wanted.^[v]
If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards,^[w]
they would leave some behind for the poor.^[x]
But you will be totally destroyed!^[y]
⁶How the people of Esau^[z] will be thoroughly plundered!^[aa]
Their^[ab] hidden valuables will be ransacked!^[ac]
⁷All your allies^[ad] will force^[ae] you from your homeland!^[af]
Your treaty partners^[ag] will deceive you and overpower you.
Your trusted friends^[ah] will set an ambush^[ai] for^[aj] you
that will take you by surprise!^[ak]
⁸At that time,”^[al] the Lord says,

“I will destroy the wise sages of Edom,^[am]
the advisers^[an] from Esau’s mountain.
⁹Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman,^[ao]
so that^[ap] everyone^[aq] will be destroyed^[ar] from Esau’s mountain!

Footnotes

Obadiah 1:1 sn The date of the book of Obadiah is very difficult to determine. Since there is no direct indication of chronological setting clearly suggested by the book itself, and since the historical identity of the author is uncertain as well, a possible date for the book can be arrived at only on the basis of internal evidence. When did the hostile actions of Edom against Judah that are described in this book take place? Many nineteenth-century scholars linked the events of the book to a historical note found in 2 Kgs 8:20 (cf. 2 Chr 21:16-17): “In [Jehoram’s] days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah and established a king over themselves.” If this is the backdrop against which Obadiah should be read, it would suggest a ninth-century b.c. date for the book, since Jehoram reigned ca. 852-841 b.c. But the evidence presented for this view is not entirely convincing, and most contemporary Old Testament scholars reject a ninth-century scenario. A more popular view, held by many biblical scholars from Luther to the present, understands the historical situation presupposed in the book to be the Babylonian invasion of Judah in the sixth century (cf. Ps 137:7; Lam 4:18-22; Ezek 25:12-14; 35:1-15). Understood in this way, Obadiah would be describing a situation in which the Edomites assisted in the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem. Although it must be admitted that a sixth-century setting for the book of Obadiah cannot be proven, the details of the book fit reasonably well into such a context. Other views on the dating of the book, such as an eighth-century date in the time of Ahaz (ca. 732-716 b.c.) or a fifth-century date in the postexilic period, are less convincing. Parallels between the book of Obadiah and Jer 49:1-22 clearly suggest some kind of literary dependence, but it is not entirely clear whether Jeremiah drew on Obadiah or whether Obadiah drew upon Jeremiah, In any case, the close relationship between Obadiah and Jer 49 might suggest the sixth-century setting.
Obadiah 1:1 sn The name Obadiah in Hebrew means “servant of the Lord.” A dozen or so individuals in the OT have this name, none of whom may be safely identified with the author of this book. In reality we know very little about this prophet with regard to his exact identity or historical circumstances.
Obadiah 1:1 tn Heb “the vision of Obadiah” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. TEV “This is the prophecy of Obadiah.”
Obadiah 1:1 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The phrase אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה (ʾadonay y^ehvih) is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (cf. NIV, TEV, NLT “Sovereign Lord”).
Obadiah 1:1 tn The Hebrew preposition לְ (l^e) is better translated here as “concerning” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “about” (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV) Edom than as “to” Edom, although much of the book does speak directly to Edom.
Obadiah 1:1 sn The name Edom derives from a Hebrew root that means “red.” Edom was located to the south of the Dead Sea in an area with numerous rocky crags that provided ideal military advantages for protection. Much of the sandstone of this area has a reddish color. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Gen 25:19-26).
Obadiah 1:1 tn Although the word “saying” is not in the Hebrew text, it has been supplied in the translation because what follows seems to be the content of the envoy’s message (cf. ASV, NASB, NCV “saying,” and NIV, NLT “to say.”
Obadiah 1:1 tn Heb “Arise, and let us arise against her in battle!” The term “Edom” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to specify the otherwise ambiguous referent of the term “her.”
Obadiah 1:2 tn The introductory phrase “the Lord says” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the identity of the speaker.
Obadiah 1:2 tn The Hebrew perfect verb form used here usually describes past events. However, here and several times in the following verses it is best understood as portraying certain fulfillment of events that at the time of writing were still future. It is the perfect of certitude. See GKC 312-13 §106.n; Joüon 2:363 §112.h.
Obadiah 1:2 sn Heb “I will make you small among the nations” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); cf. NRSV “least among the nations,” NCV “the smallest of nations.”
Obadiah 1:3 tn Heb “the presumption of your heart”; cf. NAB, NIV “the pride of your heart,” NASB “arrogance of your heart.”
Obadiah 1:3 tn Heb “in the concealed places of the rock”; cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “in the clefts of the rock”; NCV “the hollow places of the cliff”; CEV “a mountain fortress.” sn The word rock in Hebrew (סֶלַע, selaʿ) is a wordplay on Sela, the name of a prominent Edomite city. Its impregnability was a cause for arrogance on the part of its ancient inhabitants.
Obadiah 1:3 tn Heb “on high (is) his dwelling”; cf. NASB “in the loftiness of your dwelling place,” NRSV “whose dwelling (NAB “abode”) is in the heights.”
Obadiah 1:3 tn Heb “the one who says in his heart.”
Obadiah 1:3 tn The Hebrew imperfect verb used here is best understood in a modal sense (“Who can bring me down?”) rather than in the sense of a simple future (“Who will bring me down?”). So also in v. 4 (“I can bring you down”). The question is not so much whether this will happen at some time in the future, but whether it even lies in the realm of possible events. In their hubris the Edomites were boasting that no one had the capability of breaching their impregnable defenses. However, their pride caused them to fail to consider the vast capabilities of Yahweh as warrior.
Obadiah 1:3 tn Heb “Who can bring me down?” This rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “No one!”
Obadiah 1:4 sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.
Obadiah 1:4 tc The present translation follows the reading תָּשִׂים (tasim; active) rather than שִׁים (sim; passive) of the MT (cf. NAB “and your nest be set among the stars”). Cf. LXX, Syriac, and Vg.
Obadiah 1:5 sn Obadiah uses two illustrations to show the totality of Edom’s approaching destruction. Both robbers and harvesters would have left at least something behind. Such will not be the case, however, with the calamity that is about to befall Edom. A virtually identical saying appears in Jer 49:9-10.
Obadiah 1:5 tn Heb “If thieves came to you, or if plunderers of the night” (NRSV similar). The repetition here adds rhetorical emphasis.
Obadiah 1:5 tn Heb “Would they not have stolen only their sufficiency?” The rhetorical question is used to make an emphatic assertion, which is perhaps best represented by the indicative form in the translation.
Obadiah 1:5 tn Heb “If grape pickers came to you.” The phrase “to harvest your vineyards” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation to clarify the point of the entire simile that is assumed.
Obadiah 1:5 tn Heb “Would they not have left some gleanings?” The rhetorical question makes an emphatic assertion, which for the sake of clarity is represented by the indicative form in the translation. The implied answer to these rhetorical questions is “yes.” The fact that something would have remained after the imagined acts of theft or harvest stands in stark contrast to the totality of Edom’s destruction as predicted by Obadiah. Edom will be so decimated as a result of God’s judgment that nothing at all will be leftsn According to the Mosaic law, harvesters were required to leave some grain behind in the fields for the poor (Lev 19:9; 23:22; see also Ruth 2); there was a similar practice with grapes and olives (Lev 19:10; Deut 24:21). Regarding gleanings left behind from grapes, see Judg 8:2; Jer 6:9; 49:9; Mic 7:1.
Obadiah 1:5 tn Heb “O how you will be cut off.” This emotional interjection functions rhetorically as the prophet’s announcement of judgment on Edom. In Hebrew this statement actually appears between the first and second metaphors, that is, in the middle of this verse. As the point of the comparison, one would expect it to follow both of the two metaphors; however, Obadiah interrupts his own sentence to interject his emphatic exclamation that cannot wait until the end of the sentence. This emphatic sentence structure is eloquent in Hebrew but awkward in English. Since this emphatic assertion is the point of his comparison, it appears at the end of the sentence in this translation, where one normally expects to find the concluding point of a metaphorical comparison.
Obadiah 1:6 tn Heb “Esau.” The name Esau here is a synecdoche of part for whole referring to the Edomites. Cf. “Jacob” in v. 10, where the meaning is “Israelites.”
Obadiah 1:6 tn Heb “How Esau will be searched!”; cf. NAB “How they search Esau.” The Hebrew verb חָפַשׂ (khafas, “to search out”) is used metonymically here for plundering the hidden valuables of a conquered people (e.g., 1 Kgs 20:6).
Obadiah 1:6 tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); this is singular agreeing with “Esau” in the previous line.
Obadiah 1:6 tn Heb “searched out” (so NASB, NRSV); cf. NIV “pillaged,” TEV “looted,” NLT “found and taken.” This pictures the violent action of conquering warriors ransacking the city in order to loot and plunder its valuables.
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “All the men of your covenant”; cf. KJV, ASV “the men of thy confederacy.” In Hebrew “they will send you unto the border” and “all the men of your covenant” appear in two separate poetic lines (cf. NAB “To the border they drive you—all your allies”). Since the second is a noun clause functioning as the subject of the first clause, the two are rendered as a single sentence in the translation.
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “send”; cf. NASB “send you forth,” NAB “drive,” NIV “force.”
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “to the border” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “the men of your peace.” This expression refers to a political/military alliance or covenant of friendship.
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “your bread,” which makes little sense in the context. The Hebrew word can be revocalized to read, “those who eat bread with you,” i.e., “your friends” (cf. KJV “they that eat thy bread,” NIV “those who eat your bread,” TEV “Those friends who ate with you”).
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “set a trap” (so NIV, NRSV). The meaning of the Hebrew word מָזוֹר (mazor; here translated “ambush”) is uncertain; it occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. The word probably refers to something “spread out” for purposes of entrapment, such as a net. Other possibilities include “trap,” “fetter,” or “stumbling block.”
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “beneath” (so NAB).
Obadiah 1:7 tn Heb “there is no understanding in him.”
Obadiah 1:8 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NIV); cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on that day.”
Obadiah 1:8 tn Heb “Will I not destroy those who are wise from Edom?” The rhetorical question functions as an emphatic affirmation. For the sake of clarity this has been represented by the emphatic indicative in the translation.
Obadiah 1:8 tn Heb “understanding”; cf. NIV “men of understanding.” This undoubtedly refers to members of the royal court who offered political and military advice to the Edomite kings. In the ancient Near East, such men of wisdom were often associated with divination and occultic practices (cf. Isa 3:3; 47:10, 13). The Edomites were also renowned in the ancient Near East as a center of traditional sagacity and wisdom; perhaps that is referred to here (cf. Jer 49:7).
Obadiah 1:9 sn Teman, like Sela, was a prominent city of Edom. The name Teman is derived from the name of a grandson of Esau (cf. Gen 36:11). Here it is a synecdoche of part for whole, standing for all of Edom.
Obadiah 1:9 tn The Hebrew word used here (לְמַעַן, l^emaʿan) usually expresses purpose. The sense in this context, however, is more likely that of result.
Obadiah 1:9 tn Heb “a man,” meaning “every single person” here; cf. KJV “every one.”
Obadiah 1:9 tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); cf. NIV, NLT “cut down,” CEV “wiped out.”

Revelation 7:9-17

⁹After these things I looked, and here was^[a] an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe,^[b] people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They were shouting out in a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God,^[c] who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

¹¹And all the angels stood^[d] there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground^[e] before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying,

“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

¹³Then^[f] one of the elders asked^[g] me, “These dressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?” ¹⁴So^[h] I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.”^[i] Then^[j] he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They^[k] have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! ¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve^[l] him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them.^[m] ¹⁶They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,^[n] ¹⁷because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”^[o]

Footnotes

Revelation 7:9 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
Revelation 7:9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Revelation 7:10 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
Revelation 7:11 tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.
Revelation 7:11 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
Revelation 7:13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
Revelation 7:13 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
Revelation 7:14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
Revelation 7:14 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
Revelation 7:14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
Revelation 7:14 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 7:15 tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuō).
Revelation 7:15 tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).
Revelation 7:16 tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.
Revelation 7:17 sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 26[a]

By David.

Footnotes

God’s Judgment on Edom

Edom’s Approaching Destruction

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 26^[a]