◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 75 (People will tell of your wondrous deeds); Job 41:1-11 (God confronts Job); Hebrews 6:13-20 (The hope of God’s promise) (New English Translation)

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October 19, 2021

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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 75

Psalm 75^[a]

For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;^[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.

75 We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks.
You reveal your presence;^[c]
people tell about your amazing deeds.
²God says,^[d]
“At the appointed times,^[e]
I judge^[f] fairly.
³When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear,^[g]
I make its pillars secure.”^[h] (Selah)
⁴^[i] I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,”
and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory.^[j]
⁵Do not be so certain you have won.^[k]
Do not speak with your head held so high.^[l]
⁶For victory does not come from the east or west,
or from the wilderness.^[m]
⁷For God is the judge.^[n]
He brings one down and exalts another.^[o]
⁸For the Lord holds in his hand a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices,^[p]
and pours it out.^[q]
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”^[r]
⁹As for me, I will continually tell what you have done;^[s]
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
¹⁰God says,^[t]
“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;
the godly will be victorious.”^[u]

Footnotes

Psalm 75:1 sn Psalm 75. The psalmist celebrates God’s just rule, which guarantees that the godly will be vindicated and the wicked destroyed.
Psalm 75:1 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-59.
Psalm 75:1 tn Heb “and near [is] your name.”
Psalm 75:2 tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in vv. 2-3.
Psalm 75:2 tn Heb “when I take an appointed time.”
Psalm 75:2 tn Heb “I, [in] fairness, I judge.” The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically executes fair judgment as he governs the world. One could take this as referring to an anticipated (future) judgment, “I will judge.”
Psalm 75:3 tn Heb “melt.”
Psalm 75:3 tn The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically prevents the world from being overrun by chaos. One could take this as referring to an anticipated event, “I will make its pillars secure.”
Psalm 75:4 tn The identity of the speaker in vv. 4-6 is unclear. The present translation assumes that the psalmist, who also speaks in vv. 7-9 (where God/the Lord is spoken of in the third person) here addresses the proud and warns them of God’s judgment. The presence of כִּי (ki, “for”) at the beginning of both vv. 6-7 seems to indicate that vv. 4-9 are a unit. However, there is no formal indication of a new speaker in v. 4 (or in v. 10, where God appears to speak). Another option is to see God speaking in vv. 2-6 and v. 10 and to take only vv. 7-9 as the words of the psalmist. In this case one must interpret כִּי at the beginning of v. 7 in an asseverative or emphatic sense (“surely; indeed”).
Psalm 75:4 tn Heb “do not lift up a horn.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Here the idiom seems to refer to an arrogant attitude that assumes victory has been achieved.
Psalm 75:5 tn Heb “do not lift up on high your horn.”
Psalm 75:5 tn Heb “[do not] speak with unrestrained neck.” The negative particle is understood in this line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).sn The image behind the language of vv. 4-5 is that of a powerful wild ox that confidently raises its head before its enemies.
Psalm 75:6 tn Heb “for not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness of the mountains.” If one follows this reading the sentence is elliptical. One must supply “does help come,” or some comparable statement. However, it is possible to take הָרִים (harim) as a Hiphil infinitive from רוּם (rum), the same verb used in vv. 4-5 of “lifting up” a horn. In this case one may translate the form as “victory.” In this case the point is that victory does not come from alliances with other nations.
Psalm 75:7 tn Or “judges.”
Psalm 75:7 tn The imperfects here emphasize the generalizing nature of the statement.
Psalm 75:8 tn Heb “for a cup [is] in the hand of the Lord, and wine foams, it is full of a spiced drink.” The noun מֶסֶךְ (mesekh) refers to a “mixture” of wine and spices.
Psalm 75:8 tn Heb “and he pours out from this.”
Psalm 75:8 tn Heb “surely its dregs they slurp up and drink, all the wicked of the earth.”sn The psalmist pictures God as forcing the wicked to gulp down an intoxicating drink that will leave them stunned and vulnerable. Divine judgment is also depicted this way in Ps 60:3; Isa 51:17-23; Hab 2:16.
Psalm 75:9 tn Heb “I will declare forever.” The object needs to be supplied; God’s just judgment is in view.
Psalm 75:10 tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in v. 10.
Psalm 75:10 tn Heb “and all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, the horns of the godly will be lifted up.” The imagery of the wild ox’s horn is once more utilized (see vv. 4-5).

Job 41:1-11

The Description of Leviathan

41 (40:25)^[a] “Can you pull in^[b] Leviathan with a hook,
and tie down^[c] its tongue with a rope?
²Can you put a cord through its nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
³Will it make numerous supplications to you,^[d]
will it speak to you with tender words?^[e]
⁴Will it make a pact^[f] with you,
so you could take it^[g] as your slave for life?
⁵Can you play^[h] with it, like a bird,
or tie it on a leash^[i] for your girls?
⁶Will partners^[j] bargain^[k] for it?
Will they divide it up^[l] among the merchants?
⁷Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
⁸If you lay your hand on it,
you will remember^[m] the fight.
Do not do it again!^[n]
⁹(41:1)^[o] See, his expectation is wrong,^[p]
he is laid low even at the sight of it.^[q]
¹⁰Is it not fierce^[r] when it is awakened?
Who is he, then, who can stand before it?^[s]
¹¹Who has confronted^[t] me that I should repay?^[u]
Everything under heaven belongs to me!^[v]

Footnotes

Job 41:1 sn Beginning with 41:1, the verse numbers through 41:9 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 41:1 ET = 40:25 HT, 41:2 ET = 40:26 HT, etc., through 41:34 ET = 41:26 HT. The Hebrew verse numbers in the remainder of the chapter differ from the verse numbers in the English Bible. Beginning with 42:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
Job 41:1 tn The verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh) means “to extract from the water; to fish.” The question here includes the use of a hook to fish the creature out of the water so that its jaws can be tied safely.
Job 41:1 tn The verb שָׁקַע (shaqaʿ) means “to cause to sink,” if it is connected with the word in Amos 8:8 and 9:5. But it may have the sense of “to tie; to bind.” If the rope were put around the tongue and jaw, binding tightly would be the sense.
Job 41:3 tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.
Job 41:3 tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.
Job 41:4 tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”
Job 41:4 tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”
Job 41:5 tn The Hebrew verb is שָׂחַק (sakhaq, “to sport; to trifle; to play,” Ps 104:26).
Job 41:5 tn The idea may include putting Leviathan on a leash. D. W. Thomas suggested on the basis of an Arabic cognate that it could be rendered “tie him with a string like a young sparrow” (“Job XL 29b: Text and Translation,” VT 14 [1964]: 114-16).
Job 41:6 tn The word חָבַּר (khabbar) is a hapax legomenon, but the meaning is “to associate” since it is etymologically related to the verb “to join together.” The idea is that fishermen usually work in companies or groups, and then divide up the catch when they come ashore—which involves bargaining.
Job 41:6 tn The word כָּרַה (karah) means “to sell.” With the preposition עַל (ʿal, “upon”) it has the sense “to bargain over something.”
Job 41:6 tn The verb means “to cut up; to divide up” in the sense of selling the dead body (see Exod 21:35). This will be between them and the merchants (כְּנַעֲנִים, k^enaʿanim).
Job 41:8 tn The verse uses two imperatives which can be interpreted in sequence: do this, and then this will happen.
Job 41:8 tc The LXX reads “You will lay a hand on it, [though] remembering the battle that [be]comes in its body, don’t let it happen again.” The LXX appear to have read the first verb as an imperfect, implying the addition of a yod, rather than an imperative. If that is correct, it could be read as another question in the series. Also the LXX reading “a hand” rather than “your hand” The LXX could imply a different verb division with the כ (kaf) of the pronominal suffix going instead with the following word. This doesn’t work in the MT, which reads an imperative, but the LXX assumes different vowels for the second verb, treating it as a participle. If these cues are correct, the verse may have originally read, “Will you lay a hand on it? Like one remembering the fight, do not do it again.”
Job 41:9 sn Job 41:9 in the English Bible is 41:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). From here to the end of the chapter the Hebrew verse numbers differ from those in the English Bible, with 41:10 ET = 41:2 HT, 41:11 ET = 41:3 HT, etc. See also the note on 41:1.
Job 41:9 tn The line is difficult. “His hope [= expectation]” must refer to any assailant who hopes or expects to capture the creature. Because there is no antecedent, Dhorme and others transpose it with the next verse. The point is that the man who thought he was sufficient to confront Leviathan soon finds his hope—his expectation—false (a derivative from the verb כָּזַב [kazav, “lie”] is used for a mirage).
Job 41:9 tn There is an interrogative particle in this line, which most commentators ignore. But others freely emend the MT. Gunkel, following the mythological approach, has “his appearance casts down even a god.” Cheyne likewise has: “even divine beings the fear of him brings low” (JQR 9 [1896/97]: 579). Pope has, “Were not the gods cast down at the sight of him?” There is no need to bring in this mythological element.
Job 41:10 sn The description is of the animal, not the hunter (or fisherman). Leviathan is so fierce that no one can take him on alone.
Job 41:10 tc MT has “before me” and can best be rendered as “Who then is he that can stand before me?” (ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT, NJPS). The following verse (11) favors the MT since both express the lesson to be learned from Leviathan: If a man cannot stand up to Leviathan, how can he stand up to its creator? The translation above has chosen to read the text as “before him” (cf. NRSV, NJB).
Job 41:11 tn The verb קָדַם (qadam) means “to come to meet; to come before; to confront” to the face.
Job 41:11 sn The verse seems an intrusion (and so E. Dhorme, H. H. Rowley, and many others change the pronouns to make it refer to the animal). But what the text is saying is that it is more dangerous to confront God than to confront this animal.
Job 41:11 tn This line also focuses on the sovereign God rather than Leviathan. H. H. Rowley, however, wants to change לִי־חוּא (li huʾ, “it [belongs] to me”) into לֹא הוּא (loʾ huʾ, “there is no one”). So it would say that there is no one under the whole heaven who could challenge Leviathan and live, rather than saying it is more dangerous to challenge God to make him repay.

Hebrews 6:13-20

¹³Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, ¹⁴saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.”^[a] ¹⁵And so by persevering, Abraham^[b] inherited the promise. ¹⁶For people^[c] swear by something greater than themselves,^[d] and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.^[e] ¹⁷In the same way^[f] God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable,^[g] and so he intervened with an oath, ¹⁸so that we who have found refuge in him^[h] may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. ¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,^[i] ²⁰where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.^[j]

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 75[a]

For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.

Footnotes

The Description of Leviathan

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 75^[a]

For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;^[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.