◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 93 (God reigns above the floods); Deuteronomy 7:1-11 (Keeping God’s commandments); 1 Timothy 6:11-12 (Pursue righteousness) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

May 6, 2024

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

May 2024
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Return to today's reading

Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 93

Psalm 93^[a]

93 The Lord reigns.
He is robed in majesty.
The Lord is robed;
he wears strength around his waist.^[b]
Indeed, the world is established; it cannot be moved.
²Your throne has been secure from ancient times;
you have always been king.^[c]
³The waves^[d] roar, O Lord,
the waves roar,
the waves roar and crash.^[e]
⁴Above the sound of the surging water,^[f]
and the mighty waves of the sea,
the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.^[g]
⁵The rules you set down^[h] are completely reliable.^[i]
Holiness^[j] aptly adorns your house, O Lord, forever.^[k]

Deuteronomy 7:1-11

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you—Hittites,^[a] Girgashites,^[b] Amorites,^[c] Canaanites,^[d] Perizzites,^[e] Hivites,^[f] and Jebusites,^[g] seven^[h] nations more numerous and powerful than you— ²and he^[i] delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate^[j] them. Make no treaty^[k] with them and show them no mercy! ³You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters^[l] to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴for they^[m] will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. ⁵Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars,^[n] cut down their sacred Asherah poles,^[o] and burn up their idols. ⁶For you are a people holy^[p] to the Lord your God. He^[q] has chosen you to be his people, prized^[r] above all others on the face of the earth.

The Basis of Israel’s Election

⁷It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you—for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. ⁸Rather it is because of his^[s] love^[t] for you and his faithfulness to the promise^[u] he solemnly vowed^[v] to your ancestors^[w] that the Lord brought you out with great power,^[x] redeeming^[y] you from the place of slavery, from the power^[z] of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹So realize that the Lord your God is the true God,^[aa] the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully^[ab] with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, ¹⁰but who pays back those who hate^[ac] him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore^[ad] those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! ¹¹So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).
Deuteronomy 7:1 sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.
Deuteronomy 7:2 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
Deuteronomy 7:2 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”
Deuteronomy 7:2 tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”
Deuteronomy 7:3 sn Heb “Do not give your daughter to his son.” The command (beginning at 7:1) is given in the singular form of “you” to emphasize individual responsibility. At this point, the Hebrew also switches from the plural (see previous clause) to the singular in reference to the Canaanite sons and daughters. While the principle applies to everyone in the nation, the rhetorical presentation is of an individual father making a decision about his specific child and a particular potential spouse.
Deuteronomy 7:4 tn Heb “he will,” envisioning a particular case. See note in previous verse.
Deuteronomy 7:5 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the Lord (Gen 28:18, 22; 31:13; 35:14; Exod 24:4), these pillars were usually associated with pagan cults and rituals (Exod 23:24; 34:13; Deut 12:3; 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 17:10; Hos 3:4; 10:1; Jer 43:13).
Deuteronomy 7:5 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [ʾasherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
Deuteronomy 7:6 tn That is, “set apart.”
Deuteronomy 7:6 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
Deuteronomy 7:6 tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (s^egullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn For the verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”
Deuteronomy 7:8 sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).
Deuteronomy 7:8 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.
Deuteronomy 7:9 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
Deuteronomy 7:9 tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (b^erit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).
Deuteronomy 7:10 tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).
Deuteronomy 7:10 tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”

1 Timothy 6:11-12

¹¹But you, as a person dedicated to God,^[a] keep away from all that.^[b] Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. ¹²Compete well^[c] for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession^[d] for^[e] in the presence of many witnesses.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 93[a]

Footnotes

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

The Basis of Israel’s Election

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 93^[a]