◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / 1 Samuel 2:1-10 (My heart exults); 1 Samuel 3:1-18 (God speaks to Samuel); Mark 12:1-12 (The stone which the builders rejected) (New English Translation)

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November 13, 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

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2 Hannah prayed,^[a]

“My heart has rejoiced^[b] in the Lord;
my horn^[c] has been raised high because of the Lord.
I have loudly denounced^[d] my enemies.
Indeed I rejoice in your deliverance.
²No one is holy^[e] like the Lord!
There is no one other than you!
There is no rock^[f] like our God!
³Don’t keep speaking^[g] so arrogantly.^[h]
Proud talk should not^[i] come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God who knows;
he^[j] evaluates what people do.
⁴The bows of warriors are shattered,
but those who stumbled have taken on strength.^[k]
⁵The well fed hire themselves out to earn food,
but the hungry no longer lack.^[l]
Even^[m] the barren woman has given birth to seven,^[n]
but the one with many children has declined.^[o]
⁶The Lord both kills and gives life;
he brings down to the grave^[p] and raises up.^[q]
⁷The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy;
he humbles and he exalts.
⁸He lifts the weak^[r] from the dust;
he raises^[s] the poor from the ash heap
to seat them with princes—
he bestows on them an honored position.^[t]
The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord—
he placed the world on them.
⁹He watches over^[u] his holy ones,^[v]
but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,^[w]
for it is not by one’s own^[x] strength that one prevails.
¹⁰The Lord shatters^[y] his adversaries;^[z]
he thunders against them from^[aa] the heavens.
The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.
He will strengthen^[ab] his king
and exalt the power^[ac] of his anointed one.”^[ad]

Footnotes

1 Samuel 2:1 tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.
1 Samuel 2:1 tn The verb עָלַץ (ʿalats) is a fientive verb. (Some emotion verbs in Hebrew are stative and some are fientive.) The Qal perfect form of a fientive verb is past or perfective (past action with a result that continues into the present). The LXX renders “my heart was strengthened.”
1 Samuel 2:1 sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.
1 Samuel 2:1 tn Heb “my mouth has opened wide against.”
1 Samuel 2:2 sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.
1 Samuel 2:2 tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”
1 Samuel 2:3 tn Heb “Do not do a lot; do [not] speak.” The two verbs are understood together to refer to abundant speaking.
1 Samuel 2:3 tn Heb “proudly, proudly.” If MT is original, the repetition of the word is for emphasis, stressing the arrogance of those addressed. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some other textual witnesses do not reflect the repetition, suggesting that the Hebrew text may be dittographic.
1 Samuel 2:3 tn The negative element, “not,” is understood to reapply from the first sentence through the poetic technique of ellipsis and double duty.
1 Samuel 2:3 tc The translation assumes the reading of the Qere וְלוֹ (v^elo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (v^eloʾ, “and not”).tn HALOT cites three possibilities for the phrase. Reading the Niphal verb as passive to the Qal meaning (“to examine, check”) and reading the Qere וְלוֹ (v^elo, “and by him”): “actions [are] tested by him.” Taking the Niphal verb to mean “to measure up, be in order, be correct” (cf. Ezek 18:25, 29; 33:17, 20) and reading the Qere וְלוֹ (v^elo): “his [God’s] actions are in order.” Taking the verb as in the previous case but reading the Kethiv וְלֹא (v^eloʾ) and taking the noun עֲלִלוֹת (ʿalilot) as a pejorative: “[disgraceful] actions have no place.” (HALOT s.v. תכן). The translation agrees with the first option and translates the verb with active instead of passive voice.
1 Samuel 2:4 tn Heb “stumblers have put on strength.” Because of the contrast between the prior and current condition, the participle has been translated with past tense. The Hebrew metaphor is a picture of getting dressed with (“putting on”) strength like clothing.
1 Samuel 2:5 tn By implication these lines refer to those formerly well-fed and those formerly hungry.
1 Samuel 2:5 tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ʿad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.
1 Samuel 2:5 sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.
1 Samuel 2:5 tn Or “languished.”
1 Samuel 2:6 tn Heb “Sheol”; NAB “the nether world”; CEV “the world of the dead.”
1 Samuel 2:6 tn The first three verbs are participles; the last is a preterite which is normally past consecutive. It is rare, even in poetry, for a preterite verb to follow a participle. The English translations all render the last verb as a participle. They either reason that the preterite continues the force of the participle or assume that it should be repointed as a simple vav plus imperfect (which can be habitual present). If the participles are understood as substantival, then the latter half might mean “the Lord…is one who brings down to [the point of] the grave and then raised up.”
1 Samuel 2:8 tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”
1 Samuel 2:8 tn The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.
1 Samuel 2:8 tn Heb “he makes them inherit a seat of honor.”
1 Samuel 2:9 tn Heb “guards the feet of.” The expression means that God watches over and protects the godly in all of their activities and movements. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.
1 Samuel 2:9 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the plural (“his holy ones”) rather than the singular (“his holy one”) of the Kethib.
1 Samuel 2:9 tc The LXX begins the verse differently, “granting the prayer to the one who prays; he blessed the years of the righteous.”
1 Samuel 2:9 tn Heb “For not by strength a person prevails.” Since the Lord’s strength is apparent in the context, the translation adds “one’s own” for clarity.
1 Samuel 2:10 tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.
1 Samuel 2:10 tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib. The LXX adds material very similar to Jer 9:23-24. “the Lord is holy. Let not the wise boast in his wisdom, and let not let the strong boast in his strength, and let not let the rich boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this: to understand and know the Lord, and to practice justice and righteousness in the midst of the land.” The Greek text of Jeremiah uses different words for “wise” and “strong” and closes by referring to the Lord as one who performs justice, etc. and whose will is in these things.
1 Samuel 2:10 tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”
1 Samuel 2:10 tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.
1 Samuel 2:10 tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”
1 Samuel 2:10 tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.

1 Samuel 3:1-18

The Call of Samuel

3 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision.^[a] Receiving a message from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

²Eli’s eyes had begun to fail, so that he was unable to see well. At that time he was lying down in his place, ³and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there. ⁴The Lord called to Samuel, and he replied, “Here I am!” ⁵Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli^[b] said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went back and lay down. ⁶The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli^[c] said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the Lord’s messages had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Then the Lord called Samuel a third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me!” Eli then realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. ⁹So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

¹⁰Then the Lord came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening!” ¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, “Look! I am about to do something in Israel;^[d] when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle. ¹²On that day I will carry out^[e] against Eli everything that I spoke about his house—from start to finish! ¹³You^[f] should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of^[g] the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God,^[h] and he did not rebuke them. ¹⁴Therefore I swore an oath to the house of Eli, ‘The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven by sacrifice or by grain offering.’”

¹⁵So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. ¹⁶However, Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He replied, “Here I am.” ¹⁷Eli^[i] said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely^[j] if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli^[k] said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.”^[l]

Footnotes

1 Samuel 3:1 tn Heb “before Eli.”
1 Samuel 3:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 3:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 3:11 tn The Hebrew text adds “so that” here, formally connecting this clause with the next.
1 Samuel 3:12 tn Or “fulfill.”
1 Samuel 3:13 tc The MT has וְהִגַּדְתִּי לוֹ (v^ehiggadti lo). The verb is Hiphil perfect first person common singular, and apparently the conjunction should be understood as vav consecutive (“I will say to him”). But the future reference makes more sense if Samuel is the subject. This would require dropping the final י (yod) and reading the second person masculine singular וְהִגַּדְתָּ (v^ehiggadta). Although there is no external evidence to support it, this reading has been adopted in the present translation. The alternative is to understand the MT to mean “I said to him,” but for this we would expect the preterite with vav consecutive.
1 Samuel 3:13 tn The translation understands the preposition to have a causal sense. However, the preposition could also be understood as the beth pretii, indicating in a broad sense the price attached to this action. So GKC 380 §119.p.
1 Samuel 3:13 tc The translation follows the LXX θεόν (theon, “God”) rather than the MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”). The MT seems to mean “they were bringing a curse on themselves” (cf. ASV, NASB). But this meaning is problematic in part because the verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to curse,” not “to bring a curse on,” and in part because it takes an accusative object rather than the equivalent of a dative. This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” Why would the ancient copyists alter the original statement about Eli’s sons cursing God to the less objectionable statement that they brought a curse on themselves? Some argue that the scribes were concerned that such a direct and blasphemous affront against God could occur without an immediate response of judgment from God. Therefore they changed the text by deleting two letters א and י (alef and yod) from the word for “God,” with the result that the text then read “to them.” If this ancient scribal claim is accepted as accurate, it implies that the MT here is secondary. The present translation follows the LXX (κακολογοῦντες θεόν, kakologountes theon) and a few mss of the Old Latin in reading “God” rather than the MT “to them.” Cf. also NAB, NRSV, NLT.
1 Samuel 3:17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 3:17 tn Heb “So God will do to you and thus he will add.” The verbal forms in this pronouncement are imperfects, not jussives, but the statement has the force of a curse or warning. One could translate, “May God do to you and thus may he add.”
1 Samuel 3:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 3:18 tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

Mark 12:1-12

The Parable of the Tenants

12 Then^[a] he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard.^[b] He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then^[c] he leased it to tenant farmers^[d] and went on a journey. ²At harvest time he sent a slave^[e] to the tenants to collect from them^[f] his portion of the crop.^[g] ³But^[h] those tenants^[i] seized his slave,^[j] beat him,^[k] and sent him away empty-handed.^[l] ⁴So^[m] he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously. ⁵He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed. ⁶He had one left, his one dear son.^[n] Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸So^[o] they seized him,^[p] killed him, and threw his body^[q] out of the vineyard.^[r] ⁹What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy^[s] those tenants and give the vineyard to others.^[t] ¹⁰Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.^[u]
¹¹This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”^[v]

¹²Now^[w] they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So^[x] they left him and went away.^[y]

Footnotes

Mark 12:1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Mark 12:1 sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.
Mark 12:1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Mark 12:1 sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.
Mark 12:2 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.sn This slave (along with the others) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.
Mark 12:2 tn Grk “from the tenants,” but this is redundant in English, so the pronoun (“them”) was used in the translation.
Mark 12:2 tn Grk “from the fruits of the vineyard.”
Mark 12:3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
Mark 12:3 tn Grk “But they”; the referent (the tenants, v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Mark 12:3 tn Grk “seizing him, they beat and sent away empty-handed.” The referent of the direct object of “seizing” (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The objects of the verbs “beat” and “sent away” have been supplied in the translation to conform to English style. Greek often omits direct objects when they are clear from the context.
Mark 12:3 sn The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.
Mark 12:3 sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit—and thus neither was the nation of Israel.
Mark 12:4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.
Mark 12:6 tn Grk “one beloved son.” See comment at Mark 1:11.sn The owner’s decision to send his one dear son represents God sending Jesus.
Mark 12:8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
Mark 12:8 tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.
Mark 12:8 tn Grk “him.”
Mark 12:8 sn Throwing the heir’s body out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.
Mark 12:9 sn The statement that the owner will come and destroy those tenants is a promise of judgment; see Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44.
Mark 12:9 sn The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to others. This eventually looks to Gentile inclusion; see Eph 2:11-22.
Mark 12:10 tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kephalē gōnias) refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Matt 21:42; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 in Mark 12:10-11 is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.
Mark 12:11 sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.
Mark 12:12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to introduce a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.
Mark 12:12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
Mark 12:12 sn The point of the parable in Mark 12:1-12 is that the leaders of the nation have been rejected by God and the vineyard (v. 9, referring to the nation and its privileged status) will be taken from them and given to others (an allusion to the Gentiles).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

Footnotes

The Call of Samuel

Footnotes

The Parable of the Tenants

Footnotes