◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 119:137-144 (Grant me understanding); Habakkuk 2:5-11 (Those who heap up what is not theirs); John 8:39-47 (True children of Abraham) (New English Translation)

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November 2, 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

Psalm 119:137-144

צ (Tsade)

¹³⁷You are just, O Lord,
and your judgments are fair.
¹³⁸The rules you impose are just,^[a]
and absolutely reliable.
¹³⁹My zeal^[b] consumes^[c] me,
for my enemies forget your instructions.^[d]
¹⁴⁰Your word is absolutely pure,
and your servant loves it.
¹⁴¹I am insignificant and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴²Your justice endures,^[e]
and your law is reliable.^[f]
¹⁴³Distress and hardship confront^[g] me,
yet I find delight in your commands.
¹⁴⁴Your rules remain just.^[h]
Give me insight so that I can live.^[i]

Habakkuk 2:5-11

⁵Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man!^[a]
His appetite^[b] is as big as Sheol’s;^[c]
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers^[d] all the nations;
he seizes^[e] all peoples.

The Proud Babylonians Are as Good as Dead

⁶“But all these nations will someday taunt him^[f]
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings:^[g]
‘Woe to the one who accumulates^[h] what does not belong to him
(How long will this go on?)^[i]—
he who gets rich by extortion!’^[j]
⁷Your creditors will suddenly attack;^[k]
those who terrify you will spring into action,^[l]
and they will rob you.^[m]
⁸Because you robbed many countries,^[n]
all who are left among the nations^[o] will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities,^[p] and those who live in them.
⁹The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead.^[q]

He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster.^[r]
¹⁰Your schemes will bring shame to your house.
Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct.^[s]
¹¹For the stones in the walls will cry out,
and the wooden rafters will answer back.^[t]

Footnotes

Habakkuk 2:5 tn Heb “Indeed wine betrays a proud man and he does not dwell.” The meaning of the last verb, “dwell,” is uncertain. Many take it as a denominative of the noun נָוָה (navah, “dwelling place”). In this case it would carry the idea, “he does not settle down,” and would picture the drunkard as restless (cf. NIV “never at rest”; NASB “does not stay at home”). Some relate the verb to an Arabic cognate and translate the phrase as “he will not succeed, reach his goal.”sn The Babylonian tyrant is the proud, restless man described in this line as the last line of the verse, with its reference to the conquest of the nations, makes clear. Wine is probably a metaphor for imperialistic success. The more success the Babylonians experience, the more greedy they become just as a drunkard wants more and more wine to satisfy his thirst. But eventually this greed will lead to their downfall, for God will not tolerate such imperialism and will judge the Babylonians appropriately (vv. 6-20).
Habakkuk 2:5 tn Heb “who opens wide like Sheol his throat.” Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in a physical sense, meaning “throat,” which in turn is figurative for the appetite. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 11-12.
Habakkuk 2:5 sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead. In ancient Canaanite thought Death was a powerful god whose appetite was never satisfied. In the OT Sheol/Death, though not deified, is personified as greedy and as having a voracious appetite. See Prov 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; also see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 168.
Habakkuk 2:5 tn Heb “he gathers for himself.”
Habakkuk 2:5 tn Heb “he collects for himself.”
Habakkuk 2:6 tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.
Habakkuk 2:6 tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”
Habakkuk 2:6 tn Or “increases.”
Habakkuk 2:6 tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.
Habakkuk 2:6 tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.
Habakkuk 2:7 tn Heb “Will not your creditors suddenly rise up?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation. sn Your creditors will suddenly attack. The Babylonians are addressed directly here. They have robbed and terrorized others, but now the situation will be reversed as their creditors suddenly attack them.
Habakkuk 2:7 tn Heb “[Will not] the ones who make you tremble awake?”
Habakkuk 2:7 tn Heb “and you will become their plunder.”
Habakkuk 2:8 tn Or “nations.”
Habakkuk 2:8 tn Or “peoples.”
Habakkuk 2:8 tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.
Habakkuk 2:9 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
Habakkuk 2:9 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.” sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.
Habakkuk 2:10 tn Heb “you planned shame for your house, cutting off many nations, and sinning [against] your life.”
Habakkuk 2:11 sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.

John 8:39-47

³⁹They answered him,^[a] “Abraham is our father!”^[b] Jesus replied,^[c] “If you are^[d] Abraham’s children, you would be doing^[e] the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰But now you are trying^[f] to kill me, a man who has told you^[g] the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this!^[h] ⁴¹You people^[i] are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then^[j] they said to Jesus,^[k] “We were not born as a result of immorality!^[l] We have only one Father, God himself.” ⁴²Jesus replied,^[m] “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.^[n] I^[o] have not come on my own initiative,^[p] but he^[q] sent me. ⁴³Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept^[r] my teaching.^[s] ⁴⁴You people^[t] are from^[u] your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.^[v] He^[w] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth,^[x] because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies,^[y] he speaks according to his own nature,^[z] because he is a liar and the father of lies.^[aa] ⁴⁵But because I am telling you^[ab] the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Who among you can prove me guilty^[ac] of any sin?^[ad] If I am telling you^[ae] the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷The one who belongs to^[af] God listens and responds^[ag] to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond,^[ah] because you don’t belong to God.”^[ai]

Footnotes

John 8:39 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”
John 8:39 tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”
John 8:39 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
John 8:39 tc Although most mss (C W Θ Ψ 0250 ƒ^1,13 33 M) have the imperfect ἦτε (ēte, “you were”) here, making this sentence a proper second class condition, the harder reading, ἐστε (este, “you are”), is found in the better witnesses (P^66,75 א B D L 070 lat).
John 8:39 tc Some significant mss (P⁶⁶ B* [700]) have the present imperative ποιεῖτε (poieite) here: “If you are Abraham’s children, then do,” while many others (א² C K L N Δ Ψ ƒ^1,13 33 565 579 892 pm) add the contingent particle ἄν (an) to ἐποιεῖτε (epoieite) making it a more proper second class condition by Attic standards. The simple ἐποιεῖτε without the ἄν is the hardest reading, and is found in some excellent witnesses (P⁷⁵ א* B² D W Γ Θ 070 0250 1424 pm).tn Or “you would do.”
John 8:40 tn Grk “seeking.”
John 8:40 tn Grk “has spoken to you.”
John 8:40 tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.
John 8:41 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
John 8:41 tc ‡ Significant and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sy^s,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; P^66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 ƒ¹³ 33 M). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁸ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
John 8:41 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
John 8:41 sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.
John 8:42 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
John 8:42 tn Or “I came from God and have arrived.”
John 8:42 tn Grk “For I.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
John 8:42 tn Grk “from myself.”
John 8:42 tn Grk “that one” (referring to God).
John 8:43 tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.
John 8:43 tn Grk “my word.”
John 8:44 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.
John 8:44 tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).
John 8:44 tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”
John 8:44 tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).
John 8:44 tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).
John 8:44 tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”
John 8:44 tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”
John 8:44 tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”
John 8:45 tn Or “because I tell you.”
John 8:46 tn Or “can convict me.”
John 8:46 tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”
John 8:46 tn Or “if I tell you.”
John 8:47 tn Grk “who is of.”
John 8:47 tn Grk “to God hears” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).
John 8:47 tn Grk “you do not hear” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).
John 8:47 tn Grk “you are not of God.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

צ (Tsade)

Footnotes

The Proud Babylonians Are as Good as Dead

Footnotes

Footnotes