◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Jeremiah 1:4-10 (A prophet to the nations); Psalm 71:1-6 (You have been my strength); 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (Without love a noisy gong); Luke 4:21-30 (The prophet Jesus not accepted) (New English Translation)

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February 3, 2019

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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

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

⁴The Lord’s message came to me,

⁵“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb^[a] I chose you.^[b]
Before you were born I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

⁶I answered, “Oh, Sovereign Lord,^[c] Really^[d] I do not know how to speak well enough for that,^[e] for I am too young.”^[f] ⁷The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go^[g] to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. ⁸Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you,^[h] for I will be with you to protect^[i] you,” says the Lord. ⁹Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.^[j] ¹⁰Know for certain that^[k] I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be^[l] uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”^[m]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 1:5 tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 1:5 tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Gen 18:19; Amos 3:2.
Jeremiah 1:6 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”sn In Jewish tradition, instead of pronouncing the Lord’s name (Yahweh), they would substitute the word for “Lord” (אֲדוֹנַי, ʾadonay). But when the word אֲדוֹנַי (ʾadonay) preceded the Lord’s name, for Yahweh they would substitute the pronunciation of the word for “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ʾelohim). One translation convention is to use small caps for the Lord’s name, as in “Lord” or “Lord God.” The convention here is to translate אֲדוֹנַי (ʾadonay, “Lord”) as “Sovereign” and consistently use “Lord” for the Lord’s name. The English word “Jehovah” results from combining the consonants of the divine name and the vowels of the term אֲדוֹנַי (ʾadonay), resulting in Y^ehovah. The “J” of Jehovah comes from German convention, while the “e” instead of “a” has to do with the nature of the Hebrew consonant.
Jeremiah 1:6 tn The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold” in the KJV) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).
Jeremiah 1:6 tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.
Jeremiah 1:6 tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exod 2:6), a young boy (1 Sam 2:11), a teenager (Gen 21:12), or a young man (2 Sam 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.
Jeremiah 1:7 tn Or “For you must go and say.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is likely adversative here after a negative statement (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e). The Lord is probably not giving a rationale for the denial of Jeremiah’s objection but redirecting his focus, i.e., “do not say…but go…and say.”
Jeremiah 1:8 tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.
Jeremiah 1:8 tn Heb “rescue.”
Jeremiah 1:9 tn Heb “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” This is an example of the Hebrew “scheduling” perfect or the “prophetic” perfect where a future event is viewed as so certain it is spoken of as past. The Hebrew particle rendered here “assuredly” (Heb הִנֵּה, hinneh) underlines the certitude of the promise for the future. See the translator’s note on v. 6.sn The passage is reminiscent of Deut 18:18, which refers to the Lord’s promise of future revelation through a line of prophets who, like Moses, would speak God’s word.
Jeremiah 1:10 tn Heb “See!” The Hebrew imperative of the verb used here (רָאָה, raʾah) functions the same as the particle in v. 9. See the translator’s note there.
Jeremiah 1:10 tn Heb “I appoint you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot….” The phrase refers to the Lord giving Jeremiah authority as a prophet to declare what he, the Lord, will do; it does not mean that Jeremiah himself will do these things. The expression involves a figure of speech where the subject of a declaration is stated instead of the declaration about it. Compare a similar use of the same figure in Gen 41:13.
Jeremiah 1:10 sn These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7-10 and 31:27-28.

Psalm 71:1-6

Psalm 71^[a]

71 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
²Vindicate me by rescuing me.^[b]
Listen to me.^[c] Deliver me.^[d]
³Be my protector and refuge,^[e]
a stronghold where I can be safe.^[f]
For you are my high ridge^[g] and my stronghold.
⁴My God, rescue me from the power^[h] of the wicked,
from the hand of the cruel oppressor.
⁵For you are my hope;
O Sovereign Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young.^[i]
⁶I have leaned on you since birth;^[j]
you pulled me^[k] from my mother’s womb.
I praise you continually.^[l]

1 Corinthians 13

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast,^[a] but do not have love, I receive no benefit.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. ⁶It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. ⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when what is perfect^[b] comes, the partial will be set aside. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult,^[c] I set aside childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror indirectly,^[d] but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. ¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 13:3 tc The reading καυχήσωμαι (kauchēsōmai, “I might boast”) is well supported by P⁴⁶ א A B 048 33 1739* co Hier^mss. The competing reading, καυθήσομαι (kauthēsomai, “I will burn”), is found in C D F G L 81 1175 1881* al latt and a host of patristic writers. From this reading other variants were obviously derived: καυθήσωμαι (kauthēsōmai), a future subjunctive (“I might burn”) read by the Byzantine text and a few others (Ψ 1739^c 1881^c M); and καυθῇ (kauthē, “it might be burned”) read by 1505. On an external level, the Alexandrian reading is obviously superior, though the Western and Byzantine readings need to be accounted for. (The following discussion is derived largely from TCGNT 497-98). Internally, καυχήσωμαι is superior for the following reasons: (1) Once the Church started suffering persecution and martyrdom by fire, the v.l. naturally arose. Once there, it is difficult to see why any scribe would intentionally change it to καυχήσωμαι. (2) Involving as it does the change of just two letters (χ to θ [ch to th], ω to ο [ō to o]), this reading could be accomplished without much fanfare. Yet, it appears cumbersome in the context, both because of the passive voice and especially the retention of the first person (“If I give up my body that I may be burned”). A more logical word would have been the third person passive, καυθῇ, as read in 1505 (“If I give up my body that it may be burned”). (3) Although the connection between giving up one’s body and boasting is ambiguous, this very ambiguity has all the earmarks of being from Paul. It may have the force of giving up one’s body into slavery. In any event, it looks to be the harder reading. Incidentally, the Byzantine reading is impossible because the future subjunctive did not occur in Koine Greek. As the reading of the majority of Byzantine minuscules, its roots are clearly post-Koine and as such is a “grammatical monstrosity that cannot be attributed to Paul” (TCGNT 498). Cf. also the notes in BDF §28; MHT 2:219.
1 Corinthians 13:10 tn Or “when completion.”
1 Corinthians 13:11 tn The Greek term translated “adult” here is ἀνήρ (anēr), a term which ordinarily refers to males, husbands, etc. In this context Paul contrasts the states of childhood and adulthood, so the term has been translated “adult”; cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.b.
1 Corinthians 13:12 tn Grk “we are seeing through [= using] a mirror by means of a dark image.” Corinth was well known in the ancient world for producing some of the finest bronze mirrors available. Paul’s point in this analogy, then, is not that our current understanding and relationship with God is distorted (as if the mirror reflected poorly), but rather that it is “indirect,” (i.e., the nature of looking in a mirror) compared to the relationship we will enjoy with him in the future when we see him “face-to-face” (cf. G. D. Fee, First Corinthians [NICNT], 648). The word “indirectly” translates the Greek phrase ἐν αἰνίγματι (en ainigmati, “in an obscure image”) which itself may reflect an allusion to Num 12:8 (LXX οὐ δι᾿ αἰνιγμάτων), where God says that he speaks to Moses “mouth to mouth [= face-to-face]…and not in dark figures [of speech].” Though this allusion to the OT is not explicitly developed here, it probably did not go unnoticed by the Corinthians who were apparently familiar with OT traditions about Moses (cf. 1 Cor 10:2). Indeed, in 2 Cor 3:13-18 Paul had recourse with the Corinthians to contrast Moses’ ministry under the old covenant with the hope afforded through apostolic ministry and the new covenant. Further, it is in this context, specifically in 2 Cor 3:18, that the apostle invokes the use of the mirror analogy again in order to unfold the nature of the Christian’s progressive transformation by the Spirit.

Luke 4:21-30

²¹Then^[a] he began to tell them, “Today^[b] this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”^[c] ²²All^[d] were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They^[e] said, “Isn’t this^[f] Joseph’s son?” ²³Jesus^[g] said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’^[h] and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum,^[i] do here in your hometown too.’” ²⁴And he added,^[j] “I tell you the truth,^[k] no prophet is acceptable^[l] in his hometown. ²⁵But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,^[m] when the sky^[n] was shut up three and a half years, and^[o] there was a great famine over all the land. ²⁶Yet^[p] Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.^[q] ²⁷And there were many lepers^[r] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha,^[s] yet^[t] none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^[u] ²⁸When they heard this, all the people^[v] in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹They got up, forced^[w] him out of the town,^[x] and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that^[y] they could throw him down the cliff.^[z] ³⁰But he passed through the crowd^[aa] and went on his way.^[ab]

Footnotes

Luke 4:21 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Luke 4:21 sn See the note on today in 2:11.
Luke 4:21 tn Grk “in your hearing.”
Luke 4:22 tn Grk “And all.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 4:22 tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 4:22 sn The form of the question assumes a positive reply. It really amounts to an objection, as Jesus’ response in the next verses shows. Jesus spoke smoothly and impressively. He made a wonderful declaration, but could a local carpenter’s son make such an offer? That was their real question.
Luke 4:23 tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 4:23 sn The proverb Physician, heal yourself! means that Jesus should prove his claims. It is a “Prove it to us!” mentality that Jesus says the people have.
Luke 4:23 sn The remark “What we have heard that you did at Capernaum” makes many suspect that Luke has moved this event forward in sequence to typify what Jesus’ ministry was like, since the ministry in Capernaum follows in vv. 31-44. The location of this event in the parallel of Mark 6:1-6 also suggests this transposition. On Capernaum itself, see the note at Luke 4:31.
Luke 4:24 tn Grk “said,” but since this is a continuation of previous remarks, “added” is used here.
Luke 4:24 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
Luke 4:24 sn Jesus argues that he will get no respect in his own hometown. There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown.
Luke 4:25 sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.
Luke 4:25 tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.
Luke 4:25 tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).
Luke 4:26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.
Luke 4:26 sn Zarephath in Sidon was Gentile territory (see 1 Kgs 17:9-24). Jesus’ point was that he would be forced to minister elsewhere, and the implication is that this ministry would ultimately extend (through the work of his followers) to those outside the nation.
Luke 4:27 sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what is called leprosy today (Hansen’s disease). In the OT the Hebrew term generally referred to a number of exfoliative (scaly) skin diseases (when applied to humans). A person with one of these diseases was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46). In the NT the Greek term also refers to a number of skin diseases, but there is some evidence that true leprosy (Hansen’s disease) could be referred to, since that disease began to be described by Greek physicians in Alexandria, Egypt around 300 B.C. and thus might have been present in Judea and Galilee just before the time of Jesus.
Luke 4:27 sn On Elisha see 2 Kgs 5:1-14.
Luke 4:27 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.
Luke 4:27 sn The reference to Naaman the Syrian (see 2 Kgs 5:1-24) is another example where an outsider and Gentile was blessed. The stress in the example is the missed opportunity of the people to experience God’s work, but it will still go on without them.
Luke 4:28 tn The words “the people” are not in the Greek text but have been supplied.
Luke 4:29 tn Grk “cast.”
Luke 4:29 tn Or “city.”
Luke 4:29 tn The Greek conjunction ὥστε (hōste) here indicates their purpose.
Luke 4:29 sn The attempt to throw him down the cliff looks like “lynch law,” but it may really be an indication that Jesus was regarded as a false prophet who was worthy of death (Deut 13:5). Such a sentence meant being thrown into a pit and then stoned.
Luke 4:30 tn Grk “their midst.”
Luke 4:30 tn The verb πορεύομαι (poreuomai) in Luke often suggests divine direction, “to go in a led direction” (4:42; 7:6, 11; 9:51, 52, 56, 57; 13:33; 17:11; 22:22, 29; 24:28). It could suggest that Jesus is on a journey, a theme that definitely is present later in Luke 9-19.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

Footnotes

Psalm 71[a]

Footnotes

The Way of Love

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 71^[a]