◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 31:9-16 (I commend my spirit); Job 13:13-19 (A servant keeps silence); Philippians 1:21-30 (Seeing Christ in this life) (New English Translation)

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March 31, 2023

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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 31:9-16

⁹Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress!
My eyes grow dim^[a] from suffering.^[b]
I have lost my strength.^[c]
¹⁰For my life nears its end in pain;
my years draw to a close as I groan.^[d]
My strength fails me because of^[e] my sin,
and my bones become brittle.^[f]
¹¹Because of all my enemies, people disdain me;^[g]
my neighbors are appalled by my suffering^[h]—
those who know me are horrified by my condition;^[i]
those who see me in the street run away from me.
¹²I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about;^[j]
I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.^[k]
¹³For I hear what so many are saying,^[l]
the terrifying news that comes from every direction.^[m]
When they plot together against me,
they figure out how they can take my life.
¹⁴But I trust in you, O Lord!
I declare, “You are my God!”
¹⁵You determine my destiny.^[n]
Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
¹⁶Smile^[o] on your servant.
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.

Footnotes

Psalm 31:9 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
Psalm 31:9 tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.
Psalm 31:9 tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.
Psalm 31:10 tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”
Psalm 31:10 tn Heb “stumbles in.”
Psalm 31:10 tn Heb “grow weak.”
Psalm 31:11 tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”
Psalm 31:11 tc Heb “and to my neighbors, exceedingly.” If the MT is retained, then these words probably go with what precedes. However the syntactical awkwardness of the text suggests a revision may be needed. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 258) suggests that the initial mem (מ) on מְאֹד (meʾod, “exceedingly”) be understood as an enclitic mem (ם) which was originally suffixed to the preceding form and then later misinterpreted. The resulting form אֵד (ʾed) can then be taken as a defectively written form of אֵיד (ʾed, “calamity”). If one follows this emendation, then the text reads literally, “and to my neighbors [I am one who experiences] calamity.” The noun פַחַד (fakhad, “[object of] horror”) occurs in the next line; אֵיד and פַחַד appear in parallelism elsewhere (see Prov 1:26-27).
Psalm 31:11 tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”
Psalm 31:12 tn Heb “I am forgotten, like a dead man, from [the] heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the center of one’s thoughts.
Psalm 31:12 tn Heb “I am like a broken jar.” One throws away a broken jar without a second thought because it is considered worthless and useless.
Psalm 31:13 tn Heb “the report of many.”
Psalm 31:13 tn Heb “the terror from all around.”
Psalm 31:15 tn Heb “in your hand [are] my times.”
Psalm 31:16 tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”

Job 13:13-19

¹³“Refrain from talking^[a] with me so that^[b] I may speak;

then let come to me^[c] what may.^[d]
¹⁴Why^[e] do I put myself in peril,^[f]
and take my life in my hands?
¹⁵Even if he slays me, I will hope in him;^[g]
I will surely^[h] defend^[i] my ways to his face.
¹⁶Moreover, this will become my deliverance,
for no godless person would come before him.^[j]
¹⁷Listen carefully^[k] to my words;
let your ears be attentive to my explanation.^[l]
¹⁸See now,^[m] I have prepared^[n] my^[o] case;^[p]
I know that I am right.^[q]
¹⁹Who^[r] will contend with me?
If anyone can, I will be silent and die.^[s]

Footnotes

Job 13:13 tn The Hebrew has a pregnant construction: “be silent from me,” meaning “stand away from me in silence,” or “refrain from talking with me.” See GKC 384 §119.ff. The LXX omits “from me,” as do several commentators.
Job 13:13 tn The verb is the Piel cohortative; following the imperative of the first colon this verb would show purpose or result. The inclusion of the independent personal pronoun makes the focus emphatic—“so that I (in my turn) may speak.”
Job 13:13 tn The verb עָבַר (ʿavar, “pass over”) is used with the preposition עַל (ʿal, “upon”) to express the advent of misfortune, namely, something coming against him.
Job 13:13 tn The interrogative pronoun מָה (mah) is used in indirect questions, here introducing a clause [with the verb understood] as the object—“whatever it be” (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).
Job 13:14 tc Most editors reject עַל־מָה (ʿal mah) as dittography from the last verse.
Job 13:14 tn Heb “why do I take my flesh in my teeth?” This expression occurs nowhere else. It seems to be drawn from animal imagery in which the wild beast seizes the prey and carries it off to a place of security. The idea would then be that Job may be destroying himself. An animal that fights with its flesh (prey) in its mouth risks losing it. Other commentators do not think this is satisfactory, but they are unable to suggest anything better.
Job 13:15 tn There is a textual difficulty here that factors into the interpretation of the verse. The Kethib is לֹא (loʾ, “not”), but the Qere is לוֹ (lo, “to him”). The RSV takes the former: “Behold, he will slay me, I have no hope.” The NIV takes it as “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job is looking ahead to death, which is not an evil thing to him. The point of the verse is that he is willing to challenge God at the risk of his life; and if God slays him, he is still confident that he will be vindicated—as he says later in this chapter. Other suggestions are not compelling. E. Dhorme (Job, 187) makes a slight change of אֲיַחֵל (ʾayakhel, “I will hope”) to אַחִיל (ʾakhil, “I will [not] tremble”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 98) retains the MT, but interprets the verb more in line with its use in the book: “I will not wait” (cf. NLT).
Job 13:15 tn On אַךְ (ʾakh, “surely”) see GKC 483 §153 on intensive clauses.
Job 13:15 tn The verb once again is יָכָה (yakhah, in the Hiphil, “argue a case, plead, defend, contest”). But because the word usually means “accuse” rather than “defend,” I. L. Seeligmann proposed changing “my ways” to “his ways” (“Zur Terminologie für das Gerichtsverfahren im Wortschatz des biblischen Hebräisch,” VTSup 16 [1967]: 251-78). But the word can be interpreted appropriately in the context without emendation.
Job 13:16 sn The fact that Job will dare to come before God and make his case is evidence—to Job at least—that he is innocent.
Job 13:17 tn The infinitive absolute intensifies the imperative, which serves here with the force of an immediate call to attention. In accordance with GKC 342 §113.n, the construction could be translated, “Keep listening” (so ESV).
Job 13:17 tn The verb has to be supplied in this line, for the MT has “and my explanation in your ears.” In the verse, both “word” and “explanation” are Aramaisms (the latter appearing in Dan 5:12 for the explanation of riddles).
Job 13:18 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) functions almost as an imperative here, calling attention to what follows: “look” (archaic: behold).
Job 13:18 tn The verb עָרַךְ (ʿarakh) means “to set in order, set in array [as a battle], prepare” in the sense here of arrange and organize a lawsuit.
Job 13:18 tn The pronoun is added because this is what the verse means.
Job 13:18 tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) usually means “judgment; decision.” Here it means “lawsuit” (and so a metonymy of effect gave rise to this usage; see Num 27:5; 2 Sam 15:4).
Job 13:18 tn The pronoun is emphatic before the verb: “I know that it is I who am right.” The verb means “to be right; to be righteous.” Some have translated it “vindicated,” looking at the outcome of the suit.
Job 13:19 tn The interrogative is joined with the emphatic pronoun, stressing “who is he [who] will contend,” or more emphatically, “who in the world will contend.” Job is confident that no one can bring charges against him. He is certain of success.
Job 13:19 sn Job is confident that he will be vindicated. But if someone were to show up and have proof of sin against him, he would be silent and die (literally “keep silent and expire”).

Philippians 1:21-30

²¹For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²²Now if I am to go on living in the body,^[a] this will mean productive work^[b] for me, yet I don’t know which I prefer:^[c] ²³I feel torn between the two,^[d] because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, ²⁴but it is more vital for your sake that I remain^[e] in the body.^[f] ²⁵And since I am sure of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for the sake of your progress^[g] and joy in the faith,^[h] ²⁶so that what you can be proud of may increase^[i] because of me in Christ Jesus, when I come back to you.^[j]

²⁷Only conduct yourselves^[k] in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that—whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent—I should hear that^[l] you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,^[m] ²⁸and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is^[n] a sign of their^[o] destruction, but of your salvation—a sign which^[p] is from God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you^[q] not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him, ³⁰since you are encountering^[r] the same conflict that you saw me face and now hear that I am facing.^[s]

Footnotes

Philippians 1:22 tn Grk “flesh.”
Philippians 1:22 tn Grk “fruit of work”; the genitive ἔργου (ergou) is taken as an attributed genitive in which the head noun, καρπός (karpos), functions attributively (cf. ExSyn 89-91).
Philippians 1:22 tn Grk “what I shall prefer.” The Greek verb αἱρέω (haireō) could also mean “choose,” but in this context such a translation is problematic for it suggests that Paul could perhaps choose suicide (cf. L&N 30.86).sn I don’t know what I prefer. Paul is here struggling with what would be most beneficial for both him and the church. He resolves this issue in vv. 24-25.
Philippians 1:23 tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.
Philippians 1:24 tn Grk “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.”
Philippians 1:24 tn Grk “the flesh.”
Philippians 1:25 tn Grk “for your progress.”
Philippians 1:25 sn Paul’s confidence in his release from prison (I know that I will remain and continue with all of you) implies that this Roman imprisonment did not end in his death. Hence, there is the likelihood that he experienced a second Roman imprisonment later on (since the belief of the early church was that Paul died under Nero in Rome). If so, then the pastoral letters (1-2 Tim, Titus) could well fit into a life of Paul that goes beyond any descriptions in the book of Acts (which ends with Paul’s first Roman imprisonment). Some have argued that the pastorals cannot be genuine because they cannot fit into the history of Acts. But this view presupposes that Paul’s first Roman imprisonment was also his last.
Philippians 1:26 tn Grk “your boasting may overflow in Christ Jesus because of me,” or possibly, “your boasting in me may overflow in Christ Jesus.” BDAG 536 s.v. καύχημα 1 translates the phrase τὸ καύχημα ὑμῶν (to kauchēma humōn) in Phil 1:26 as “what you can be proud of.”
Philippians 1:26 tn Grk “through my coming again to you.”
Philippians 1:27 tn Grk “live as citizens.” The verb πολιτεύεσθε (politeuesthe) connotes the life of a freeman in a free Roman colony.sn Conduct yourselves (Grk “live your lives as citizens”). The Philippians lived in a free Roman city, and thus understood from their own experience what it meant to live as citizens. Paul is here picking up on that motif and elevating it to the citizenship of heaven. Cf. 3:20 (our citizenship is in heaven).
Philippians 1:27 tn Grk “the things concerning you, [namely,] that.” The ὅτι (hoti) clause is appositional to τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν (ta peri humōn) and therefore “the things concerning you” was not translated.
Philippians 1:27 tn The phrase “the faith of the gospel” could mean one of three things: “the faith that is the gospel” (genitive of apposition), “the faith that originates from the gospel” (genitive of source), or “faith in the gospel” (objective genitive).
Philippians 1:28 tn Grk “which is,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 27.sn The antecedent of the pronoun This is conceptual, most likely referring to the Philippian Christians standing firm for the gospel. Thus, their stand for the gospel is the dual sign of their opponents’ destruction and of their own salvation.
Philippians 1:28 tn Grk “to them.” sn Paul uses the dative “to them” (translated here as their) to describe the coming destruction of the gospel’s enemies, but the genitive “your” to describe the believers’ coming salvation. The dative accents what will happen to the enemies (called a dative of disadvantage [see ExSyn 143-44]), while the genitive accents what the believers will possess (and, in fact, do already possess, as v. 29 makes clear).
Philippians 1:28 tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.
Philippians 1:29 tn Grk “For that which is on behalf of Christ has been granted to you—namely, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.” The infinitive phrases are epexegetical to the subject, τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ (to huper Christou), which has the force of “the on-behalf-of-Christ thing,” or “the thing on behalf of Christ.” To translate this in English requires a different idiom.
Philippians 1:30 tn Grk “having,” most likely as an instrumental participle. Thus their present struggle is evidence that they have received the gift of suffering.
Philippians 1:30 tn Grk “that you saw in me and now hear [to be] in me.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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