◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 79:1-9 (Deliver us and forgive our sins); Jeremiah 8:14-17; 9:2-11 (Oppression and deceit multiply); Mark 12:41-44 (A widow’s offering) (New English Translation)

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September 17, 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 79:1-9

Psalm 79^[a]

A psalm of Asaph.

79 O God, foreigners^[b] have invaded your chosen land;^[c]
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
²They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky,^[d]
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
³They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.^[e]
⁴We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.^[f]
⁵How long will this go on, O Lord?^[g]
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage^[h] burn like fire?
⁶Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you,^[i]
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you.^[j]
⁷For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
⁸Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations.^[k]
Quickly send your compassion our way,^[l]
for we are in serious trouble.^[m]
⁹Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation,^[n] rescue us.
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation.^[o]

Jeremiah 8:14-17

Jeremiah Laments over the Coming Destruction

¹⁴The people say,^[a]

“Why are we just sitting here?
Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.^[b]
Let us at least die there fighting,^[c]
since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment^[d]
because we have sinned against him.^[e]
¹⁵We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it.
We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror.^[f]
¹⁶The snorting of the enemy’s horses
is already being heard in the city of Dan.
The sound of the neighing of their stallions^[g]
causes the whole land to tremble with fear.
They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it.
They are coming to destroy^[h] the cities and everyone who lives in them.”

¹⁷The Lord says,^[i]

“Yes indeed,^[j] I am sending an enemy against you
that will be like poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed away.^[k]
And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.”^[l]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 8:14 tn The words “The people say” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift of speakers between vv. 4-13 and vv. 14-16. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 8:14 tn Heb “Gather together and let us enter into the fortified cities.”
Jeremiah 8:14 tn Heb “Let us die there.” The words “at least” and “fighting” are intended to bring out the contrast of passive surrender to death in the open country and active resistance to the death implicit in the context.
Jeremiah 8:14 tn The words “of judgment” are not in the text but are intended to show that “poison water” is not literal but figurative of judgment at the hands of God through the agency of the enemy mentioned in v. 16.
Jeremiah 8:14 tn Heb “against the Lord.” The switch is for the sake of smoothness in English.
Jeremiah 8:15 tn Heb “[We hoped] for a time of healing but, behold, terror.”
Jeremiah 8:16 tn Heb “his stallions.”
Jeremiah 8:16 tn The words “They are coming to destroy” are not in the text. They are inserted to break up a long sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.
Jeremiah 8:17 tn These words, which are at the end of the Hebrew verse, are brought forward to show at the outset the shift in speaker.
Jeremiah 8:17 tn Heb “Indeed [or For] behold!” The translation is intended to convey some of the connection that is suggested by the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the verse.
Jeremiah 8:17 tn Heb “I am sending against you snakes, poisonous ones which cannot be charmed.” In light of the context, literal snakes are scarcely meant. So the metaphor is turned into a simile to prevent possible confusion. For a similar metaphorical use of animals for enemies see 5:6.
Jeremiah 8:17 tn Heb “they will bite you.” There does not appear to be any way to avoid the possible confusion that literal snakes are meant here except to paraphrase. Possibly one could say, “And they will attack you and ‘bite’ you,” but enclosing the word “bite” in quotations might lead to even further confusion.

Jeremiah 9:2-11

²(9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the wilderness
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler.^[a]
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation^[b] of people that has been disloyal to him.”^[c]

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

³The Lord says,^[d]

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies.^[e]
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means.^[f]
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another^[g]
and do not pay attention to me.^[h]
⁴Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.
He must not even trust any of his relatives.^[i]
For every one of them will find some way to cheat him.^[j]
And all his friends will tell lies about him.
⁵One friend deceives another
and no one tells the truth.
These people have trained themselves^[k] to tell lies.
They do wrong and are unable to repent.
⁶They do one act of violence after another,
and one deceitful thing after another.^[l]
They refuse to pay attention to me,”^[m]
says the Lord.

⁷Therefore the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:^[n]

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction^[o] and test them.
The wickedness of my dear people^[p] has left me no choice.
What else can I do?^[q]
⁸Their tongues are like deadly arrows.^[r]
They are always telling lies.^[s]
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths,
but their minds are thinking up ways to trap them.^[t]
⁹I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!”^[u]

The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning

¹⁰I said,^[v]

“I will weep and mourn^[w] for the grasslands on the mountains;^[x]
I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness
because they are so scorched no one travels through them.
The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.
Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields
have fled and are gone.”

¹¹The Lord said,^[y]

“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there.^[z]
I will destroy the towns of Judah
so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 9:2 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
Jeremiah 9:2 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
Jeremiah 9:2 tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
Jeremiah 9:3 tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.
Jeremiah 9:3 tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”
Jeremiah 9:3 tn Heb “but not through honesty.”
Jeremiah 9:3 tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”
Jeremiah 9:3 tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע (yadaʿ) meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).
Jeremiah 9:4 tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).
Jeremiah 9:4 tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (ʿaqob yaʿqob).
Jeremiah 9:5 tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English, and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.
Jeremiah 9:6 tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is, “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally, “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally, “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי, which translated literally yields, “doing evil [= “they do evil,” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)], they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here, along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions, as the more likely reading.
Jeremiah 9:6 tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.
Jeremiah 9:7 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.
Jeremiah 9:7 tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.
Jeremiah 9:7 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
Jeremiah 9:7 tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, raʿat) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-ʿammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mipp^ene) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mipp^ene raʿat) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.
Jeremiah 9:8 tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.
Jeremiah 9:8 tn Heb “They speak deceit.”
Jeremiah 9:8 tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”
Jeremiah 9:9 tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.sn See 5:9, 29. This is somewhat of a refrain at the end of a catalog of Judah’s sins.
Jeremiah 9:10 tn The words “I said” are not in the text, but there is general agreement that Jeremiah is the speaker. Cf. the lament in 8:18-9:1. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some English versions follow the Greek text which reads a plural imperative here. Since this reading would make the transition between 9:10 and 9:11 easier, it is probably not original but a translator’s way of smoothing over a difficulty.
Jeremiah 9:10 tn Heb “I will lift up weeping and mourning.”
Jeremiah 9:10 tn Heb “for the mountains.” However, the context makes clear that it is the grasslands or pastures on the mountains that are meant. The words “for the grasslands” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 9:11 tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 9:11 tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

Mark 12:41-44

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹Then^[a] he^[b] sat down opposite the offering box,^[c] and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing in large amounts. ⁴²And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,^[d] worth less than a penny. ⁴³He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth,^[e] this poor widow has put more into the offering box^[f] than all the others.^[g] ⁴⁴For they all gave out of their wealth.^[h] But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.”^[i]

Footnotes

Mark 12:41 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Mark 12:41 tc Most mss, predominantly of the Western and Byzantine texts (A D W Θ ƒ^1,13 33 2542 M lat), have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (ho Iēsous, “Jesus”) as the explicit subject here, while א B L Δ Ψ 892 lack the name. A natural scribal tendency is to expand the text, especially to add the Lord’s name as the explicit subject of a verb. Scribes much less frequently omitted the Lord’s name (cf. the readings of W Θ 565 1424 in Mark 12:17). The internal and external evidence support one another here in behalf of the shorter reading.
Mark 12:41 tn On the term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazophulakion), often translated “treasury,” see BDAG 186 s.v., which states, “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.sn The offering box probably refers to the receptacles in the temple forecourt by the Court of Women used to collect freewill offerings. These are mentioned by Josephus, J. W. 5.5.2 (5.200); 6.5.2 (6.282); Ant. 19.6.1 (19.294), and in 1 Macc 14:49 and 2 Macc 3:6, 24, 28, 40 (see also Luke 21:1; John 8:20).
Mark 12:42 sn These two small copper coins were lepta (sing. “lepton”), the smallest and least valuable coins in circulation in Palestine, worth one-half of a quadrans or 1/128 of a denarius, or about six minutes of an average daily wage. This was next to nothing in value.
Mark 12:43 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
Mark 12:43 tn See the note on the term “offering box” in v. 41.
Mark 12:43 sn Has put more into the offering box than all the others. With God, giving is weighed evaluatively, not counted. The widow was praised because she gave sincerely and at some considerable cost to herself.
Mark 12:44 tn Grk “out of what abounded to them.”
Mark 12:44 sn The contrast between this passage, 12:41-44, and what has come before in 11:27-12:40 is remarkable. The woman is set in stark contrast to the religious leaders. She was a poor widow, they were rich. She was uneducated in the law, they were well educated in the law. She was a woman, they were men. But whereas they evidenced no faith and actually stole money from God and men (cf. 11:17), she evidenced great faith and gave out of her extreme poverty everything she had.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 79[a]

A psalm of Asaph.

Footnotes

Jeremiah Laments over the Coming Destruction

Footnotes

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning

Footnotes

The Widow’s Offering

Footnotes

Psalm 79^[a]