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June 30, 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 13

Psalm 13^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

13 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me?^[b]
How long will you pay no attention to me?^[c]
²How long must I worry,^[d]
and suffer in broad daylight?^[e]
How long will my enemy gloat over me?^[f]
³Look at me!^[g] Answer me, O Lord my God!
Revive me,^[h] or else I will die.^[i]
⁴Then^[j] my enemy will say, “I have defeated him.”
Then^[k] my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
⁵But I^[l] trust in your faithfulness.
May I rejoice because of your deliverance.^[m]
⁶I will sing praises^[n] to the Lord
when he vindicates me.^[o]

Footnotes

Psalm 13:1 sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 13:1 tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”
Psalm 13:1 tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”
Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”
Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”
Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”
Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “see.”
Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (ʾur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.
Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”
Psalm 13:4 tn Heb “or else.”
Psalm 13:4 tn Heb “or else.”
Psalm 13:5 tn The grammatical construction used here (conjunction with independent pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s defeated condition envisioned in v. 4 and confident attitude he displays in v. 5.
Psalm 13:5 tn Heb “may my heart rejoice in your deliverance.” The verb form is jussive. Having expressed his trust in God’s faithful character and promises, the psalmist prays that his confidence will prove to be well-placed. “Heart” is used here of the seat of the emotions.
Psalm 13:6 tn The verb form is cohortative, indicating the psalmist’s resolve (or vow) to praise the Lord when deliverance arrives.
Psalm 13:6 tn Or “for he will have vindicated me.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here. The idiom גָמַל עַל (gamal ʿal) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.

2 Chronicles 20:5-12

⁵Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the Lord’s temple, in front of the new courtyard. ⁶He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors,^[a] you are the God who lives in heaven^[b] and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you. ⁷Our God, you drove out^[c] the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession^[d] to the descendants of your friend^[e] Abraham. ⁸They settled down in it and built in it a temple^[f] to honor you,^[g] saying, ⁹‘If disaster comes on us in the form of military attack,^[h] judgment, plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple before you, for you are present in this temple.^[i] We will cry out to you for help in our distress, so that you will^[j] hear and deliver us.’ ¹⁰Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming!^[k] When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands.^[l] They bypassed them and did not destroy them. ¹¹Look how they are repaying us! They come to drive us out of our allotted land which you assigned to us! ¹²Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless against this huge army that attacks us. We don’t know what we should do; we look to you for help.”^[m]

Galatians 5:7-12

⁷You were running well; who prevented you from obeying^[a] the truth? ⁸This persuasion^[b] does not come from the one who calls you! ⁹A little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise!^[c] ¹⁰I am confident^[d] in the Lord that you will accept no other view.^[e] But the one who is confusing^[f] you will pay the penalty,^[g] whoever he may be. ¹¹Now, brothers and sisters,^[h] if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?^[i] In that case the offense of the cross^[j] has been removed.^[k] ¹²I wish those agitators^[l] would go so far as to^[m] castrate themselves!^[n]

Footnotes

Galatians 5:7 tn Or “following.” BDAG 792 s.v. πείθω 3.b states, “obey, follow w. dat. of the pers. or thing…Gal 3:1 v.l.; 5:7.”
Galatians 5:8 tn Grk “The persuasion,” referring to their being led away from the truth (v. 7). There is a play on words here that is not easily reproducible in the English translation: The words translated “obey” (πείθεσθαι, peithesthai) in v. 7 and “persuasion” (πεισμονή, peismonē) in v. 8 come from the same root in Greek.
Galatians 5:9 tn Grk “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
Galatians 5:10 tn The verb translated “I am confident” (πέποιθα, pepoitha) comes from the same root in Greek as the words translated “obey” (πείθεσθαι, peithesthai) in v. 7 and “persuasion” (πεισμονή, peismonē) in v. 8.
Galatians 5:10 tn Grk “that you will think nothing otherwise.”
Galatians 5:10 tn Or “is stirring you up”; Grk “is troubling you.” In context Paul is referring to the confusion and turmoil caused by those who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law.
Galatians 5:10 tn Or “will suffer condemnation” (L&N 90.80); Grk “will bear his judgment.” The translation “must pay the penalty” is given as an explanatory gloss on the phrase by BDAG 171 s.v. βαστάζω 2.b.β.
Galatians 5:11 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
Galatians 5:11 sn That is, if Paul still teaches observance of the Mosaic law (preaches circumcision), why is he still being persecuted by his opponents, who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law?
Galatians 5:11 sn The offense of the cross refers to the offense to Jews caused by preaching Christ crucified.
Galatians 5:11 tn Or “nullified.”
Galatians 5:12 tn Grk “the ones who are upsetting you.” The same verb is used in Acts 21:38 to refer to a person who incited a revolt. Paul could be alluding indirectly to the fact that his opponents are inciting the Galatians to rebel against his teaching with regard to circumcision and the law.
Galatians 5:12 tn Grk “would even.”
Galatians 5:12 tn Or “make eunuchs of themselves”; Grk “cut themselves off.” This statement is rhetorical hyperbole on Paul’s part. It does strongly suggest, however, that Paul’s adversaries in this case (“those agitators”) were men. Some interpreters (notably Erasmus and the Reformers) have attempted to soften the meaning to a figurative “separate themselves” (meaning the opponents would withdraw from fellowship) but such an understanding dramatically weakens the rhetorical force of Paul’s argument. Although it has been argued that such an act of emasculation would be unthinkable for Paul, it must be noted that Paul’s statement is one of biting sarcasm, obviously not meant to be taken literally. See further G. Stählin, TDNT 3:853-55.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 13[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 13^[a]