◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Genesis 28:10-19a (Jacob’s dream of the ladder); Psalm 139:1-12 23-24 (You have searched me and known me); Romans 8:12-25 (The revealing of the children of God); Matthew 13:24-30 36-43 (The parable of the weeds) (New English Translation)

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July 20, 1969

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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

Genesis 28:10-19

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. ¹¹He reached a certain place^[a] where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down.^[b] He took one of the stones^[c] and placed it near his head.^[d] Then he fell asleep^[e] in that place ¹²and had a dream.^[f] He saw^[g] a stairway^[h] erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it ¹³and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.^[i] I will give you and your descendants the ground^[j] you are lying on. ¹⁴Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth,^[k] and you will spread out^[l] to the west, east, north, and south. And so all the families of the earth may receive blessings^[m] through you and through your descendants. ¹⁵I am with you!^[n] I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

¹⁶Then Jacob woke up^[o] and thought,^[p] “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” ¹⁷He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸Early^[q] in the morning Jacob^[r] took the stone he had placed near his head^[s] and set it up as a sacred stone.^[t] Then he poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹He called that place Bethel,^[u] although the former name of the town was Luz.

Footnotes

Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “lay down.”
Genesis 28:12 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
Genesis 28:12 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).
Genesis 28:12 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22, ” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
Genesis 28:13 tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.
Genesis 28:13 tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (ʾerets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.
Genesis 28:14 tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.
Genesis 28:14 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.
Genesis 28:14 tn The translation understands the Niphal stem to be middle voice here; the normal passive for בָּרַךְ (barakh) is Pual. The middle voice may be expressed here as “they may consider themselves blessed,” “they may receive/find blessing,” “the may become blessed.” See the notes at 12:3 and 18:18.
Genesis 28:15 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).
Genesis 28:16 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 28:16 tn Heb “said.”
Genesis 28:18 tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”
Genesis 28:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 28:18 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.
Genesis 28:18 tn Heb “standing stone.”sn Sacred stone. Such a stone could be used as a boundary marker, a burial stone, or as a shrine. Here the stone is intended to be a reminder of the stairway that was “erected” and on which the Lord “stood.” (In Hebrew the word translated “sacred stone” is derived from the verb translated “erected” in v. 12 and “stood” in v. 13.) Since the top of the stairway reached the heavens where the Lord stood, Jacob poured oil on the top of the stone. See C. F. Graesser, “Standing Stones in Ancient Palestine,” BA 35 (1972): 34-63; and E. Stockton, “Sacred Pillars in the Bible,” ABR 20 (1972): 16-32.
Genesis 28:19 tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).

Psalm 139:1-12

Psalm 139^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

139 O Lord, you examine me^[b] and know me.
²You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
³You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;^[c]
you are aware of everything I do.^[d]
⁴Certainly^[e] my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.^[f]
⁵You squeeze me in from behind and in front;
you place your hand on me.
⁶Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.^[g]
⁷Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence?^[h]
⁸If I were to ascend^[i] to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out^[j] in Sheol, there you would be.^[k]
⁹If I were to fly away^[l] on the wings of the dawn,^[m]
and settle down on the other side^[n] of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.
¹¹If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,^[o]
and the light will turn to night all around me,”^[p]
¹²even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,^[q]
and the night is as bright as^[r] day;
darkness and light are the same to you.^[s]

Footnotes

Psalm 139:1 sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.
Psalm 139:1 tn The statement is understood as generalizing—the psalmist describes what God typically does.
Psalm 139:3 tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זֶרֶת (zeret, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).
Psalm 139:3 tn Heb “all my ways.”
Psalm 139:4 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 139:4 tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”
Psalm 139:6 tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”
Psalm 139:7 tn Heb “Where can I go from your spirit, and where from your face can I flee?” God’s “spirit” may refer here (1) to his presence (note the parallel term, “your face,” and see Ps 104:29-30, where God’s “face” is his presence and his “spirit” is the life-giving breath he imparts) or (2) to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).
Psalm 139:8 tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).
Psalm 139:8 tn The verb יָצַע (yatzaʿ) is rare in the Bible (see Isa 58:5 also Hiphil, and Isa 1:14; Est 4:3 for Hophal examples). There are three main options for understanding this phrase. It may mean “to descend to Sheol,” as in the LXX. This takes the motion in the verb as very generic for this context and understands “Sheol” without a preposition as the default “to Sheol.” Many translations take it as spreading out [something] to act as a bed, couch, or area to lie down. It is uncertain that the idea of a bed has to be implied and this does not required to fit the other contexts. Or, as taken here, it may “to spread [oneself] out, to sprawl.” Each view has merits and it is difficult to decide because the are so few examples.
Psalm 139:8 tn Heb “look, you.”
Psalm 139:9 tn Heb “rise up.”
Psalm 139:9 sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.
Psalm 139:9 tn Heb “at the end.”
Psalm 139:11 tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (y^esukkeni), from the root שָׂכַך (sakhakh, “to cover,” an alternate form of סָכַך [sakhakh]), a reading assumed in the present translation.
Psalm 139:11 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”
Psalm 139:12 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
Psalm 139:12 tn Heb “shines like.”
Psalm 139:12 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”

Psalm 139:23-24

²³Examine me, O God, and probe my thoughts.^[a]
Test me, and know my concerns.^[b]
²⁴See if there is any idolatrous way^[c] in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way.^[d]

Romans 8:12-25

¹²So then,^[a] brothers and sisters,^[b] we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh ¹³(for if you live according to the flesh, you will^[c] die),^[d] but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are^[e] the sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear,^[f] but you received the Spirit of adoption,^[g] by whom^[h] we cry, “Abba,^[i] Father.” ¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness to^[j] our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)^[k]—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared^[l] to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God^[m] who subjected it—in hope ²¹that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. ²³Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,^[n] groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption,^[o] the redemption of our bodies.^[p] ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.^[q]

Footnotes

Romans 8:12 tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
Romans 8:12 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
Romans 8:13 tn Grk “are about to, are certainly going to.”
Romans 8:13 sn This remark is parenthetical to Paul’s argument.
Romans 8:14 tn Grk “For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are.”
Romans 8:15 tn Grk “slavery again to fear.”
Romans 8:15 tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (huiothesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).”
Romans 8:15 tn Or “in that.”
Romans 8:15 tn The term “Abba” is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic אַבָּא (’abba’), literally meaning “my father” but taken over simply as “father,” used in prayer and in the family circle, and later taken over by the early Greek-speaking Christians (BDAG 1 s.v. ἀββα).sn This Aramaic word is found three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6), and in each case is followed by its Greek equivalent, which is translated “father.” It is a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in English. It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical term, “abbot.” Over the past fifty years a lot has been written about this term and Jesus’ use of it. Joachim Jeremias argued that Jesus routinely addressed God using this Aramaic word, and he also noted this was a “child’s word,” leading many to conclude its modern equivalent was “Daddy.” This conclusion Jeremias soon modified (the term on occasion is used of an adult son addressing his father) but the simplistic equation of abba with “Daddy” is still heard in some circles today. Nevertheless, the term does express a high degree of closeness with reverence, and in addition to the family circle could be used by disciples of a much loved and revered teacher.
Romans 8:16 tn Or possibly “with.” ExSyn 160-61, however, notes the following: “At issue, grammatically, is whether the Spirit testifies alongside of our spirit (dat. of association), or whether he testifies to our spirit (indirect object) that we are God’s children. If the former, the one receiving this testimony is unstated (is it God? or believers?). If the latter, the believer receives the testimony and hence is assured of salvation via the inner witness of the Spirit. The first view has the advantage of a σύν- (sun-) prefixed verb, which might be expected to take an accompanying dat. of association (and is supported by NEB, JB, etc.). But there are three reasons why πνεύματι (pneumati) should not be taken as association: (1) Grammatically, a dat. with a σύν- prefixed verb does not necessarily indicate association. This, of course, does not preclude such here, but this fact at least opens up the alternatives in this text. (2) Lexically, though συμμαρτυρέω (summartureō) originally bore an associative idea, it developed in the direction of merely intensifying μαρτυρέω (martureō). This is surely the case in the only other NT text with a dat. (Rom 9:1). (3) Contextually, a dat. of association does not seem to support Paul’s argument: ‘What standing has our spirit in this matter? Of itself it surely has no right at all to testify to our being sons of God’ [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:403]. In sum, Rom 8:16 seems to be secure as a text in which the believer’s assurance of salvation is based on the inner witness of the Spirit. The implications of this for one’s soteriology are profound: The objective data, as helpful as they are, cannot by themselves provide assurance of salvation; the believer also needs (and receives) an existential, ongoing encounter with God’s Spirit in order to gain that familial comfort.”
Romans 8:17 tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs—that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.
Romans 8:18 tn Grk “are not worthy [to be compared].”
Romans 8:20 tn Grk “because of the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Romans 8:23 tn Or “who have the Spirit as firstfruits.” The genitive πνεύματος (pneumatos) can be understood here as possessive (“the firstfruits belonging to the Spirit”) although it is much more likely that this is a genitive of apposition (“the firstfruits, namely, the Spirit”); cf. TEV, NLT.
Romans 8:23 tn See the note on “adoption” in v. 15.
Romans 8:23 tn Grk “body.”
Romans 8:25 tn Or “perseverance.”

Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴He presented them with another parable:^[a] “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed darnel^[b] among the wheat and went away. ²⁶When^[c] the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the darnel also appeared. ²⁷So the slaves^[d] of the landowner^[e] came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the darnel come from?’ ²⁸He said, ‘An enemy has done this!’ So^[f] the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather it?’ ²⁹But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the darnel you may uproot the wheat along with it. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At^[g] harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burned, but then gather^[h] the wheat into my barn.”’”

Matthew 13:36-43

Explanation for the Disciples

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel^[a] in the field.” ³⁷He^[b] answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world and the good seed are the people^[c] of the kingdom. The poisonous weeds^[d] are the people^[e] of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰As^[f] the poisonous weeds^[g] are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers.^[h] ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace,^[i] where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.^[j] The one who has ears had better listen!^[k]

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

Footnotes

Psalm 139[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Parable of the Weeds

Footnotes

Explanation for the Disciples

Footnotes

Psalm 139^[a]