◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 34:1-8 [19-22] (Taste and see); 2 Kings 20:12-19 (God’s word comes to Hezekiah); Hebrews 7:1-10 (The priestly order of Melchizedek) (New English Translation)

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October 21, 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 34:1-8

Psalm 34^[a]

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.^[b]

34 I will praise^[c] the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.^[d]
²I will boast^[e] in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.^[f]
³Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise^[g] his name together.
⁴I sought the Lord’s help^[h] and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.^[i]
⁶This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him^[j] from all his troubles.
⁷The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s^[k] loyal followers^[l] and delivers them.^[m]
⁸Taste^[n] and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed^[o] is the one^[p] who takes shelter in him.^[q]

Footnotes

Psalm 34:1 sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.
Psalm 34:1 tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”sn Pretended to be insane. The psalm heading appears to refer to the account in 1 Sam 21:10-15 which tells how David, fearful that King Achish of Gath might kill him, pretended to be insane in hopes that the king would simply send him away. The psalm heading names the king Abimelech, not Achish, suggesting that the tradition is confused on this point. However, perhaps “Abimelech” was a royal title, rather than a proper name. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 278.
Psalm 34:1 tn Heb “bless.”
Psalm 34:1 tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”
Psalm 34:2 tn Heb “my soul will boast”; or better, “let my soul boast.” Following the cohortative form in v. 1, it is likely that the prefixed verbal form here is jussive.
Psalm 34:2 tn The two prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best taken as jussives, for the psalmist is calling his audience to worship (see v. 3).
Psalm 34:3 tn Or “exalt.”
Psalm 34:4 tn Heb “I sought the Lord.”
Psalm 34:5 tc The translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “they looked to him and were radiant; let their faces not be ashamed.” The MT reads the first verb as a perfect (הִבִּיטוּ, hibbitu), which would be past time, while the LXX (supported by Aquila, the Syriac, Jerome, and some medieval Hebrew mss) reads an imperative (הַבִּיטוּ, habbitu). The MT reads the second verb as a vav plus perfect, while the LXX reads it as an imperative, again a difference of the initial vowel. The third verb is a jussive preceded by אַל (ʾal), which supports reading the first two as imperatives. The second masculine plural pronoun (“your faces”) of the LXX and the Syriac, matches this understanding of the preceding verbs. The MT reading (“their faces”) is consistent with its view of the previous verbs. The reading adopted here interprets the verse as interrupting a testimony given to the congregation with an admonition based on that testimony.
Psalm 34:6 tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.
Psalm 34:7 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 34:7 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 34:7 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.
Psalm 34:8 tn This verb is normally used of tasting food, as in eating a little bit of food (1 Sam 14:43; Jonah 3:7) or evaluating it (Job 12:11; 34:3). The two references to the physical senses stand for invitation and realization. Even a small or beginning experience of God reveals that he is good.
Psalm 34:8 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
Psalm 34:8 tn Heb “man.” The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.”
Psalm 34:8 tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

Psalm 34:19-22

¹⁹The godly^[a] face many dangers,^[b]
but the Lord saves^[c] them^[d] from each one of them.
²⁰He protects^[e] all his bones;^[f]
not one of them is broken.^[g]
²¹Evil people self-destruct;^[h]
those who hate the godly are punished.^[i]
²²The Lord rescues his servants;^[j]
all who take shelter in him escape punishment.^[k]

Footnotes

Psalm 34:19 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.
Psalm 34:19 tn Or “trials.”
Psalm 34:19 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.
Psalm 34:19 tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.
Psalm 34:20 tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.
Psalm 34:20 tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.
Psalm 34:20 sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).
Psalm 34:21 tn Heb “evil kills the wicked [one].” The singular form is representative; the typical evil person is envisioned. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action.
Psalm 34:21 tn Heb “are guilty,” but the verb is sometimes used metonymically with the meaning “to suffer the consequences of guilt,” the effect being substituted for the cause.
Psalm 34:22 tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.
Psalm 34:22 tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:19).

2 Kings 20:12-19

Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah

¹²At that time Merodach Baladan^[a] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent messengers with letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill. ¹³Hezekiah welcomed^[b] them and showed them his whole storehouse, with its silver, gold, spices, and high quality olive oil, as well as his armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.^[c] ¹⁴Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” ¹⁵Isaiah^[d] asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything^[e] in my treasuries.” ¹⁶Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the Lord’s message, ¹⁷‘Look, a time is^[f] coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father^[g] will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s message which you have announced is appropriate.”^[h] Then he added,^[i] “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”^[j]

Hebrews 7:1-10

The Nature of Melchizedek’s Priesthood

7 Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him.^[a] ²To him^[b] also Abraham apportioned a tithe^[c] of everything.^[d] His name first means^[e] king of righteousness, then king of Salem,^[f] that is, king of peace. ³Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. ⁴But see how great he must be, if^[g] Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe^[h] of his plunder. ⁵And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office^[i] have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen,^[j] although they too are descendants of Abraham.^[k] ⁶But Melchizedek^[l] who does not share their ancestry^[m] collected a tithe^[n] from Abraham and blessed^[o] the one who possessed the promise. ⁷Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior, ⁸and in one case tithes are received by mortal men, while in the other by him who is affirmed to be alive. ⁹And it could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid a tithe through Abraham. ¹⁰For he was still in his ancestor Abraham’s loins^[p] when Melchizedek met him.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 34[a]

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.[b]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah

Footnotes

The Nature of Melchizedek’s Priesthood

Footnotes

Psalm 34^[a]

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.^[b]