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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 140

Psalm 140^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

140 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.^[b]
Protect me from violent men,^[c]
²who plan ways to harm me.^[d]
All day long they stir up conflict.^[e]
³Their tongues wound like a serpent;^[f]
a viper’s^[g] venom is behind^[h] their lips. (Selah)
⁴O Lord, shelter me from the power^[i] of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.^[j]
⁵Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men^[k] spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
⁷O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,^[l]
you shield^[m] my head in the day of battle.
⁸O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.^[n]
Do not allow their^[o] plan to succeed when they attack.^[p] (Selah)
⁹As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by^[q] their lips overwhelm them.
¹⁰May he rain down^[r] fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.^[s]
¹¹A slanderer^[t] will not endure on^[u] the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.^[v]
¹²I know^[w] that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.^[x]
¹³Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.

Footnotes

Psalm 140:1 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
Psalm 140:2 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
Psalm 140:2 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (y^egaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
Psalm 140:3 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “under.”
Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “hands.”
Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
Psalm 140:5 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khov^elim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “cover.”
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).
Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).
Psalm 140:9 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
Psalm 140:10 tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.
Psalm 140:10 tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition ב (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “be established in.”
Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 140:12 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.
Psalm 140:12 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”

Esther 4

Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People

4 Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he^[a] tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud^[b] and bitter voice. ²But he went no farther than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. ³Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced^[c] there was considerable^[d] mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow.^[e] Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic^[f] of many. ⁴When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior,^[g] the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them. ⁵So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service,^[h] and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior.^[i] ⁶So Hathach went to Mordecai at the plaza of the city in front of the king’s gate. ⁷Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed. ⁸He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated^[j] in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people. ⁹So Hathach returned and related Mordecai’s instructions^[k] to Esther.

¹⁰Then Esther replied to Hathach with instructions for Mordecai: ¹¹“All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable^[l] to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court—that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared.^[m] Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days.”

¹²When Esther’s reply^[n] was conveyed to Mordecai, ¹³he^[o] said to take back this answer to Esther: “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew^[p] who will escape. ¹⁴If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear^[q] from another source,^[r] while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be^[s] that you have achieved royal status^[t] for such a time as this!”

¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast on my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I^[u] will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law.^[v] If I perish, I perish.”

¹⁷So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

Footnotes

Esther 4:1 tn Heb “Mordecai.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style.
Esther 4:1 tn Heb “great.”
Esther 4:3 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
Esther 4:3 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
Esther 4:3 sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.
Esther 4:3 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
Esther 4:4 tn The words “about Mordecai’s behavior” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NIV, NLT “about Mordecai”; TEV, CEV “what Mordecai was doing.”
Esther 4:5 tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”
Esther 4:5 tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”
Esther 4:8 tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”
Esther 4:9 tn Heb “the words of Mordecai” (so KJV); NIV, NRSV, CEV “what Mordecai had said”; NLT “with Mordecai’s message.”
Esther 4:11 tn Heb “one is his law”; NASB “he (the king NIV) has but one law”
Esther 4:11 tn Heb “and he will live”; KJV, ASV “that he may live”; NIV “and spare his life.”
Esther 4:12 tn Heb “the words of Esther”; TEV, NLT “Esther’s message.”
Esther 4:13 tn Heb “Mordecai.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style.
Esther 4:13 tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”
Esther 4:14 tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”
Esther 4:14 tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.
Esther 4:14 tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.
Esther 4:14 tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”
Esther 4:16 tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.
Esther 4:16 tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

1 Peter 1:3-9

New Birth to Joy and Holiness

³Blessed be^[a] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴that is,^[b] into^[c] an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, ⁵who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶This brings you great joy,^[d] although you may have to suffer^[e] for a short time in various trials. ⁷Such trials show the proven character of your faith,^[f] which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away^[g]—and will bring praise^[h] and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.^[i] ⁸You^[j] have not seen him, but you love him. You^[k] do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice^[l] with an indescribable and glorious^[m] joy, ⁹because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Footnotes

1 Peter 1:3 tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (eulogētos) and the author’s intention at this point in the epistle must both come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. Two factors of the author’s style come into play. At this point the author is describing the reality of believers’ salvation and will soon explain believers’ necessary response; this is in emulation of Pauline style which generally follows the same logical order (although the author here discusses the reality in a much more compressed fashion). On the other hand, when imitating the Pauline greeting, which is normally verbless, the author inserts the optative (see v. 2 above). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the fact that the author in the immediate context has used the optative when imitating a Pauline stylized statement would argue for the optative here. The translation uses the term “blessed” in the sense “worthy of praise” as this is in keeping with the traditional translation of berakah psalms. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3.
1 Peter 1:4 tn The phrase “that is” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the imperishable inheritance is in apposition to the living hope of v. 3.
1 Peter 1:4 tn Grk “into,” continuing the description of v. 3 without an “and.”
1 Peter 1:6 tn Grk “in which you exult.”
1 Peter 1:6 tc ‡ The oldest and best witnesses lack the verb (א* B, along with 1448 1611 sy^h), but most mss (P⁷² א² A C P Ψ 048 33 1739 M) have ἐστίν here (estin, “[if] it is [necessary]”). The verb looks to be an explanatory gloss. But if no verb is present, this opens up the time frame in the author’s mind even more, since the conditional particle for both the first class condition and the fourth class condition is εἰ (ei). That may well be what was on the author’s mind, as evidenced by some of his other allusions to suffering in this little letter (3:14, 17). NA²⁷ has the verb in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity, while NA²⁸ omits the brackets altogether.tn Grk “Though now, for a little while if necessary, you may have to suffer.”
1 Peter 1:7 tn Or “genuineness,” the result of testing. On the other hand it may denote the process of testing: “that the proving of your faith…may bring praise.”sn The author is not asserting that the quality of the readers’ faith is in doubt and will be proven by future trials. He declares their faith to be a present reality in v. 5 and 9, so in context v. 8 affirms that their faith is indeed genuine.
1 Peter 1:7 tn Grk “which is passing away but is tested by fire,” describing gold in a lesser-to-greater comparison with faith’s proven character.
1 Peter 1:7 tn Grk “that the testing of your faith…may be found unto praise,” showing the result of the trials mentioned in v. 6.
1 Peter 1:7 tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 13).
1 Peter 1:8 tn Grk “whom not having seen, you love.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
1 Peter 1:8 tn Grk “in whom not now seeing…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
1 Peter 1:8 tn Grk “in whom not now seeing but believing, you exult.” The participles have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.
1 Peter 1:8 tn Grk “glorified.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 140[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People

Footnotes

New Birth to Joy and Holiness

Footnotes

Psalm 140^[a]