◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 24 (The King of glory shall come in); Exodus 25:10-22 (The ark of the covenant); Colossians 2:1-5 (Christ the mystery of God) (New English Translation)

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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 24

Psalm 24^[a]

A psalm of David.

24 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
²For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established^[b] it upon the ocean currents.^[c]
³Who is allowed to ascend^[d] the mountain of the Lord?^[e]
Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?
⁴The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure,^[f]
who does not lie,^[g]
or make promises with no intention of keeping them.^[h]
⁵Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord,^[i]
and vindicated by the God who delivers them.^[j]
⁶Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,
Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him.^[k] (Selah)
⁷Look up,^[l] you gates.
Rise up,^[m] you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king^[n] will enter.^[o]
⁸Who is this majestic king?^[p]
The Lord who is strong and mighty.
The Lord who is mighty in battle.
⁹Look up, you gates.
Rise up, you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king will enter.
¹⁰Who is this majestic king?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.^[q]
He is the majestic king. (Selah)

Footnotes

Psalm 24:1 sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.
Psalm 24:2 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.
Psalm 24:2 sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.
Psalm 24:3 tn The imperfects in v. 3 are modal, expressing potential or permission.
Psalm 24:3 sn In this context the Lord’s mountain probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem (see Isa 2:2-3).
Psalm 24:4 tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.
Psalm 24:4 tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).
Psalm 24:4 tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”
Psalm 24:5 tn Heb “he (the righteous individual described in v. 4) lifts up a blessing from the Lord.” The singular subject is representative here, as v. 6 makes clear. The referent (godly people like the individual in v. 4) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The imperfect verbal form is generalizing; such people are typically rewarded for their deeds.
Psalm 24:5 tn “and vindication from the God of his deliverance.”
Psalm 24:6 tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).sn This verse presents a somewhat idealized view of Jacob’s descendants as devoted worshipers of the Lord.
Psalm 24:7 tn Heb “lift up your heads.” The gates of the Lord’s dwelling place are here personified. The idiom “lift up the head” often means “be confident, bold” (see Judg 8:28; Job 10:15; Ps 83:2; Zech 1:21).
Psalm 24:7 tn Heb “lift yourselves up.”
Psalm 24:7 tn Or “king of glory.”
Psalm 24:7 tn Following the imperatives of the preceding lines, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
Psalm 24:8 sn Who is this majestic king? Perhaps the personified gates/doors ask this question, in response to the command given in v. 7.
Psalm 24:10 tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts,” a title which here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle.

Exodus 25:10-22

The Ark of the Testimony

¹⁰^[a] “They are to make an ark^[b] of acacia wood—its length is to be 45 inches, its width 27 inches, and its height 27 inches.^[c] ¹¹You are to overlay^[d] it with pure gold—both inside and outside you must overlay it,^[e] and you are to make a surrounding border^[f] of gold over it. ¹²You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ¹³You are to make poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold, ¹⁴and put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. ¹⁵The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it. ¹⁶You are to put into the ark the testimony^[g] that I will give to you.

¹⁷“You are to make an atonement lid^[h] of pure gold;^[i] its length is to be 45 inches, and its width is to be 27 inches. ¹⁸You are to make two cherubim^[j] of gold; you are to make them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid. ¹⁹Make^[k] one cherub on one end^[l] and one cherub on the other end; from the atonement lid^[m] you are to make the cherubim on the two ends. ²⁰The cherubim are to be spreading their wings upward, overshadowing^[n] the atonement lid with their wings, and the cherubim are to face each other,^[o] looking^[p] toward the atonement lid. ²¹You are to put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and in the ark you are to put the testimony I am giving you. ²²I will meet with you there,^[q] and^[r] from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.

Footnotes

Exodus 25:10 sn This section begins with the ark, the most sacred and important object of Israel’s worship. Verses 10-15 provide the instructions for it, v. 16 has the placement of the Law in it, vv. 17-21 cover the mercy lid, and v. 22 the meeting above it. The point of this item in the tabernacle is to underscore the focus: the covenant people must always have God’s holy standard before them as they draw near to worship. A study of this would focus on God’s nature (he is a God of order, precision, and perfection), on the usefulness of this item for worship, and on the typology intended.
Exodus 25:10 tn The word “ark” has long been used by English translations to render אָרוֹן (ʾaron), the word used for the wooden “box,” or “chest,” made by Noah in which to escape the flood and by the Israelites to furnish the tabernacle.
Exodus 25:10 tn The size is two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. The size is estimated on the assumption that the cubit is 18 inches (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 267).
Exodus 25:11 tn The verbs throughout here are perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutives. They are equal to the imperfect tense of instruction and/or injunction.
Exodus 25:11 tn Here the verb is an imperfect tense; for the perfect sequence to work the verb would have to be at the front of the clause.
Exodus 25:11 tn The word זֵר (zer) is used only in Exodus and seems to describe something on the order of a crown molding, an ornamental border running at the top of the chest on all four sides. There is no indication of its appearance or function.
Exodus 25:16 sn The “testimony” is the Decalogue (Exod 24:12; 31:18; Deut 4:13; 9:9; 1 Kgs 8:9); the word identifies it as the witness or affirmation of God’s commandments belonging to his covenant with Israel. It expressed God’s will and man’s duty. In other cultures important documents were put at the feet of the gods in the temples.
Exodus 25:17 tn The noun is כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet), translated “atonement lid” or “atonement plate.” The traditional translation “mercy-seat” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) came from Tyndale in 1530 and was also used by Luther in 1523. The noun is formed from the word “to make atonement.” The item that the Israelites should make would be more than just a lid for the ark. It would be the place where atonement was signified. The translation of “covering” is probably incorrect, for it derives from a rare use of the verb, if the same verb at all (the evidence shows “cover” is from another root with the same letters as this). The value of this place was that Yahweh sat enthroned above it, and so the ark essentially was the “footstool.” Blood was applied to the lid of the box, for that was the place of atonement (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 269-270).
Exodus 25:17 tn After verbs of making or producing, the accusative (like “gold” here) may be used to express the material from which something is made (see GKC 371 §117.hh).
Exodus 25:18 tn The evidence suggests that the cherubim were composite angelic creatures that always indicated the nearness of God. So here images of them were to be crafted and put on each end of the ark of the covenant to signify that they were there. Ezekiel 1 describes four cherubim as each having human faces, four wings, and parts of different animals for their bodies. Traditions of them appear in the other cultures as well. They serve to guard the holy places and to bear the throne of God. Here they were to be beaten out as part of the lid.
Exodus 25:19 tn The text now shifts to use an imperative with the vav (ו) conjunction.
Exodus 25:19 tn The use of זֶה (zeh) repeated here expresses the reciprocal ideas of “the one” and “the other” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 26, §132).
Exodus 25:19 sn The angels were to form one piece with the lid and not be separated. This could be translated “of one piece with” the lid, but it is likely the angels were simply fastened to it permanently.
Exodus 25:20 tn The verb means “overshadowing, screening” in the sense of guarding (see 1 Kgs 8:7; 1 Chr 28:18; see also the account in Gen 3:24). The cherubim then signify two things here: by their outstretched wings they form the throne of God who sits above the ark (with the Law under his feet), and by their overshadowing and guarding they signify this as the place of atonement where people must find propitiation to commune with God. Until then they are barred from his presence. See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 330-35.
Exodus 25:20 tn Heb “their faces a man to his brother.”
Exodus 25:20 tn Heb “the faces of the cherubim will be” (“the cherubim” was moved to the preceding clause for smoother English).
Exodus 25:22 sn Here then is the main point of the ark of the covenant, and the main point of all worship—meeting with God through atonement. The text makes it clear that here God would meet with Moses (“you” is singular) and then he would speak to the people—he is the mediator of the covenant. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 272) makes the point that the verb here is not the word that means “to meet by chance” (as in Exod 3:18), but “to meet” by appointment for a purpose (וְנוֹעַדְתִּי, v^enoʿadti). The parallel in the NT is Jesus Christ and his work. The theology is that the Law condemns people as guilty of sin, but the sacrifice of Christ makes atonement. So he is the “place of propitiation” (Rom 3:25) who gains communion with the Father for sinners. A major point that could be made from this section is this: At the center of worship must be the atoning work of Christ—a perpetual reminder of God’s righteous standard (the testimony in the ark) and God’s gracious provision (the atonement lid).
Exodus 25:22 tn The verb is placed here in the text: “and I will speak”; it has been moved in this translation to be closer to the direct object clause.

Colossians 2:1-5

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you,^[a] and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face.^[b] ²My goal is that^[c] their hearts, having been knit together^[d] in love, may be encouraged, and that^[e] they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ,^[f] ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments^[g] that sound reasonable.^[h] ⁵For though^[i] I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see^[j] your morale^[k] and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Footnotes

Colossians 2:1 tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”
Colossians 2:1 tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”
Colossians 2:2 tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (hina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.
Colossians 2:2 tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.
Colossians 2:2 tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians—the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”
Colossians 2:2 tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou theou, Christou, “of God, [namely,] Christ”; so P⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 365 945 1505). Several witnesses, especially later Byzantines, read “of the God and Father, and of Christ” (D² K L 075 [0208 0278] M). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.
Colossians 2:4 tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”
Colossians 2:4 sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.
Colossians 2:5 tn The conditional particle εἰ (ei) together with καί (kai) here indicates a first class condition in Greek and carries a concessive force, especially when seen in contrast to the following phrase which begins with ἀλλά (alla).
Colossians 2:5 tn Grk “rejoicing and seeing.”
Colossians 2:5 tn The Greek word τάξις can mean “order,” “discipline,” or even “unbroken ranks” (REB).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 24[a]

A psalm of David.

Footnotes

The Ark of the Testimony

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 24^[a]