◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 71:1-6 (You have been my strength); Jeremiah 1:1-3 11-19 (A vision of disaster); Luke 6:1-5 (Picking grain on the sabbath) (New English Translation)

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August 20, 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 71:1-6

Psalm 71^[a]

71 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
²Vindicate me by rescuing me.^[b]
Listen to me.^[c] Deliver me.^[d]
³Be my protector and refuge,^[e]
a stronghold where I can be safe.^[f]
For you are my high ridge^[g] and my stronghold.
⁴My God, rescue me from the power^[h] of the wicked,
from the hand of the cruel oppressor.
⁵For you are my hope;
O Sovereign Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young.^[i]
⁶I have leaned on you since birth;^[j]
you pulled me^[k] from my mother’s womb.
I praise you continually.^[l]

Jeremiah 1:1-3

The Superscription

1 The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied.^[a] He was one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. ²The Lord’s^[b] message came to him^[c] in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah. ³It also came in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile in the fifth month of that year.^[d]

Jeremiah 1:11-19

Visions Confirming Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

¹¹Later the Lord’s message came to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” ¹²Then the Lord said, “You have observed correctly. This means^[a] I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out.”^[b]

¹³The Lord’s message came to me a second time, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a pot of boiling water; it is tipped away from the north.”^[c] ¹⁴Then the Lord said, “From the north^[d] destruction will break out on all who live in the land. ¹⁵For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord. “They will come and their kings will set up their thrones^[e] near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all the walls surrounding it and all the towns in Judah.^[f] ¹⁶In this way^[g] I will pass sentence^[h] on the people of Jerusalem and Judah^[i] because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.^[j]

¹⁷“But you, Jeremiah,^[k] get yourself ready!^[l] Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them.^[m] ¹⁸I, the Lord,^[n] hereby promise to make you^[o] as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in^[p] the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land. ¹⁹They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 1:12 tn This represents the Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) that is normally rendered “for” or “because.” The particle here is meant to give the significance of the vision, not the rationale for the statement “you have observed correctly.”
Jeremiah 1:12 tn Heb “watching over my word to do it.”sn There is a play on the Hebrew word for “almond tree” (שָׁקֵד, shaqed) and the word “watching” (שֹׁקֵד, shoqed). The vision is not the prophecy but is simply the occasion for the prophecy. Getting Jeremiah to say shaqed (almond tree) becomes the occasion for God to announce he is shoqed (watching). The verb refers to someone watching over someone or something in preparation for action. Compare Jer 1:13-14 and Amos 7:7-8; 8:1-2, which each follow the formula of God asking the prophet what he sees and then giving a prophecy based on a sound play. Here the play on words announces the certainty and imminence of the Lord carrying out the covenant curses of Lev 26 and Deut 28 threatened by the earlier prophets.
Jeremiah 1:13 tn Heb “its face is away from the north.”
Jeremiah 1:14 sn This works like the sound play in 1:11-12 (see note at 1:12), although the word “north” is repeated with the same meaning both times. The boiling pot is only relevant as a scene that prompts Jeremiah to say “north,” which is the jumping off point for giving the prophecy.
Jeremiah 1:15 tn Heb “they will each set up.” The pronoun “they” refers back to the “kingdoms” in the preceding sentence. However, kingdoms do not sit on thrones; their kings do. This is an example of a figure of speech called metonymy, where the kingdom is put for its king. For a similar use see 2 Chr 12:8.
Jeremiah 1:15 tn Or “They will come and set up their thrones in the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will destroy all the walls surrounding it and also destroy all the towns in Judah.” The text of v. 15b reads in Hebrew, “they will each set up his throne [near? in?] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls…and against all the towns….” Commentators are divided over whether the passage refers to the kings setting up their thrones after victory in preparation for passing judgment on their defeated enemies in the city or whether it refers to setting up siege against it. There is no Hebrew preposition before the word for “the entrance” so that it could be “in” (which would imply victory) or “at/near” (which would imply siege), and the same verb + object (i.e., “they will set up their thrones”) governs all the locative statements. It is most often taken to refer to the aftermath of victory because of the supposed parallel in Jer 43:8-13 and the supposed fulfillment in Jer 39:3. Though this may fit well with the first part of the compound expression, it does not fit well with the latter part, which is most naturally taken to refer to hostile attacks against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The translation given in the text is intended to reflect the idea of an army setting up for siege. The alternate translation is intended to reflect the other view.
Jeremiah 1:16 tn The Hebrew particle (the vav [ו] consecutive), which is often rendered in some English versions as “and” and in others is simply left untranslated, is rendered here epexegetically, reflecting a summary statement.
Jeremiah 1:16 sn The Hebrew idiom (literally “I will speak my judgments against”) is found three other times in Jeremiah (4:12; 39:5; 52:9), where it is followed by the carrying out of the sentence. Here the carrying out of the sentence precedes in v. 15.
Jeremiah 1:16 tn Heb “on them.” The antecedent goes back to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (i.e., the people in them) in v. 15.
Jeremiah 1:16 tn That is, idols.
Jeremiah 1:17 tn The name “Jeremiah” is not in the text. The use of the personal pronoun followed by the proper name is an attempt to reflect the correlative emphasis between Jeremiah’s responsibility noted here and the Lord’s promise noted in the next verse. The emphasis in the Hebrew text is marked by the presence of the subject pronouns at the beginning of each of the two verses.
Jeremiah 1:17 tn Heb “gird up your loins.” For the literal use of this idiom to refer to preparation for action see 2 Kgs 4:29; 9:1. For the idiomatic use to refer to spiritual and emotional preparation as here, see Job 38:3; 40:7, and 1 Pet 1:13 in the NT.
Jeremiah 1:17 tn Heb “I will make you terrified in front of them.” There is a play on words here involving two different forms of the same Hebrew verb and two different but related prepositional phrases, “from before/of,” a preposition introducing the object of a verb of fearing, and “before, in front of,” a preposition introducing a spatial location.
Jeremiah 1:18 tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.
Jeremiah 1:18 tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.
Jeremiah 1:18 tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as,” “You will be able to stand,” “who live in,” and “all [before “the people”]” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

Luke 6:1-5

Lord of the Sabbath

6 Jesus^[a] was going through the grain fields on^[b] a Sabbath,^[c] and his disciples picked some heads of wheat,^[d] rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.^[e] ²But some of the Pharisees^[f] said, “Why are you^[g] doing what is against the law^[h] on the Sabbath?” ³Jesus^[i] answered them,^[j] “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— ⁴how he entered the house of God, took^[k] and ate the sacred bread,^[l] which is not lawful^[m] for any to eat but the priests alone, and^[n] gave it to his companions?”^[o] ⁵Then^[p] he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord^[q] of the Sabbath.”

Footnotes

Luke 6:1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 6:1 tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Luke 6:1 tc Most later mss (A C D Θ Ψ [ƒ¹³] M lat) read ἐν σαββάτῳ δευτεροπρώτῳ (en sabbatō deuteroprōtō, “a second-first Sabbath”), while the earlier and better witnesses have simply ἐν σαββάτῳ (P⁴ א B L W ƒ¹ 33 579 1241 2542 it sa). The longer reading is most likely secondary, though various explanations may account for it (for discussion, see TCGNT 116).
Luke 6:1 tn Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stachus) can refer to the cluster of seeds at the top of grain such as barley or wheat, in the NT the term is restricted to wheat (L&N 3.40; BDAG 941 s.v. 1). KJV “corn” is the result of British English, in which “corn” refers to the main cereal crop of a district, wheat in England and oats in Scotland (British English uses “maize” to refer to American corn).
Luke 6:1 tn Grk “picked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.” The participle ψώχοντες (psōchontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style, and the order of the clauses has been transposed to reflect the logical order, which sounds more natural in English.
Luke 6:2 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
Luke 6:2 tn Note that the verb is second person plural (with an understood plural pronominal subject in Greek). The charge is again indirectly made against Jesus by charging the disciples.
Luke 6:2 sn The alleged violation expressed by the phrase what is against the law is performing work on the Sabbath. That the disciples ate from such a field is no problem given Deut 23:25, but Sabbath activity is another matter in the leaders’ view (Exod 20:8-11 and Mishnah, m. Shabbat 7.2). The supposed violation involved reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. This probably explains why the clause describing the disciples “rubbing” the heads of grain in their hands is mentioned last, in emphatic position. This was preparation of food.
Luke 6:3 tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 6:3 tn Grk “Jesus, answering them, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “Jesus answered them.”
Luke 6:4 tn Grk “and took.”
Luke 6:4 tn Grk “the bread of presentation.” sn The sacred bread refers to the “bread of presentation,” “showbread,” or “bread of the Presence,” twelve loaves prepared weekly for the tabernacle and later, the temple. See Exod 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Lev 24:5-9. Each loaf was made from 3 quarts (3.5 liters; Heb “two-tenths of an ephah”) of fine flour. The loaves were placed on a table in the holy place of the tabernacle, on the north side opposite the lampstand (Exod 26:35). It was the duty of the priest each Sabbath to place fresh bread on the table; the loaves from the previous week were then given to Aaron and his descendants, who ate them in the holy place, because they were considered sacred (Lev 24:9). These were the loaves that David requested from Ahimelech for himself and his men (1 Sam 21:1-6; cf. also Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28).
Luke 6:4 sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was not lawful is one of analogy: ‘If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.’ Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.
Luke 6:4 tc Most mss (א A D Θ ƒ¹³ 33 M) read “also” here, but this looks like it is a reading made to agree with Mark 2:26. A better combination of witnesses (B L W Ψ ƒ¹ lat sa) lacks the word “also.”
Luke 6:4 tc The Western ms D adds here a full saying that reads, “On the same day, as he saw someone working on the Sabbath he said, ‘Man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed, but if you do not know, you are cursed and a violator of the law.’” Though this is not well enough attested to be considered authentic, many commentators have debated whether this saying might go back to Jesus. Most reject it, though it does have wording that looks like Rom 2:25, 27 and Jas 2:11.sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.
Luke 6:5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Luke 6:5 tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text. To make this point even clearer a few mss add “also” before the reference to the Son of Man, while a few others add it before the reference to the Sabbath.sn A second point in Jesus’ defense of his disciples’ actions was that his authority as Son of Man also allowed it, since as Son of Man he was lord of the Sabbath.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 71[a]

Footnotes

The Superscription

Footnotes

Visions Confirming Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

Footnotes

Lord of the Sabbath

Footnotes

Psalm 71^[a]