◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 37:12-22 (The wicked plot against the righteous); 2 Samuel 11:14-21 (Uriah killed in battle); Philippians 4:10-20 (Christian generosity) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

July 29, 2024

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

July 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 37:12-22

¹²Evil men plot against the godly^[a]
and viciously attack them.^[b]
¹³The Lord laughs in disgust^[c] at them,
for he knows that their day is coming.^[d]
¹⁴Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down^[e] the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly.^[f]
¹⁵Their swords will pierce^[g] their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
¹⁶The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men,^[h]
¹⁷for evil men will lose their power,^[i]
but the Lord sustains^[j] the godly.
¹⁸The Lord watches over the innocent day by day,^[k]
and they possess a permanent inheritance.^[l]
¹⁹They will not be ashamed when hard times come;^[m]
when famine comes they will have enough to eat.^[n]
²⁰But^[o] evil men will die;
the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated^[p]—
they will go up in smoke.^[q]
²¹Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous.^[r]
²²Surely^[s] those favored by the Lord^[t] will possess the land,
but those rejected^[u] by him will be wiped out.^[v]

Footnotes

Psalm 37:12 tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.
Psalm 37:12 tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.
Psalm 37:13 tn Heb “laughs.” As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter (see 2:4). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes the action from the perspective of an eye-witness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.
Psalm 37:13 tn Heb “for he sees that his day is coming.” As the following context makes clear (vv. 15, 17, 19-20), “his day” refers to the time when God will destroy evildoers.
Psalm 37:14 tn Heb “to cause to fall.”
Psalm 37:14 tn Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.
Psalm 37:15 tn Heb “enter into.”
Psalm 37:16 tn Heb “Better [is] a little to the godly one than the wealth of many evil ones.” The following verses explain why this is true. Though a godly individual may seem to have only meager possessions, he always has what he needs and will eventually possess the land. The wicked may prosper for a brief time, but will eventually be destroyed by divine judgment and lose everything.
Psalm 37:17 tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”
Psalm 37:17 tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.
Psalm 37:18 tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.
Psalm 37:18 tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”
Psalm 37:19 tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”
Psalm 37:19 tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”
Psalm 37:20 tn Or “for,” but Hebrew כִּי (ki) in this case would have to extend all the way back to v. 17a. Another option is to understand the particle as asseverative, “surely” (see v. 22).
Psalm 37:20 tc The meaning of the MT (כִּיקַר כָּרִים [kiqar karim], “like what is precious among the pastures/rams”) is uncertain. One possibility is to take the noun כָּרִים as “pastures” and interpret “what is precious” as referring to flowers that blossom but then quickly disappear (see v. 2 and BDB 430 s.v. יָקָר 3). If כָּרִים is taken as “rams,” then “what is precious” might refer to the choicest portions of rams. The present translation follows a reading in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpPs37), כיקוד כורם (“like the burning of an oven”). The next line, which pictures the Lord’s enemies being consumed in smoke, supports this reading, which assumes confusion of the Hebrew letters ר (resh) and ד (dalet) at the end of the first word in the sequence.
Psalm 37:20 tn Heb “they perish in smoke, they perish.” In addition to repeating the verb for emphasis, the psalmist uses the perfect form of the verb to picture the enemies’ demise as if it had already taken place. In this way he draws attention to the certitude of their judgment.
Psalm 37:21 tn Heb “an evil [man] borrows and does not repay, but a godly [man] is gracious and gives.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The three active participles and one imperfect (“repay”) draw attention to the characteristic behavior of the two types.
Psalm 37:22 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is best understood as asseverative or emphatic here.
Psalm 37:22 tn Heb “those blessed by him.” The pronoun “him” must refer to the Lord (see vv. 20, 23), so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 37:22 tn Heb “cursed.”
Psalm 37:22 tn Or “cut off”; or “removed” (see v. 9).

2 Samuel 11:14-21

¹⁴In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah at the front in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”

¹⁶So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers^[a] were. ¹⁷When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David’s soldiers^[b] fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.

¹⁸Then Joab sent a full battle report to David.^[c] ¹⁹He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish giving the battle report to the king, ²⁰if the king becomes angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone^[d] down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

Philippians 4:10-20

Appreciation for Support

¹⁰I have great joy in the Lord because now at last you have again expressed your concern for me. (Now I know you were concerned before but had no opportunity to do anything.)^[a] ¹¹I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in any circumstance. ¹²I have experienced times of need and times of abundance. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment,^[b] whether I go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. ¹³I am able to do all things^[c] through the one^[d] who strengthens me. ¹⁴Nevertheless, you did well to share with me in my trouble.

¹⁵And as you Philippians know, at the beginning of my gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in this matter of giving and receiving except you alone. ¹⁶For even in Thessalonica on more than one occasion^[e] you sent something for my need. ¹⁷I do not say this because I am seeking a gift.^[f] Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account. ¹⁸For I have received everything, and I have plenty. I have all I need because I received from Epaphroditus what you sent—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, very pleasing to God. ¹⁹And my God will supply your every need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ²⁰May glory be given to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.

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)

Footnotes

Footnotes

Appreciation for Support

Footnotes