◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 77:1-2 11-20 (You have redeemed your people); 2 Kings 1:13-18; 2:3-5 (Ahaziah’s apostasy; Elijah’s farewell); Luke 9:21-27 (Following Jesus) (New English Translation)

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June 25, 2022

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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 77:1-2

Psalm 77^[a]

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

77 I will cry out to God^[b] and call for help.
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention^[c] to me.
²In my time of trouble I sought^[d] the Lord.
I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night.^[e]
I^[f] refused to be comforted.

Psalm 77:11-20

¹¹I will remember the works of the Lord.
Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago.^[a]
¹²I will think about all you have done;
I will reflect upon your deeds.”
¹³^[b] O God, your deeds are extraordinary.^[c]
What god can compare to our great God?^[d]
¹⁴You are the God who does amazing things;
you have revealed your strength among the nations.
¹⁵You delivered^[e] your people by your strength^[f]—
the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)
¹⁶The waters^[g] saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and trembled.^[h]
Yes, the depths of the sea^[i] shook with fear.^[j]
¹⁷The clouds poured down rain;^[k]
the skies thundered.^[l]
Yes, your arrows^[m] flashed about.
¹⁸Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;
the lightning bolts lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.^[n]
¹⁹You walked through the sea;^[o]
you passed through the surging waters,^[p]
but left no footprints.^[q]
²⁰You led your people like a flock of sheep,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Footnotes

Psalm 77:11 tn Heb “yes, I will remember from old your wonders.”sn The psalmist refuses to allow skepticism to win out. God has revealed himself to his people in tangible, incontrovertible ways in the past and the psalmist vows to remember the historical record as a source of hope for the future.
Psalm 77:13 sn Verses 13-20 are the content of the psalmist’s reflection (see vv. 11-12). As he thought about God’s work in Israel’s past, he reached the place where he could confidently cry out for God’s help (see v. 1).
Psalm 77:13 tn Heb “O God, in holiness [is] your way.” God’s “way” here refers to his actions. “Holiness” is used here in the sense of “set apart, unique,” rather than in a moral/ethical sense. As the next line and the next verse emphasize, God’s deeds are incomparable and set him apart as the one true God.
Psalm 77:13 tn Heb “Who [is] a great god like God?” The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “No one!”
Psalm 77:15 tn Or “redeemed.”
Psalm 77:15 tn Heb “with [your] arm.”
Psalm 77:16 tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.
Psalm 77:16 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.
Psalm 77:16 tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Psalm 77:16 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.
Psalm 77:17 tn Heb “water.”
Psalm 77:17 tn Heb “a sound the clouds gave.”
Psalm 77:17 tn The lightning accompanying the storm is portrayed as the Lord’s “arrows” (see v. 18).
Psalm 77:18 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.sn Verses 16-18 depict the Lord coming in the storm to battle his enemies and subdue the sea. There is no record of such a storm in the historical account of the Red Sea crossing. The language the psalmist uses here is stereotypical and originates in Canaanite myth, where the storm god Baal subdues the sea in his quest for kingship. The psalmist has employed the stereotypical imagery to portray the exodus vividly and at the same time affirm that it is not Baal who subdues the sea, but Yahweh.
Psalm 77:19 tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”
Psalm 77:19 tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”
Psalm 77:19 tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”

2 Kings 1:13-18

¹³The king^[a] sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell^[b] on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. ¹⁴Indeed,^[c] fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men.^[d] So now, please have respect for my life.” ¹⁵The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down^[e] with him to the king.

¹⁶Elijah said to the king,^[f] “This is what the Lord has said, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek a message? Therefore^[g] you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’”^[h]

¹⁷And he did die in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Elijah. In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son.^[i] ¹⁸The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^[j]

2 Kings 2:3-5

³Some members of the prophetic guild^[a] in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?”^[b] He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. ⁵Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

Luke 9:21-27

²¹But he forcefully commanded^[a] them not to tell this to anyone,^[b] ²²saying, “The Son of Man must suffer^[c] many things and be rejected by the elders,^[d] chief priests, and experts in the law,^[e] and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”^[f]

A Call to Discipleship

²³Then^[g] he said to them all,^[h] “If anyone wants to become my follower,^[i] he must deny^[j] himself, take up his cross daily,^[k] and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life^[l] will lose it,^[m] but whoever loses his life because of me^[n] will save it. ²⁵For what does it benefit a person^[o] if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶For whoever is ashamed^[p] of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person^[q] when he comes in his glory and in the glory^[r] of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷But I tell you most certainly,^[s] there are some standing here who will not^[t] experience^[u] death before they see the kingdom of God.”^[v]

Footnotes

Luke 9:21 tn The combination of the participle and verb ἐπιτιμήσας and παρήγγειλεν (epitimēsas and parēngeilen, “commanding, he ordered”) is a hendiadys that makes the instruction emphatic.
Luke 9:21 sn No explanation for the command not to tell this to anyone is given, but the central section of Luke, chapters 9-19, appears to reveal a reason. The disciples needed to understand who the Messiah really was and exactly what he would do before they were ready to proclaim Jesus as such. But they and the people had an expectation that needed some instruction to be correct.
Luke 9:22 sn The necessity that the Son of Man suffer is the particular point that needed emphasis, since for many 1st century Jews the Messiah was a glorious and powerful figure, not a suffering one.
Luke 9:22 sn Rejection in Luke is especially by the Jewish leadership (here elders, chief priests, and experts in the law), though in Luke 23 almost all will join in.
Luke 9:22 tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
Luke 9:22 sn The description of the Son of Man being rejected…killed, and…raised is the first of six passion summaries in Luke: 9:44; 17:25; 18:31-33; 24:7; 24:46-47.
Luke 9:23 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Luke 9:23 sn Here them all could be limited to the disciples, since Jesus was alone with them in v. 18. It could also be that by this time the crowd had followed and found him, and he addressed them, or this could be construed as a separate occasion from the discussion with the disciples in 9:18-22. The cost of discipleship is something Jesus was willing to tell both insiders and outsiders about. The rejection he felt would also fall on his followers.
Luke 9:23 tn Grk “to come after me.”
Luke 9:23 tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.
Luke 9:23 sn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.
Luke 9:24 tn Grk “his soul.” The Greek ψυχή (psuchē) has many different meanings depending on the context. The two primary meanings here are the earthly life (animate life, sometimes called “physical life”) and the inner life (the life that transcends the earthly life, sometimes called “the soul”). The fact that the Greek term can have both meanings creates in this verse both a paradox and a wordplay. The desire to preserve both aspects of ψυχή (psuchē) for oneself creates the tension here (cf. BDAG 1099 s.v. 1.a; 2.d,e). Translation of the Greek term ψυχή (psuchē) presents a particularly difficult problem in this verse. Most English versions since the KJV have translated the term “life.” This preserves the paradox of finding one’s “life” (in the sense of earthly life) while at the same time really losing it (in the sense of “soul” or transcendent inner life) and vice versa, but at the same time it obscures the wordplay that results from the same Greek word having multiple meanings. To translate as “soul,” however, gives the modern English reader the impression of the immortal soul at the expense of the earthly life. On the whole it is probably best to use the translation “life” and retain the paradox at the expense of the wordplay.
Luke 9:24 sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.
Luke 9:24 tn Or “for my sake.” The traditional rendering “for my sake” can be understood in the sense of “for my benefit,” but the Greek term ἕνεκα (heneka) indicates the cause or reason for something (BDAG 334 s.v. 1).
Luke 9:25 tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.
Luke 9:26 sn How one responds now to Jesus and his teaching is a reflection of how Jesus, as the Son of Man who judges, will respond then in the final judgment.
Luke 9:26 tn This pronoun (τοῦτον, touton) is in emphatic position in its own clause in the Greek text: “of that person the Son of Man will be ashamed…”
Luke 9:26 tn Grk “in the glory of him and of the Father and of the holy angels.” “Glory” is repeated here in the translation for clarity and smoothness because the literal phrase is unacceptably awkward in contemporary English.
Luke 9:27 tn Grk “I tell you truly” (λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, legō de humin alēthōs).
Luke 9:27 tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mē) is the strongest possible.
Luke 9:27 tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).
Luke 9:27 sn The meaning of the statement that some will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God is clear at one level, harder at another. Jesus predicts some will experience the kingdom before they die. When does this happen? (1) An initial fulfillment is the next event, the transfiguration. (2) It is also possible in Luke’s understanding that all but Judas experience the initial fulfillment of the coming of God’s presence and rule in the work of Acts 2. In either case, the “kingdom of God” referred to here would be the initial rather than the final phase.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 77[a]

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

A Call to Discipleship

Footnotes

Psalm 77^[a]