◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 119:41-48 (Salvation in God’s promise); Genesis 18:16-33 (The depravity of Sodom); Matthew 12:1-8 (Mercy not sacrifice) (New English Translation)

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June 14, 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 119:41-48

ו (Vav)

⁴¹May I experience your loyal love,^[a] O Lord,
and your deliverance,^[b] as you promised.^[c]
⁴²Then I will have a reply for the one who insults me,^[d]
for I trust in your word.
⁴³Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony,^[e]
for I await your justice.
⁴⁴Then I will keep^[f] your law continually
now and for all time.^[g]
⁴⁵I will be secure,^[h]
for I seek your precepts.
⁴⁶I will speak^[i] about your regulations before kings
and not be ashamed.
⁴⁷I will find delight in your commands,
which I love.
⁴⁸I will lift my hands to^[j] your commands,
which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.

Footnotes

Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “and may your loyal love come to me.”
Psalm 119:41 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions).
Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “according to your word.”
Psalm 119:42 tn Heb “and I will answer [the] one who insults me a word.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive (see v. 41).
Psalm 119:43 tn Heb “do not snatch from my mouth a word of truth to excess.” The psalmist wants to be able to give a reliable testimony about the Lord’s loyal love (vv. 41-42), but if God does not intervene, the psalmist will be deprived of doing so, for the evidence of such love (i.e., deliverance) will be lacking.
Psalm 119:44 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the negated jussive (see v. 43).
Psalm 119:44 tn Or “forever and ever.”
Psalm 119:45 tn Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43-44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”
Psalm 119:46 tn The series of four cohortatives with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive in vv. 46-48 list further consequences of the anticipated positive divine response to the request made in v. 43.
Psalm 119:48 tn Lifting the hands is often associated with prayer (Pss 28:2; 63:4; Lam 2:19). (1) Because praying to God’s law borders on the extreme, some prefer to emend the text to “I lift up my hands to you,” eliminating “your commands, which I love” as dittographic. In this view these words were accidentally repeated from the previous verse. (2) However, it is possible that the psalmist closely associates the law with God himself because he views the law as the expression of the divine will. (3) Another option is that “lifting the hands” does not refer to prayer here, but to the psalmist’s desire to receive and appropriate the law. (4) Still others understand this to be an action praising God’s commands (so NCV; cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

Genesis 18:16-33

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶When the men got up to leave,^[a] they looked out over^[b] Sodom. (Now^[c] Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.)^[d] ¹⁷Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?^[e] ¹⁸After all, Abraham^[f] will surely become^[g] a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth may receive blessing^[h] through him. ¹⁹I have chosen him^[i] so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep^[j] the way of the Lord by doing^[k] what is right and just. Then the Lord will give^[l] to Abraham what he promised^[m] him.”

²⁰So the Lord said, “The outcry against^[n] Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant^[o] ²¹that I must go down^[p] and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests.^[q] If not,^[r] I want to know.”

²²The two men turned^[s] and headed^[t] toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord.^[u] ²³Abraham approached and said, “Will you really sweep away the godly along with the wicked? ²⁴What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare^[v] the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge^[w] of the whole earth do what is right?”^[x]

²⁶So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord^[y] (although I am but dust and ashes),^[z] ²⁸what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy^[aa] the whole city because five are lacking?”^[ab] He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹Abraham^[ac] spoke to him again,^[ad] “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

³⁰Then Abraham^[ae] said, “May the Lord not be angry^[af] so that I may speak!^[ag] What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹Abraham^[ah] said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

³²Finally Abraham^[ai] said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

³³The Lord went on his way^[aj] when he had finished speaking^[ak] to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home.^[al]

Footnotes

Genesis 18:16 tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”
Genesis 18:16 tn Heb “toward the face of.”
Genesis 18:16 tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.
Genesis 18:16 tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.
Genesis 18:17 tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.
Genesis 18:18 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”
Genesis 18:18 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.
Genesis 18:18 tn Or “find blessing.” The denominative verb בָּרַךְ (barakh) mainly occurs in the D-stems: Piel for actice, Pual for passive, Hitpael for middle or reflexive. Only in three formulations of the Abrahamic covenant does it occur in the Niphal. Few other verbs that occur in the Piel and Pual also occur in the Niphal but not the Qal; the tendency is for such Niphals to be middle rather than passive. The middle voice may be expressed here as “they may consider themselves blessed through him,” “they may find/receive blessing through him,” or “they may become blessed through him.” Verses 18-19 refer back to Gen 12:1-3 which include how others may receive blessing or cursing from the Lord.
Genesis 18:19 tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yadaʿ) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the Lord.
Genesis 18:19 tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).
Genesis 18:19 tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the Lord.
Genesis 18:19 tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (l^emaʿan) indicates result here.
Genesis 18:19 tn Heb “spoke to.”
Genesis 18:20 tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.
Genesis 18:20 tn Heb “heavy” or “severe.”sn Ezekiel 16:49-50 includes three types of sins of Sodom: failure to help the poor and needy while having prosperity, pride (or haughtiness), and committing abomination.
Genesis 18:21 tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.sn I must go down. The descent to “see” Sodom is a bold anthropomorphism, stressing the careful judgment of God. The language is reminiscent of the Lord going down to see the Tower of Babel in Gen 11:1-9.
Genesis 18:21 tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.
Genesis 18:21 sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.
Genesis 18:22 tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Genesis 18:22 tn Heb “went.”
Genesis 18:22 tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.
Genesis 18:24 tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).
Genesis 18:25 tn Or “ruler.”
Genesis 18:25 sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.
Genesis 18:27 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
Genesis 18:27 tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.
Genesis 18:28 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.
Genesis 18:28 tn Heb “because of five.”
Genesis 18:29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 18:29 tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys—the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”
Genesis 18:30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 18:30 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”
Genesis 18:30 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
Genesis 18:31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 18:32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 18:33 tn Heb “And the Lord went.”
Genesis 18:33 tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”
Genesis 18:33 tn Heb “to his place.”

Matthew 12:1-8

Lord of the Sabbath

12 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His^[a] disciples were hungry, and they began to pick heads of wheat^[b] and eat them. ²But when the Pharisees^[c] saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.” ³He^[d] said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— ⁴how he entered the house of God and ate^[e] the sacred bread,^[f] which was against the law^[g] for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?^[h] ⁵Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty? ⁶I^[i] tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷If^[j] you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’^[k] you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸For the Son of Man is lord^[l] of the Sabbath.”

Footnotes

Matthew 12:1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 12:1 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).
Matthew 12:2 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
Matthew 12:3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 12:4 tc ‡ The Greek verb ἔφαγεν (ephagen, “he ate”) is found in a majority of witnesses across a broad geogrphical area (P⁷⁰ C D L N W Γ Δ Θ ƒ^{1, 13} 33 565 579 700 1424 M latt sy co; SBL). NA²⁸ has the plural ἔφαγον (ephagon, “they ate”), the wording found in א B 481. Although it is quite possible that ἔφαγεν was motivated by the parallels in Mark and Luke, both of which have the singular, the minimal—though early and significant—attestation for the plural, coupled with the singular being a more difficult reading (since the context implies that David’s companions also ate), gives the edge to ἔφαγεν as the likely autographic wording.
Matthew 12:4 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). See also Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5.
Matthew 12:4 sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law 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.
Matthew 12:4 sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.
Matthew 12:6 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 12:7 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 12:7 sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 9:13).
Matthew 12:8 tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text.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)

ו (Vav)

Footnotes

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

Footnotes

Lord of the Sabbath

Footnotes