◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 90:1-6 13-17 (Show your servants your works); Deuteronomy 32:44-47 (Moses’ farewell); John 5:39-47 (Moses judges the disobedient) (New English Translation)

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October 25, 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

Psalm 90:1-6

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90^[a]

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90 O Lord, you have been our protector^[b] through all generations.
²Even before the mountains came into existence,^[c]
or you brought the world into being,^[d]
you were the eternal God.^[e]
³You make mankind return^[f] to the dust,^[g]
and say, “Return, O people.”
⁴Yes,^[h] in your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.^[i]
⁵You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”^[j]
In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up:
⁶In the morning it glistens^[k] and sprouts up;
at evening time it withers^[l] and dries up.

Footnotes

Psalm 90:1 sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.
Psalm 90:1 tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.
Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “were born.”
Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a Polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.
Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (ʾel, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (ʾal, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vatoʾmer, “and you said/say”), unless one reads the form as a simple vav plus imperfect as indicated by Aquila and Jerome.
Psalm 90:3 tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.
Psalm 90:3 tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (dakaʾ) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.
Psalm 90:4 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 90:4 sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”
Psalm 90:5 tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).
Psalm 90:6 tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.
Psalm 90:6 tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final ל [lamed] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.

Psalm 90:13-17

¹³Turn back toward us, O Lord.
How long must this suffering last?^[a]
Have pity on your servants.^[b]
¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning^[c] with your loyal love.
Then we will shout for joy and be happy^[d] all our days.
¹⁵Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,
in proportion to the years we have experienced^[e] trouble.
¹⁶May your servants see your work.^[f]
May their sons see your majesty.^[g]
¹⁷May our Sovereign God extend his favor to us.^[h]
Make our endeavors successful.
Yes, make them successful.^[i]

Deuteronomy 32:44-47

Narrative Interlude

⁴⁴Then Moses went with Joshua^[a] son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people. ⁴⁵When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel ⁴⁶he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law. ⁴⁷For this is no idle word for you—it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

John 5:39-47

³⁹You study the scriptures thoroughly^[a] because you think in them you possess eternal life,^[b] and it is these same scriptures^[c] that testify about me, ⁴⁰but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

⁴¹“I do not accept^[d] praise^[e] from people,^[f] ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God^[g] within you. ⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept^[h] me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept^[i] him. ⁴⁴How can you believe, if you accept praise^[j] from one another and don’t seek the praise^[k] that comes from the only God?^[l]

⁴⁵“Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.^[m] ⁴⁶If^[n] you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe what Moses^[o] wrote, how will you believe my words?”

Footnotes

John 5:39 tn Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, TDNT 2:655-57.
John 5:39 sn In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate Pirqe Avot (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): Pirqe Avot 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; Pirqe Avot 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”
John 5:39 tn The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).
John 5:41 tn Or “I do not receive.”
John 5:41 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
John 5:41 tn Grk “from men,” but in a generic sense; both men and women are implied here.
John 5:42 tn The genitive in the phrase τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ (tēn agapēn tou theou, “the love of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“God’s love”) or an objective genitive (“love for God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, the emphasis would be on the love God gives which in turn produces love for him, but Jesus’ opponents are lacking any such love inside them.
John 5:43 tn Or “you do not receive.”
John 5:43 tn Or “you will receive.”
John 5:44 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
John 5:44 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
John 5:44 tc Several early and significant witnesses (P^66,75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (theou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some very significant mss, has the name (א A D L Θ Ψ 33 M). Internally, it could be argued that the name of God was not used here, in keeping with the NT practice of suppressing the name of God at times for rhetorical effect, drawing the reader inexorably to the conclusion that the one being spoken of is God himself. On the other hand, never is ὁ μόνος (ho monos) used absolutely in the NT (i.e., without a noun or substantive with it), and always the subject of the adjunct is God (cf. Matt 24:36; John 17:3; 1 Tim 6:16). What then is to explain the shorter reading? In majuscule script, with θεοῦ written as a nomen sacrum, envisioning accidental omission of the name by way of homoioteleuton requires little imagination, largely because of the succession of words ending in -ου: toumonouqMuou. It is thus preferable to retain the word in the text.
John 5:45 sn The final condemnation will come from Moses himself—again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [NovTSup], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28-29.
John 5:46 tn Grk “For if.”
John 5:47 tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90[a]

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Narrative Interlude

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 90^[a]