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November 18, 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 123

Psalm 123^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]

123 I look up^[c] toward you,
the one enthroned^[d] in heaven.
²Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,^[e]
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
³Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.^[f]
⁴We have had our fill^[g]
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.

Judges 5:1-12

Celebrating the Victory in Song

5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this victory song:^[a]

²“When the leaders took the lead^[b] in Israel,
When the people answered the call to war—
Praise the Lord!
³Hear, O kings!
Pay attention, O rulers!
I will sing to the Lord!^[c]
I will sing^[d] to the Lord God of Israel!
⁴O Lord, when you departed^[e] from Seir,

when you marched from Edom’s plains,
the earth shook, the heavens poured down,
the clouds poured down rain.^[f]
⁵The mountains trembled^[g] before the Lord, the God of Sinai;^[h]
before the Lord God of Israel.
⁶In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,

in the days of Jael caravans^[i] disappeared;^[j]
travelers^[k] had to go on winding side roads.
⁷Warriors^[l] were scarce;^[m]
they were scarce in Israel,
until you^[n] arose, Deborah,
until you arose as a motherly protector^[o] in Israel.
⁸God chose new leaders,^[p]
then fighters appeared in the city gates;^[q]
but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found^[r]
among forty military units^[s] in Israel.
⁹My heart went out^[t] to Israel’s leaders,
to the people who answered the call to war.
Praise the Lord!
¹⁰You who ride on light-colored female donkeys,

who sit on saddle blankets,^[u]
you who walk on the road, pay attention!
¹¹Hear^[v] the sound of those who divide the sheep^[w] among the watering places;
there they tell of^[x] the Lord’s victorious deeds,
the victorious deeds of his warriors^[y] in Israel.
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates—
¹²Wake up, wake up, Deborah!

Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Capture your prisoners of war,^[z] son of Abinoam!

Footnotes

Judges 5:1 tn The words “this victory song” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Judges 5:2 tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression בִּפְרֹעַ פְּרָעוֹת (bifroaʿ p^eraʿot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak’s summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (חוֹקְקֵי, khoq^eqe) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term פְּרַעוֹת (p^eraʿot, v. 2a) is synonymous with חוֹקְקֵי (khoq^eqe) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).
Judges 5:3 tn Heb “I, to the Lord, I, I will sing!” The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.
Judges 5:3 tn Or “make music.”
Judges 5:4 tn Or “went out.”
Judges 5:4 tn Heb “water.”
Judges 5:5 tn Or “quaked.” The translation assumes the form נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) from the root זָלַל (zalal, “to quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). The LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum also understood the word this way. (See Isa 63:19 and 64:2 for other occurrences of this form.) Some understand here the verb נָזַל (nazal, “to flow [with torrents of rain water]”).
Judges 5:5 tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.
Judges 5:6 tc The translation assumes the form אֳרְחוֹת (ʾor^ekhot, “caravans”) rather than אֳרָחוֹת (ʾorakhot, “roadways”) because it makes a tighter parallel with “travelers” in the next line.
Judges 5:6 tn Or “ceased.”
Judges 5:6 tn Heb “Ones walking on paths.”
Judges 5:7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew noun פְרָזוֹן (f^erazon) is uncertain. Some understand the meaning as “leaders” or “those living in rural areas.” The singular noun appears to be collective (note the accompanying plural verb). For various options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 237-38.
Judges 5:7 tn Or “ceased.”
Judges 5:7 tn The translation assumes that the verb is an archaic second feminine singular form. Though Deborah is named as one of the composers of the song (v. 1), she is also addressed within it (v. 12). Many take the verb as first person singular, “I arose” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV).
Judges 5:7 tn Heb “mother.” The translation assumes that the image portrays Deborah as a protector of the people. It is possible that the metaphor points to her prophetic role. Just as a male prophet could be called “father,” so Deborah, a prophetess, is called “mother” (B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239).
Judges 5:8 tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.
Judges 5:8 tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)
Judges 5:8 tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (ʾim) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).
Judges 5:8 tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (ʾelef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).
Judges 5:9 tn The words “went out” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Judges 5:10 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִדִּין (middin, “saddle blankets”) in this context is uncertain.
Judges 5:11 tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
Judges 5:11 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some translate “those who distribute the water” (HALOT 344 s.v. חצץ pi). For other options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 246-47.
Judges 5:11 tn Or perhaps “repeat.”
Judges 5:11 tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.
Judges 5:12 tn Heb “take captive your captives.” (The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative here.)

Matthew 12:43-45

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

⁴³“When^[a] an unclean spirit^[b] goes out of a person,^[c] it passes through waterless places^[d] looking for rest but^[e] does not find it. ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’^[f] When it returns,^[g] it finds the house^[h] empty, swept clean, and put in order.^[i] ⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so^[j] the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 123[a]

A song of ascents.[b]

Footnotes

Celebrating the Victory in Song

Footnotes

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

Footnotes

Psalm 123^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]