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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 20

Psalm 20^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

20 May the Lord answer^[b] you^[c] when you are in trouble;^[d]
may the God of Jacob^[e] make you secure.
²May he send you help from his temple;^[f]
from Zion may he give you support.
³May he take notice of^[g] all your offerings;
may he accept^[h] your burnt sacrifice. (Selah)
⁴May he grant your heart’s desire;^[i]
may he bring all your plans to pass.^[j]
⁵Then we will shout for joy over your^[k] victory;
we will rejoice^[l] in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
⁶Now I am sure^[m] that the Lord will deliver^[n] his chosen king;^[o]
he will intervene for him^[p] from his holy, heavenly temple,^[q]
and display his mighty ability to deliver.^[r]
⁷Some trust in chariots and others in horses,^[s]
but we^[t] depend on^[u] the Lord our God.
⁸They will fall down,^[v]
but we^[w] will stand firm.^[x]
⁹The Lord will deliver the king;^[y]
he will answer us^[z] when we call to him for help!^[aa]

Footnotes

Psalm 20:1 sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.
Psalm 20:1 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.
Psalm 20:1 sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.
Psalm 20:1 tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”
Psalm 20:1 tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.
Psalm 20:2 tc Heb “from [the] temple.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (וֹ, holem vav) has probably been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word begins with a prefixed vav (ו). See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 184.
Psalm 20:3 tn Or “remember.” For other examples of the verb זָכַר (zakhar) carrying the nuance “take notice of,” see Pss 8:4 and 9:12.
Psalm 20:3 tc Heb “consider as fat.” The verbal form should probably be emended to יְדַשְּׁנֶהָ (y^edash^eneha), the final he (ה) being understood as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix referring back to the feminine noun “burnt sacrifice.”
Psalm 20:4 tn Heb “may he give to you according to your heart.” This probably refers to the king’s prayer for protection and victory in battle. See vv. 5-6.
Psalm 20:4 sn May he bring all your plans to pass. This probably refers to the king’s strategy for battle.
Psalm 20:5 sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).
Psalm 20:5 tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נָגִיל (nagil, “we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).
Psalm 20:6 tn Or “know.”sn Now I am sure. The speaker is not identified. It is likely that the king, referring to himself in the third person (note “his chosen king”), responds to the people’s prayer. Perhaps his confidence is due to the reception of a divine oracle of salvation.
Psalm 20:6 tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the Lord typically delivers the king.
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “he will answer him.”
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).
Psalm 20:7 tn Heb “these in chariots and these in horses.” No verb appears; the verb “invoke” is to be supplied from the following line. The convention of backward ellipsis can apply to the final word of the 2nd line, as in this verse. In this case the idea would be that some “invoke” (i.e., trust in) their military might for victory (cf. NEB “boast”; NIV “trust”; NRSV “take pride”). Verse 8 suggests that the “some/others” mentioned here are the nation’s enemies.
Psalm 20:7 tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s faithful people and the others mentioned in the previous line.
Psalm 20:7 tc The LXX translates the verb as μεγαλυνθησόμεθα (megalunthēsometha) “we will boast.” This may reflect another verb, the Hiphil of גָּבַר (gavar), and depends on two letter confusions, ג (gimel) for ז (zayin) and ב (bet) for כ (kaf).tn Heb “we invoke the name of.” The Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar), when combined with the phrase “in the name,” means “to invoke” (see Josh 23:7; Isa 48:1; Amos 6:10). By invoking the Lord’s name in prayer, the people demonstrate their trust in him.
Psalm 20:8 tn Or “stumble and fall down.”
Psalm 20:8 tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.
Psalm 20:8 tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of עוּד (ʿud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.
Psalm 20:9 tc This translation assumes an emendation of the verbal form הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshiʿah). As it stands, the form is an imperative. In this case the people return to the petitionary mood with which the psalm begins (“O Lord, deliver”). But the immediate context is one of confidence (vv. 6-8), not petition (vv. 1-5). If one takes the final he on the verb “deliver” as dittographic (note the initial he (ה) on the following phrase, “the king”), one can repoint the verbal form as a perfect and understand it as expressing the people’s confidence, “the Lord will deliver the king” (see v. 6). The Hebrew scribal tradition takes “the king” with the following line, in which case it would be best interpreted as a divine title, “may the King answer us” or “the king will answer us” (see Pss 98:6; 145:1). However, the poetic parallelism is better balanced if “the king” is taken with the first line. In this case the referent is the Davidic king, who is earlier called the Lord’s “anointed one” (cf. note on “chosen king” in v. 6; see Pss 21:7; 45:5, 11; 63:11).
Psalm 20:9 tn If the imperative is retained in the preceding line, then the prefixed verbal form is best taken as a jussive of prayer, “may he answer us.” However, if the imperative in the previous line is emended to a perfect, the prefixed form is best taken as imperfect, “he will answer us” (see the note on the word “king” at the end of the previous line).
Psalm 20:9 tn Heb “in the day we call.”

Numbers 9:15-23

The Lord Leads the Israelites by the Cloud

¹⁵^[a] On^[b] the day that the tabernacle was set up,^[c] the cloud^[d] covered the tabernacle—the tent of the testimony^[e]—and from evening until morning there was^[f] a fiery appearance^[g] over the tabernacle. ¹⁶This is the way it used to be continually: The cloud would cover it by day,^[h] and there was a fiery appearance by night. ¹⁷Whenever the cloud was taken up^[i] from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place^[j] the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp. ¹⁸At the commandment^[k] of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as^[l] the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp. ¹⁹When the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, then the Israelites obeyed the instructions^[m] of the Lord and did not journey.

²⁰When^[n] the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days,^[o] they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment,^[p] and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey. ²¹And when^[q] the cloud remained only^[r] from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up^[s] the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled. ²²Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year^[t] that the cloud prolonged its stay^[u] over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling;^[v] but when it was taken up, they traveled on. ²³At the commandment of the Lord they camped, and at the commandment of the Lord they traveled on; they kept the instructions of the Lord according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority^[w] of Moses.

Footnotes

Numbers 9:15 sn This section (Num 9:15-23) recapitulates the account in Exod 40:34 but also contains some additional detail about the cloud that signaled Israel’s journeys. Here again material from the book of Exodus is used to explain more of the laws for the camp in motion.
Numbers 9:15 tn Heb “and/now on the day.”
Numbers 9:15 tn The construction uses the temporal expression with the Hiphil infinitive construct followed by the object, the tabernacle. “On the day of the setting up of the tabernacle” leaves the subject unstated, and so the entire clause may be expressed in the passive voice.
Numbers 9:15 sn The explanation and identification of this cloud has been a subject of much debate. Some commentators have concluded that it was identical with the cloud that led the Israelites away from Egypt and through the sea, but others have made a more compelling case that this is a different phenomenon (see ZPEB 4:796). A number of modern scholars see the description as a retrojection from later, perhaps Solomonic times (see G. H. Davies, IDB 3:817). Others have tried to connect it with Ugaritic terminology, but unconvincingly (see T. W. Mann, “The Pillar of Cloud in the Reed Sea Narrative,” JBL 90 [1971]: 15-30; G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 32-66, 209-13; and R. Good, “Cloud Messengers?” UF 10 [1978]: 436-37).
Numbers 9:15 sn The cloud apparently was centered over the tent, over the spot of the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. It thereafter spread over the whole tabernacle.
Numbers 9:15 tn The imperfect tense in this and the next line should be classified as a customary imperfect, stressing incomplete action but in the past time—something that used to happen, or would happen.
Numbers 9:15 tn Heb “like the appearance of fire.”
Numbers 9:16 tc The MT lacks the words “by day,” but a number of ancient versions have this reading (e.g., Greek, Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J., Latin Vulgate).
Numbers 9:17 tn The verb in this initial temporal clause is the Niphal infinitive construct.
Numbers 9:17 tn Heb “in the place where it settled there”; the relative clause modifies the noun “place,” and the resumptive adverb completes the related idea—“which it settled there” means “where it settled.”
Numbers 9:18 tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).
Numbers 9:18 tn Heb “all the days of—that the cloud settled over the tabernacle.” “All” is the adverbial accusative of time telling how long they camped in one spot—all. The word is then qualified by the genitive of the thing measured—“all of the days”—and this in turn is qualified by a noun clause functioning as a genitive after “days of.”
Numbers 9:19 tn This is the same Hebrew expression that was used earlier for the Levites “keeping their charge” or more clearly, “fulfilling their obligations” to take care of the needs of the people and the sanctuary. It is a general expression using שָׁמַר (shamar) followed by its cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret).
Numbers 9:20 tn The sentence uses וְיֵשׁ (v^eyesh) followed by a noun clause introduced with אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) to express an existing situation; it is best translated as an adverbial clause of time: “and it was when the cloud was….”
Numbers 9:20 tn The word “number” is in apposition to the word “days” to indicate that their stay was prolonged for quite a few days.
Numbers 9:20 tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”
Numbers 9:21 tn The construction is the same in the preceding verse.
Numbers 9:21 tn “Only” is supplied to reflect the contrast between the two verses.
Numbers 9:21 tn The construction in this half of the verse uses two vav (ו) consecutive clauses. The first is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause: “when…then….”
Numbers 9:22 tn The MT has אוֹ־יָמִים (ʾo yamim). Most translators use “or a year” to interpret this expression in view of the sequence of words leading up to it, as well as in comparison with passages like Judg 17:10 and 1 Sam 1:3 and 27:7. See also the uses in Gen 40:4 and 1 Kgs 17:15. For the view that it means four months, see F. S. North, “Four Month Season of the Hebrew Bible,” VT 11 (1961): 446-48.
Numbers 9:22 tn In the Hebrew text this sentence has a temporal clause using the preposition with the Hiphil infinitive construct of אָרַךְ (ʾarakh) followed by the subjective genitive, “the cloud.” But this infinitive is followed by the infinitive construct לִשְׁכֹּן (lishkon), the two of them forming a verbal hendiadys: “the cloud made long to stay” becomes “the cloud prolonged its stay.”
Numbers 9:22 tn Heb “and they would not journey”; the clause can be taken adverbially, explaining the preceding verbal clause.
Numbers 9:23 tn Heb “hand.”

Revelation 4:1-8

The Amazing Scene in Heaven

4 After these things I looked, and there was^[a] a door standing open in heaven!^[b] And the first voice I had heard speaking to me^[c] like a trumpet^[d] said: “Come up here so that^[e] I can show you what must happen after these things.” ²Immediately I was in the Spirit,^[f] and^[g] a throne was standing^[h] in heaven with someone seated on it! ³And the one seated on it was like jasper^[i] and carnelian^[j] in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald^[k] encircled the throne. ⁴In^[l] a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on those thrones were twenty-four elders. They were^[m] dressed in white clothing and had golden crowns^[n] on their heads. ⁵From^[o] the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring^[p] and crashes of thunder. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God,^[q] were burning in front of the throne ⁶and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.^[r]

In^[s] the middle of the throne^[t] and around the throne were four living creatures^[u] full of eyes in front and in back. ⁷The^[v] first living creature was like a lion, the^[w] second creature like an ox, the third creature had a face like a man’s, and the fourth creature looked like an eagle flying. ⁸Each one of the four living creatures had six wings^[x] and was full of eyes all around and inside.^[y] They never rest day or night, saying:^[z]

“Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful,^[aa]
Who was and who is, and who is still to come!”

Footnotes

Revelation 4:1 tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
Revelation 4:1 tn Or “in the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
Revelation 4:1 tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”
Revelation 4:1 sn The phrase speaking to me like a trumpet refers back to Rev 1:10.
Revelation 4:1 tn The conjunction καί (kai), much like the vav-consecutive in Hebrew, appears to be introducing a final/purpose clause here rather than a coordinate clause.
Revelation 4:2 tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).
Revelation 4:2 tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
Revelation 4:2 tn BDAG 537 s.v. κεῖμαι 2 gives the translation “stand” for the term in this verse.
Revelation 4:3 tn Grk “jasper stone.”sn Jasper was a semiprecious gemstone, probably green in color (L&N 2.30).
Revelation 4:3 sn Carnelian was a semiprecious gemstone, usually red in color (L&N 2.36).
Revelation 4:3 tn Or “a rainbow emerald-like in appearance.”
Revelation 4:4 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 4:4 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were” to indicate the connection to the preceding material.
Revelation 4:4 sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.
Revelation 4:5 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 4:5 tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”
Revelation 4:5 sn Some interpret the seven spirits of God as angelic beings, while others see them as a reference to the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Revelation 4:6 tn This could refer to rock crystal, but it is possible this refers to ice (an older meaning). See BDAG 571 s.v. κρύσταλλος.
Revelation 4:6 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 4:6 tn Perhaps, “in the middle of the throne area” (see L&N 83.10).
Revelation 4:6 tn On the meaning of ζῴον (zōon) BDAG 431 s.v. 2 states, “Of the four peculiar beings at God’s throne, whose description Rv 4:6-9 reminds one of the ζῷα in Ezk 1:5ff, the cherubim. S. also Rv 5:6, 8, 11, 14; 6:1, 3, 5-7; 7:11; 14:3; 15:7; 19:4.”
Revelation 4:7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Revelation 4:7 tn Both here and before the phrase “the third,” καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
Revelation 4:8 tn Grk “six wings apiece,” but this is redundant with “each one” in English.
Revelation 4:8 tn Some translations render ἔσωθεν (esōthen) as “under [its] wings,” but the description could also mean “filled all around on the outside and on the inside with eyes.” Since the referent is not available to the interpreter, the exact force is difficult to determine.
Revelation 4:8 tn Or “They never stop saying day and night.”
Revelation 4:8 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π.…Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”sn A quotation from (or an allusion to) Isa 6:3.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 20[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

The Lord Leads the Israelites by the Cloud

Footnotes

The Amazing Scene in Heaven

Footnotes

Psalm 20^[a]