◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 45:6-17 (A marriage song); Hosea 3:1-5 (God loves faithless Israel); 2 Corinthians 1:23—2:11 (About forgiveness) (New English Translation)

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May 29, 1967

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 45:6-17

⁶Your throne,^[a] O God, is permanent.^[b]
The scepter^[c] of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
⁷You love^[d] justice and hate evil.^[e]
For this reason God, your God,^[f] has anointed you^[g]
with the oil of joy,^[h] elevating you above your companions.^[i]
⁸All your garments are perfumed with^[j] myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From the luxurious palaces^[k] comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy.^[l]
⁹Princesses^[m] are among your honored women.^[n]
Your bride^[o] stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir.^[p]
¹⁰Listen, O princess.^[q]
Observe and pay attention!^[r]
Forget your homeland^[s] and your family.^[t]
¹¹Then^[u] the king will be attracted by^[v] your beauty.
After all, he is your master. Submit^[w] to him.^[x]
¹²Rich people from Tyre
will seek your favor by bringing a gift.^[y]
¹³The princess^[z] looks absolutely magnificent,^[aa]
decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold.^[ab]
¹⁴In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.
Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,
are led before you.^[ac]
¹⁵They are bubbling with joy as they walk in procession
and enter the royal palace.^[ad]
¹⁶Your^[ae] sons will carry on^[af] the dynasty of your ancestors;^[ag]
you will make them princes throughout the land.
¹⁷I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years,^[ah]
then the nations will praise you^[ai] forever.

Footnotes

Psalm 45:6 sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.
Psalm 45:6 tn Or “forever and ever.”sn O God. The king is clearly the addressee here, as in vv. 2-5 and 7-9. Rather than taking the statement at face value, many prefer to emend the text because the concept of deifying the earthly king is foreign to ancient Israelite thinking (cf. NEB “your throne is like God’s throne, eternal”). However, it is preferable to retain the text and take this statement as another instance of the royal hyperbole that permeates the royal psalms. Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him. A similar use of hyperbole appears in Isa 9:6, where the ideal Davidic king of the eschaton is given the title “Mighty God” (see the note on this phrase there). Ancient Near Eastern art and literature picture gods training kings for battle, bestowing special weapons, and intervening in battle. According to Egyptian propaganda, the Hittites described Rameses II as follows: “No man is he who is among us, It is Seth great-of-strength, Baal in person; Not deeds of man are these his doings, They are of one who is unique” (see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:67). Ps 45:6 and Isa 9:6 probably envision a similar kind of response when friends and foes alike look at the Davidic king in full battle regalia. When the king’s enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.
Psalm 45:6 sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.
Psalm 45:7 sn To love justice means to actively promote it.
Psalm 45:7 sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.
Psalm 45:7 tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”
Psalm 45:7 sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.
Psalm 45:7 sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.
Psalm 45:7 tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.
Psalm 45:8 tn The words “perfumed with” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Psalm 45:8 tn Heb “the palaces of ivory.” The phrase “palaces of ivory” refers to palaces that had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. Such decoration with ivory was characteristic of a high level of luxury. See 1 Kgs 22:39 and Amos 3:15.
Psalm 45:8 tn Heb “from the palaces of ivory stringed instrument[s] make you happy.”
Psalm 45:9 tn Heb “daughters of kings.”
Psalm 45:9 tn Heb “valuable ones.” The form is feminine plural.
Psalm 45:9 tn This rare Hebrew noun apparently refers to the king’s bride, who will soon be queen (see Neh 2:6). The Aramaic cognate is used of royal wives in Dan 5:2-3, 23.
Psalm 45:9 tn Heb “a consort stands at your right hand, gold of Ophir.”sn Gold from Ophir is also mentioned in Isa 13:12 and Job 28:16. The precise location of Ophir is uncertain; Arabia, India, East Africa, and South Africa have all been suggested as options.
Psalm 45:10 tn Heb “daughter.” The Hebrew noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) can sometimes refer to a young woman in a general sense (see H. Haag, TDOT 2:334).sn Listen, O princess. The poet now addresses the bride.
Psalm 45:10 tn Heb “see and turn your ear.” The verb רָאָה (raʾah, “see”) is used here of mental observation.
Psalm 45:10 tn Heb “your people.” This reference to the “people” of the princess suggests she was a foreigner. Perhaps the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state. The translation “your homeland” reflects such a situation.
Psalm 45:10 tn Heb “and the house of your father.”
Psalm 45:11 tn After the preceding imperatives, the jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is best understood as introducing a purpose (“so that the king might desire your beauty”) or result clause (see the present translation and cf. also NASB). The point seems to be this: The bride might tend to be homesick, which in turn might cause her to mourn and diminish her attractiveness. She needs to overcome this temptation to unhappiness and enter into the marriage with joy. Then the king will be drawn to her natural beauty.
Psalm 45:11 tn Or “desire.”
Psalm 45:11 tn Or “bow down.”
Psalm 45:11 sn Submit to him. The poet here makes the point that the young bride is obligated to bring pleasure to her new husband. Though a foreign concept to modern western culture, this was accepted as the cultural norm in the psalmist’s day.
Psalm 45:12 tn Heb “and a daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face they will appease, the rich of people.” The phrase “daughter of Tyre” occurs only here in the OT. It could be understood as addressed to the bride, indicating she was a Phoenician (cf. NEB). However, often in the OT the word “daughter,” when collocated with the name of a city or country, is used to personify the referent (see, for example, “Daughter Zion” in Ps 9:14, and “Daughter Babylon” in Ps 137:8). If that is the case here, then “Daughter Tyre” identifies the city-state of Tyre as the place from which the rich people come (cf. NRSV). The idiom “appease the face” refers to seeking one’s favor (see Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9).
Psalm 45:13 tn Heb “[the] daughter of a king.”
Psalm 45:13 tn Heb “[is] completely glorious.”
Psalm 45:13 tc Heb “within, from settings of gold, her clothing.” The Hebrew term פְּנִימָה (p^enimah, “within”), if retained, would go with the preceding line and perhaps refer to the bride being “within” the palace or her bridal chamber (cf. NIV, NRSV). Since the next two lines refer to her attire (see also v. 9b), it is preferable to emend the form to פְּנִינִיהָּ (p^eniniha, “her pearls”) or to פְּנִינִים (p^eninim, “pearls”). The mem (מ) prefixed to “settings” is probably dittographic.
Psalm 45:14 tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.
Psalm 45:15 tn Heb “they are led with joy and happiness, they enter the house of the king.”
Psalm 45:16 tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.
Psalm 45:16 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”
Psalm 45:16 tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”
Psalm 45:17 tn Heb “I will cause your name to be remembered in every generation and generation.” The cohortative verbal form expresses the poet’s resolve. The king’s “name” stands here for his reputation and character, which the poet praised in vv. 2-7.
Psalm 45:17 sn The nations will praise you. As God’s vice-regent on earth, the king is deserving of such honor and praise.

Hosea 3

An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel

3 The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to^[a] your wife^[b] again, even though she loves^[c] another man^[d] and continually commits adultery.^[e] Likewise, the Lord loves^[f] the Israelites^[g] although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”^[h] ²So I paid fifteen shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley^[i] to purchase her. ³Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or become joined to another man,^[j] and I also will wait for you.”^[k] ⁴For the Israelites^[l] must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols. ⁵Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king.^[m] Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings^[n] in future days.^[o]

Footnotes

Hosea 3:1 tn Heb “Go again! Love!” Cf. NAB “Give your love to.”
Hosea 3:1 tn Heb “a woman.” The probable referent is Gomer. Some English translations (e.g., NIV, NLT) specify the referent as “your wife.”
Hosea 3:1 tc The MT vocalizes אֲהֻבַת (ʾahuvat) as a construct form of the Qal passive participle and takes רֵעַ (reaʿ) as a genitive of agent: “who is loved by רֵעַ.” However, the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all vocalize אֲהֻבַת as an absolute form of the Qal active participle, and take רֵעַ as the accusative direct object: “who loves רֵעַ.” The English translations consistently follow the MT. The editors of BHS suggest the revocalization but with some reservation. For discussion of the vocalization, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:230.tn Heb “a woman who is loved by a companion” (אִשָּׁה אֲהֻבַת רֵעַ, ʾishah ʾahuvat reaʿ). The substantival participle אֲהֻבַת (“one who is loved”) is in apposition to אִשָּׁה (“a woman”). The genitive noun רֵעַ (“companion”) functions as the agent of the preceding construct noun: “who is loved by a companion” (אֲהֻבַת רֵעַ). Cf. NAB “a woman beloved of a paramour,” and NRSV “a woman who has a lover.”
Hosea 3:1 tn The meaning of the noun רֵעַ (reaʿ) is debated because it has a broad range of meanings: (1) “friend,” (2) “lover,” (3) “companion,” (4) “neighbor,” and (5) “another” (HALOT 1253-55 s.v. II רֵעַ; BDB 945-46 s.v. II רֵעַ). The Hebrew lexicons favor the nuance “lover; paramour” here (HALOT 1255 s.v. 2; BDB 946 s.v. 1). Most scholars adopt the same approach; however, a few suggest that רֵעַ does not refer to another man, but to her husband (Hosea). Both approaches are reflected in English translations. NASB has “a woman who is loved by her husband”; NIV, “though she is loved by another”; NAB, “a woman beloved of a paramour”; KJV, “a woman beloved of her friend”; NJPS, “a woman who, while befriended by a companion”; TEV, “a woman who is committing adultery with a lover”; and CEV, “an unfaithful woman who has a lover.”
Hosea 3:1 tn Heb “love a woman who is loved of a lover and is an adulteress.”
Hosea 3:1 tn Heb “like the love of the Lord.” The genitive after the construct functions as a subjective genitive.
Hosea 3:1 tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); cf. KJV “children of Israel,” and NAB “people of Israel.”
Hosea 3:1 tn Heb “they are lovers of cakes of raisins.” A number of English translations render this literally (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
Hosea 3:2 tc The LXX reads, “a homer of barley and a measure of wine,” a reading followed by some English translations (e.g., NRSV, NLT).tn Heb “a homer of barley and a lethech of barley.” A homer was about 5 bushels (180 liters) and a lethech about 2.5 bushels (90 liters).
Hosea 3:3 tn Heb “and you will not be for” or “you will not come to belong to”; cf. NIV “be intimate with.” This is an uncommon and roundabout way of referring to sexual relations and perhaps refers to moving in with another man. “Another” is supplied from context, since she is clearly to live with Hosea. If it means she should not be intimate with any man, including Hosea, that could also picture the many days without a king mentioned in the next verse.
Hosea 3:3 tn Heb “and also I toward you.”
Hosea 3:4 tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); cf. KJV “children of Israel,” and NAB “people of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).
Hosea 3:5 tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.” sn It is not clear whether Hosea was predicting a restoration of Davidic kingship over Israel and Judah (e.g. Jer 17:25; 22:2) or referring to the ultimate Davidic king, namely, the Messiah, who will fulfill the conditions of the Davidic covenant and inaugurate/fulfill the blessings of the Davidic covenant for Israel. The Messiah is frequently pictured as the “new David” because he will fulfill the ideals of the Davidic covenant and be everything that David and his descendants were commissioned to be (e.g., Isa 9:7 [6]; 16:5; Jer 23:5-6; 30:9; 33:15-16; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25).
Hosea 3:5 tn Heb “his goodness”; cf. NLT “his good gifts.”
Hosea 3:5 tn NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, and NLT have “in the last days.” But see the note at Gen 49:1.

2 Corinthians 1:23-2:11

Why Paul Postponed His Visit

²³Now I appeal to God as my witness,^[a] that to spare^[b] you I did not come again to Corinth.^[c] ²⁴I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm.^[d] 2 ¹So^[e] I made up my own mind^[f] not to pay you another painful visit.^[g] ²For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad^[h] but the one I caused to be sad? ³And I wrote this very thing to you,^[i] so that when I came^[j] I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. ⁴For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you.^[k] ⁵But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate)^[l] he has saddened all of you as well. ⁶This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, ⁷so that now instead^[m] you should rather forgive and comfort him.^[n] This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.^[o] ⁸Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.^[p] ⁹For this reason also I wrote you:^[q] to test you to see^[r] if you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him—for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, ¹¹so that we may not be exploited^[s] by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 1:23 tn Grk “I call upon God as witness against my soul.” Normally this implies an appeal for help (L&N 33.176).
2 Corinthians 1:23 tn Here φειδόμενος (pheidomenos) has been translated as a telic participle.
2 Corinthians 1:23 sn Paul had promised to come again to visit (see 2 Cor 1:15, 24) but explains here why he had changed his plans.
2 Corinthians 1:24 tn Or “because you stand firm in the faith.”
2 Corinthians 2:1 tc Although usually δέ (de, “now”; found in א A C D¹ F G Ψ 0285 M lat) should take precedent over γάρ (gar) in textually disputed places in the corpus Paulinum, the credentials for γάρ here are not easily dismissed (P⁴⁶ B 0223 0243 33 1739 1881 al); here it is the preferred reading, albeit slightly.
2 Corinthians 2:1 tn Or “I decided this for myself.”
2 Corinthians 2:1 tn Grk “not to come to you again in sorrow.”sn Paul was not speaking absolutely about not making another visit, but meant he did not want to come to the Corinthians again until the conflict he mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4-11 was settled.
2 Corinthians 2:2 tn Or “to cheer me up.” L&N 25.131 translates this “For if I were to make you sad, who would be left to cheer me up?”
2 Corinthians 2:3 tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
2 Corinthians 2:3 sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.
2 Corinthians 2:4 tn Or “the love that I have in great measure for you.”
2 Corinthians 2:5 tn Or “(not to say too much)”; Grk “(not to burden you [with words]).”
2 Corinthians 2:7 tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”
2 Corinthians 2:7 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.
2 Corinthians 2:7 tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
2 Corinthians 2:8 tn Or “I urge you to show that your love for him is real.”
2 Corinthians 2:9 tn The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied (as an understood direct object).
2 Corinthians 2:9 tn Grk “to know the proof of you,” that is, to know if the Corinthians’ obedience to Paul as an apostle was genuine (L&N 72.7).
2 Corinthians 2:11 tn Or “be taken advantage of.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Footnotes

An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel

Footnotes

Why Paul Postponed His Visit

Footnotes