◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Lamentations 3:19-26 (Great is your faithfulness); Jeremiah 52:1-11 (Jerusalem besieged); Revelation 2:8-11 (Be faithful until death) (New English Translation)

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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

Lamentations 3:19-26

ז (Zayin)

¹⁹Remember^[a] my impoverished and homeless condition,^[b]
which is a bitter poison.^[c]
²⁰I^[d] continually think about^[e] this,
and I^[f] am depressed.^[g]
²¹But this I call^[h] to mind;^[i]
therefore I have hope:

ח (Khet)

²²The Lord’s loyal kindness^[j] never ceases;^[k]
his compassions^[l] never end.
²³They are fresh^[m] every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!^[n]
²⁴“My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself,^[o]
so I will put my hope in him.

ט (Tet)

²⁵The Lord is good to those who trust in^[p] him,
to the one^[q] who seeks him.
²⁶It is good to wait patiently^[r]
for deliverance from the Lord.^[s]

Footnotes

Lamentations 3:19 tc The LXX records ἐμνήσθην (emnēsthēn, “I remembered”), which may reflect a first person singular form זָכַרְתִּי (zakharti), whereas the MT preserves the form זְכָר (z^ekhor), which may be Qal imperative second person masculine singular (“Remember!”) or infinitive construct (“To remember…”). A second person masculine singular imperative would most likely address God. In the next verse נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is the subject of זְכָר (z^ekhor). If נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) is also the subject here, one would expect a second person feminine singular imperative זִכְרִי (zikhri), a form that stands in the middle of the MT’s זְכָר (z^ekhor) and the presumed זָכַרְתִּי (zakharti) read by the LXX. English versions are split between the options: “To recall” (NJPS), “Remember!” (RSV, NRSV, NASB), “Remembering” (KJV, NKJV), and “I remember” (NIV). tn The basic meaning of זָכַר (zakhar) is “to remember, call to mind” (HALOT 270 s.v. I זכר). Although it is often used in reference to recollection of past events, it can also describe consideration of present situations: “to consider, think about” something present (BDB 270 s.v. 5).
Lamentations 3:19 tn The two nouns עָנְיִי וּמְרוּדִי (ʿonyi um^erudi, lit., “my poverty and my homelessness”) form a nominal hendiadys in which one noun functions adjectivally and the other retains its full nominal sense: “my impoverished homelessness” or “homeless poor” (GKC 397-98 §124.e). The use of a nearly identical phrase in Lam 1:7 and Isa 58:7 (see GKC 226 §83.c) suggests this was a Hebrew idiom. Jerusalem’s inhabitants were impoverished and homeless.
Lamentations 3:19 tn The two nouns joined by ו (vav), לַעֲנָה וָרֹאשׁ (laʿana varoʾsh, “wormwood and poison”) form a nominal hendiadys. The first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions adjectivally: “bitter poison.”
Lamentations 3:20 tc The MT reads נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”); however, the Masoretic scribes preserve an alternate textual tradition, marked by the Tiqqune Sopherim (“corrections by the scribes”), of נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”).tn Heb “my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I). The verb תִּזְכּוֹר (tizkor) is Qal imperfect third person feminine singular, and the subject is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), though the term does not appear until the end of the verse, functioning as the subject of both verbs. Due to the synecdoche, the line is translated as though the verb were first person common singular.
Lamentations 3:20 tn The infinitive absolute followed by an imperfect of the same root is an emphatic rhetorical statement: זָכוֹר תִּזְכּוֹר (zakhor tizkor, “continually think”). Although the basic meaning of זָכַר (zakhar) is “to remember, call to mind” (HALOT 270 I זכר), here it refers to consideration of a present situation: “to consider, think about” something present (BDB 270 s.v. זָכַר 5). The referent of the third person feminine singular form of תִּזְכּוֹר (tizkor) is the feminine singular noun נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”).
Lamentations 3:20 tc The MT reads נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”); however, the Masoretic scribes preserve an alternate textual tradition, included in some lists of the Tiqqune Sopherim (“corrections by the scribes”), of נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”).tn Heb “my soul…” or “your soul…” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I). Likewise, נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is also a synecdoche of part (= your soul) for the whole person (= you).
Lamentations 3:20 tc The MT preserves the Kethib וְתָשִׁיחַ (v^etashiakh), while the Qere reads וְתָשׁוֹחַ (v^etashoakh). In theory the Kethib could be a Qal or Hiphil of a root שִׁיח (shikh, “melt away, despair”) or the Hiphil of a root שׁוּח (shukh, “to sink down, collapse”), while the Qere is a Qal of a root שׁוּח (shukh) or of שָׁחַח (shakhakh, “stoop down, be bent over”). None of these are common roots, and one or more may be byforms of each other. The conjectured meaning for שׁוּחַ (shuakh) in BDB 1005 s.v שׁוּחַ is that of שָׁחַח (shakhakh). HALOT 1438-39 s.v. שׁוח reads the root as שָׁחַח (shakhakh). The various options yield similar meanings.tn Heb “and my soul sinks down within me.” The verb II שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”) is used here in a figurative sense, meaning “to be depressed.”
Lamentations 3:21 tn Heb “I cause to return.”
Lamentations 3:21 tn Heb “to my heart.” The noun לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) has a broad range of meanings, including its use as a metonymy of association, standing for thoughts and thinking (= “mind”) (e.g., Deut 32:46; 1 Chr 29:18; Job 17:11; Ps 73:7; Isa 10:7; Hag 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18; Zech 7:10; 8:17).
Lamentations 3:22 tn It is difficult to capture the nuances of the Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed). When used of the Lord it is often connected to his covenant loyalty. This is the only occasion when the plural form of חֶסֶד (khesed) precedes the plural form of רַחֲמִים (rakhamim, “mercy, compassion”). The plural forms, as with this one, tend to be in late texts. The plural may indicate several concrete expressions of God’s kindnesses or may indicate the abstract concept of his kindness.
Lamentations 3:22 tc The MT reads תָמְנוּ (tam^enu) as, “we are [not] cut off,” Qal perfect first person common plural from תָּמַם (tamam, “be finished”): “[Because of] the kindnesses of the Lord, indeed we are not cut off.” However, the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Aramaic Targum) and many medieval Hebrew mss preserve the alternate reading תָּמּוּ (tammu), a third person common plural form of the same root and stem: “The kindnesses of the Lord indeed never cease.” The external evidence favors the alternate reading. The internal evidence supports this as well, as the parallel B-line suggests, “his compassions never come to an end.” Several English versions follow the MT: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed” (KJV, NKJV), “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed” (NIV). Other English versions follow the alternate textual tradition: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (RSV, NRSV), “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease” (NASB), “The kindness of the Lord has not ended” (NJPS) and “The Lord’s unfailing love still continues” (TEV).
Lamentations 3:22 tn The plural form of רַחֲמִים (rakhamim) may denote the abstract concept of mercy, several concrete expressions of mercy, or the plural of intensity: “great compassion.” See IBHS 122 §7.4.3a.
Lamentations 3:23 tn Heb “they are new.”
Lamentations 3:23 tn The adjective רַב (rav) has a broad range of meanings: (1) quantitative: “much, numerous, many (with plurals), abundant, enough, exceedingly” and (2) less often in a qualitative sense: “great” (a) of space and location, (b) “strong” as opposed to “weak” and (c) “major.” The traditional translation, “great is thy faithfulness,” should be understood in a quantitative sense: “your faithfulness is abundant” [or, “plentiful”]. NJPS correctly translates, “Ample is your grace!”
Lamentations 3:24 tn Heb “My soul said…” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of a part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I).
Lamentations 3:25 tn Heb “wait for him”
Lamentations 3:25 tn Heb “to the soul…” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is a synecdoche of a part (= “the soul who seeks him”) for the whole person (= “the person who seeks him”).
Lamentations 3:26 tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two main words (plus two conjunctions) וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (v^eyakhil v^edumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys where the first functions verbally and the second adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adverb דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), and “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).
Lamentations 3:26 tn Heb “deliverance of the Lord.” In the genitive-construct, the genitive יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) denotes source; that is, he is the source of the deliverance: “deliverance from the Lord.”

Jeremiah 52:1-11

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 ^[a] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal^[b] daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. ²He did what displeased the Lord^[c] just as Jehoiakim had done.

³What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight.^[d] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ⁴King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it.^[e] They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.^[f] ⁵The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month^[g] the famine in the city was so severe the residents^[h] had no food. ⁷They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.^[i] (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the rift valley.^[j] ⁸But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains^[k] of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. ⁹They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah^[l] in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. ¹⁰The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. ¹¹He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains.^[m] Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 52:1 sn This final chapter does not mention Jeremiah, but its description of the downfall of Jerusalem and exile of the people validates the prophet’s ministry.
Jeremiah 52:1 tn Some textual witnesses support the Kethib (consonantal text) in reading “Hamital.”
Jeremiah 52:2 tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 52:3 tn Heb “Surely (or “for”) because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he drove them out from upon his face.” For the phrase “drive out of his sight,” see 7:15.
Jeremiah 52:4 tn Or “against it.”
Jeremiah 52:4 sn This would have been January 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
Jeremiah 52:6 sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
Jeremiah 52:6 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
Jeremiah 52:7 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley, which agrees with the reference to the “two walls,” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
Jeremiah 52:7 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. In this context the portion that they head to is the Jordan Valley near Jericho, intending to escape across the river to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14 and 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
Jeremiah 52:8 tn See the note at Jer 39:5.
Jeremiah 52:9 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
Jeremiah 52:11 tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

Revelation 2:8-11

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“To^[a] the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following:^[b]

“This is the solemn pronouncement of^[c] the one who is the first and the last, the one who was dead, but^[d] came to life: ⁹‘I know the distress you are suffering^[e] and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know^[f] the slander against you^[g] by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue^[h] of Satan. ¹⁰Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown^[i] into prison so you may be tested,^[j] and you will experience suffering^[k] for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself.^[l] ¹¹The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers^[m] will in no way be harmed by the second death.’

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ז (Zayin)

ח (Khet)

ט (Tet)

Footnotes

The Fall of Jerusalem

Footnotes

To the Church in Smyrna

Footnotes