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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 146

Psalm 146^[a]

146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
²I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
³Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.^[b]
⁴Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.^[c]
⁵How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,^[d]
⁷vindicates the oppressed,^[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
⁸The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.^[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
⁹The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,^[g]
but he opposes the wicked.^[h]
¹⁰The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.^[i]
Praise the Lord!

Exodus 29:1-9

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

29 ^[a] “Now this is what^[b] you are to do for them to consecrate them so that they may minister as my priests. Take a young^[c] bull and two rams without blemish;^[d] ²and^[e] bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread^[f] with oil—you are to make them using^[g] fine wheat flour. ³You are to put them in one basket and present^[h] them in the basket, along with^[i] the bull and the two rams.

⁴“You are to present^[j] Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash^[k] them with water ⁵and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic,^[l] the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband.^[m] ⁶You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem^[n] on the turban. ⁷You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.^[o] ⁸You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics ⁹and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons^[p] and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate^[q] Aaron and his sons.

Footnotes

Exodus 29:1 sn Chap. 29 is a rather long, involved discussion of the consecration of Aaron the priest. It is similar to the ordination service in Lev 8. In fact, the execution of what is instructed here is narrated there. But these instructions must have been formulated after or in conjunction with Lev 1-7, for they presuppose a knowledge of the sacrifices. The bulk of the chapter is the consecration of the priests: 1-35. It has the preparation (1-3), washing (4), investiture and anointing (5-9), sin offering (10-14), burnt offering (15-18), installation peace offering (19-26, 31-34), other offerings’ rulings (27-30), and the duration of the ritual (35). Then there is the consecration of the altar (36-37), and the oblations (38-46). There are many possibilities for the study and exposition of this material. The whole chapter is the consecration of tabernacle, altar, people, and most of all the priests. God was beginning the holy operations with sacral ritual. So the overall message would be: Everyone who ministers, everyone who worships, and everything they use in the presence of Yahweh, must be set apart to God by the cleansing, enabling, and sanctifying work of God.
Exodus 29:1 tn Heb “the thing.”
Exodus 29:1 tn Literally: “take one bull, a ‘son’ of the herd.”
Exodus 29:1 tn The word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect.” The animals could not have diseases or be crippled or blind (see Mal 1). The requirement was designed to ensure that the people would give the best they had to Yahweh. The typology pointed to the sinless Messiah who would fulfill all these sacrifices in his one sacrifice on the cross.
Exodus 29:2 sn This will be for the minkhah (מִנְחָה) offering (Lev 2), which was to accompany the animal sacrifices.
Exodus 29:2 tn Or “anointed” (KJV, ASV).
Exodus 29:2 tn The “fine flour” is here an adverbial accusative, explaining the material from which these items were made. The flour is to be finely sifted, and from the wheat, not the barley, which was often the material used by the poor. Fine flour, no leaven, and perfect animals, without blemishes, were to be gathered for this service.
Exodus 29:3 tn The verb קָרַב (qarav) in the Hiphil means to “bring near” to the altar, or, to offer something to God. These gifts will, therefore, be offered to him for the service of this ritual.
Exodus 29:3 tn Heb “and with.”
Exodus 29:4 tn Here too the verb is Hiphil (now imperfect) meaning “bring near” the altar. The choice of this verb indicates that they were not merely being brought near, but that they were being formally presented to Yahweh as the offerings were.
Exodus 29:4 sn This is the washing referred to in Lev 8:6. This is a complete washing, not just of the hands and feet that would follow in the course of service. It had to serve as a symbolic ritual cleansing or purifying as the initial stage in the consecration. The imagery of washing will be used in the NT for regeneration (Titus 3:5).
Exodus 29:5 tn The Hiphil of לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe”) will take double accusatives; so the sign of the accusative is with Aaron, and then with the articles of clothing. The translation will have to treat Aaron as the direct object and the articles as indirect objects, because Aaron receives the prominence in the verse—you will clothe Aaron.
Exodus 29:5 tn The verb used in this last clause is a denominative verb from the word for ephod. And so “ephod the ephod on him” means “fasten as an ephod the ephod on him” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 316).
Exodus 29:6 sn This term does not appear in chap. 28, but it can only refer to the plate with the inscription on it that was tied to the turban. Here it is called a “holy diadem,” a diadem that is distinctly set apart for this service. All the clothing was described as “holy garments,” and so they were all meant to mark the separation of the priests to this holy service. The items of clothing were each intended for different aspects of ministry, and so this step in the consecration was designed to symbolize being set apart for those duties, or, prepared (gifted) to perform the ministry.
Exodus 29:7 sn The act of anointing was meant to set him apart for this holy service within the house of Yahweh. The psalms indicate that no oil was spared in this ritual, for it ran down his beard and to the hem of his garment. Oil of anointing was used for all major offices (giving the label with the passive adjective “mashiakh” (or “messiah”) to anyone anointed. In the further revelation of Scripture, the oil came to signify the enablement as well as the setting apart, and often the Holy Spirit came on the person at the anointing with oil. The olive oil was a symbol of the Spirit in the OT as well (Zech 4:4-6). And in the NT “anointing” signifies empowerment by the Holy Spirit for service.
Exodus 29:9 tc Hebrew has both the objective pronoun “them” and the names “Aaron and his sons.” Neither the LXX nor Leviticus 8:13 has “Aaron and his sons,” suggesting that this may have been a later gloss in the text.
Exodus 29:9 tn Heb “and you will fill the hand” and so “consecrate” or “ordain.” The verb draws together the individual acts of the process.

Acts 22:6-21

⁶As^[a] I was en route and near Damascus,^[b] about noon a very bright^[c] light from heaven^[d] suddenly flashed^[e] around me. ⁷Then I^[f] fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand^[g] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰So I asked,^[h] ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up^[i] and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything^[j] that you have been designated^[k] to do.’ ¹¹Since I could not see because of^[l] the brilliance^[m] of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of^[n] those who were with me. ¹²A man named Ananias,^[o] a devout man according to the law,^[p] well spoken of by all the Jews who live there,^[q] ¹³came^[r] to me and stood beside me^[s] and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’^[t] And at that very moment^[u] I looked up and saw him.^[v] ¹⁴Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors^[w] has already chosen^[x] you to know his will, to see^[y] the Righteous One,^[z] and to hear a command^[aa] from his mouth, ¹⁵because you will be his witness^[ab] to all people^[ac] of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for?^[ad] Get up,^[ae] be baptized, and have your sins washed away,^[af] calling on his name.’^[ag] ¹⁷When^[ah] I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance^[ai] ¹⁸and saw the Lord^[aj] saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹I replied,^[ak] ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues^[al] who believed in you. ²⁰And when the blood of your witness^[am] Stephen was shed,^[an] I myself was standing nearby, approving,^[ao] and guarding the cloaks^[ap] of those who were killing him.’^[aq] ²¹Then^[ar] he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

Footnotes

Acts 22:6 tn Grk “It happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Acts 22:6 tn Grk “going and nearing Damascus.”sn En route and near Damascus. This is the first retelling of Paul’s Damascus Road experience in Acts (cf. Acts 9:1-9; the second retelling is in Acts 26:9-20).
Acts 22:6 tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.b has “φῶς a very bright light Ac 22:6.”
Acts 22:6 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
Acts 22:6 tn Or “shone.”
Acts 22:7 tn This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the connective τέ (te), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. To indicate the logical sequence for the modern English reader, τέ was translated as “then.”
Acts 22:9 tn Grk “did not hear” (but see Acts 9:7). BDAG 38 s.v. ἀκούω 7 has “W. acc. τὸν νόμον understand the law Gal 4:21; perh. Ac 22:9; 26:14…belong here.” If the word has this sense here, then a metonymy is present, since the lack of effect is put for a failure to appreciate what was heard.
Acts 22:10 tn Grk “So I said.”
Acts 22:10 tn Grk “Getting up.” The participle ἀναστάς (anastas) is an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance and has been translated as a finite verb.
Acts 22:10 tn Grk “about all things.”
Acts 22:10 tn Or “assigned,” “ordered.” BDAG 991 s.v. τάσσω 2.a has “act. and pass., foll. by acc. w. inf.…περὶ πάντων ὧν τέτακταί σοι ποιῆσαι concerning everything that you have been ordered to do 22:10.” There is an allusion to a divine call and commission here.
Acts 22:11 tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.a has “οὐκ ἐνέβλεπον ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ φωτός I could not see because of the brilliance of the light Ac 22:11.”
Acts 22:11 tn Or “brightness”; Grk “glory.”
Acts 22:11 tn Grk “by” (ὑπό, hupo), but this would be too awkward in English following the previous “by.”
Acts 22:12 tn Grk “a certain Ananias.”
Acts 22:12 sn The law refers to the law of Moses.
Acts 22:12 tn BDAG 534 s.v. κατοικέω 1.a translates this present participle “ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν (sc. ἐκεῖ) κατοικούντων ᾿Ιουδαίων by all the Jews who live there Ac 22:12.”
Acts 22:13 tn Grk “coming.” The participle ἐλθών (elthōn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
Acts 22:13 tn Grk “coming to me and standing beside [me] said to me.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
Acts 22:13 tn Grk “Brother Saul, look up” (here an idiom for regaining one’s sight). BDAG 59 s.v. ἀναβλέπω places this usage under 1, “look up Ac 22:13a. W. εἰς αὐτόν to show the direction of the glance…22:13b; but perh. this vs. belongs under 2a.” BDAG 59 s.v. 2.a.α states, “of blind persons, who were formerly able to see, regain sight.” The problem for the translator is deciding between the literal and the idiomatic usage and at the same time attempting to retain the wordplay in Acts 22:13: “[Ananias] said to me, ‘Look up!’ and at that very moment I looked up to him.” The assumption of the command is that the effort to look up will be worth it (through the regaining of sight).
Acts 22:13 tn Grk “hour,” but ὥρα (hōra) is often used for indefinite short periods of time (so BDAG 1102-3 s.v. ὥρα 2.c: “αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ at that very time, at once, instantly…Lk 2:38; 24:33; Ac 16:18; 22:13”). A comparison with the account in Acts 9:18 indicates that this is clearly the meaning here.
Acts 22:13 tn Grk “I looked up to him.”
Acts 22:14 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”sn The expression God of our ancestors is a description of the God of Israel. The God of promise was at work again.
Acts 22:14 tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance’…‘the God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will’ Ac 22:14.”
Acts 22:14 tn Grk “and to see.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Acts 22:14 sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).
Acts 22:14 tn Or “a solemn declaration”; Grk “a voice.” BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c states, “that which the voice gives expression to: call, cry, outcry, loud or solemn declaration (…= order, command)…Cp. 22:14; 24:21.”
Acts 22:15 tn Or “a witness to him.”sn You will be his witness. See Acts 1:8; 13:31. The following reference to all people stresses all nationalities (Eph 3:7-9; Acts 9:15). Note also v. 21.
Acts 22:15 tn Grk “all men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos).
Acts 22:16 tn L&N 67.121 has “to extend time unduly, with the implication of lack of decision—‘to wait, to delay.’ νῦν τί μέλλεις…ἀναστὰς βάπτισαι ‘what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized’ Ac 22:16.”
Acts 22:16 tn Grk “getting up.” The participle ἀναστάς (anastas) is an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance and has been translated as a finite verb.
Acts 22:16 sn The expression have your sins washed away means “have your sins purified” (the washing is figurative).
Acts 22:16 sn The expression calling on his name describes the confession of the believer: Acts 2:17-38, esp. v. 38; Rom 10:12-13; 1 Cor 1:2.
Acts 22:17 tn Grk “It happened to me that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Acts 22:17 tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἔκστασις 2 has “γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκστάσει fall into a trance Ac 22:17.”
Acts 22:18 tn Or “Jesus”; Grk “him.” The referent (the Lord, cf. v. 19) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 22:19 tn Grk “And I said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai, in καγώ [kagō]) has not been translated here.
Acts 22:19 tn For the distributive sense of the expression κατὰ τὰς συναγωγάς (kata tas sunagōgas) BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d has “of places viewed serially, distributive use w. acc.…κατ᾿ οἶκαν from house to house…Ac 2:46b; 5:42…Likew. the pl.…κ. τὰς συναγωγάς 22:19.” See also L&N 37.114.sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
Acts 22:20 sn Now Paul referred to Stephen as your witness, and he himself had also become a witness. The reversal was now complete; the opponent had now become a proponent.
Acts 22:20 sn When the blood of your witness Stephen was shed means “when your witness Stephen was murdered.”
Acts 22:20 tn Grk “and approving.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Acts 22:20 tn Or “outer garments.”sn The cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (in this case for throwing stones).
Acts 22:20 tn Or “who were putting him to death.” For the translation of ἀναιρούντων (anairountōn) as “putting to death” see BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2.
Acts 22:21 tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to Paul’s reply in v. 19, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 146[a]

Footnotes

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 146^[a]