◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 51:1-12 (Create in me a clean heart); Joshua 23:1-16 (The mighty acts of God); 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 (Discerning the body of Christ) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

August 2, 2024

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

August 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 51:1-12

Psalm 51^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.^[b]

51 Have mercy on me, O God, because of^[c] your loyal love.
Because of^[d] your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.^[e]
²Wash away my wrongdoing.^[f]
Cleanse me of my sin.^[g]
³For I am aware of^[h] my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.^[i]
⁴Against you—you above all^[j]—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So^[k] you are just when you confront me;^[l]
you are right when you condemn me.^[m]
⁵Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.^[n]
⁶Look,^[o] you desire^[p] integrity in the inner man;^[q]
you want me to possess wisdom.^[r]
⁷Cleanse me^[s] with hyssop^[t] and I will be pure;^[u]
wash me^[v] and I will be whiter than snow.^[w]
⁸Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.^[x]
May the bones^[y] you crushed rejoice.^[z]
⁹Hide your face^[aa] from my sins.
Wipe away^[ab] all my guilt.
¹⁰Create for me a pure heart, O God.^[ac]
Renew a resolute spirit within me.^[ad]
¹¹Do not reject me.^[ae]
Do not take your holy Spirit^[af] away from me.^[ag]
¹²Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.^[ah]

Footnotes

Psalm 51:1 sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.
Psalm 51:1 tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”
Psalm 51:1 tn Or “according to.”
Psalm 51:1 tn Or “according to.”
Psalm 51:1 tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”
Psalm 51:2 tn Heb “Thoroughly wash me from my wrongdoing.”
Psalm 51:2 sn In vv. 1b-2 the psalmist uses three different words to emphasize the multifaceted character and degree of his sin. Whatever one wants to call it (“rebellious acts,” “wrongdoing,” “sin”), he has done it and stands morally polluted in God’s sight. The same three words appear in Exod 34:7, which emphasizes that God is willing to forgive sin in all of its many dimensions. In v. 2 the psalmist compares forgiveness and restoration to physical cleansing. Perhaps he likens spiritual cleansing to the purification rites of priestly law.
Psalm 51:3 tn Heb “know.”
Psalm 51:3 tn Heb “and my sin [is] in front of me continually.”
Psalm 51:4 tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hataʾ, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “above all,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”
Psalm 51:4 tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (l^emaʿan) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea—the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.
Psalm 51:4 tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).
Psalm 51:4 tn Heb “when you judge.”
Psalm 51:5 tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.
Psalm 51:6 sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.
Psalm 51:6 tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.
Psalm 51:6 tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.
Psalm 51:6 tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).sn You want me to possess wisdom. Here “wisdom” does not mean “intelligence” or “learning,” but refers to moral insight and skill.
Psalm 51:7 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
Psalm 51:7 sn “Hyssop” was a small plant (see 1 Kgs 4:33) used to apply water or blood in purification rites (see Exod 12:22; Lev 14:4-6, 49-52; Num 19:6-18). The psalmist uses the language and imagery of such rites to describe spiritual cleansing through forgiveness.
Psalm 51:7 tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.
Psalm 51:7 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
Psalm 51:7 sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).
Psalm 51:8 tn Heb “cause me to hear happiness and joy.” The language is metonymic: the effect of forgiveness (joy) has been substituted for its cause. The psalmist probably alludes here to an assuring word from God announcing that his sins are forgiven (a so-called oracle of forgiveness). The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request. The synonyms “happiness” and “joy” are joined together as a hendiadys to emphasize the degree of joy he anticipates.
Psalm 51:8 sn May the bones you crushed rejoice. The psalmist compares his sinful condition to that of a person who has been physically battered and crushed. Within this metaphorical framework, his “bones” are the seat of his emotional strength.
Psalm 51:8 tn In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.
Psalm 51:9 sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”
Psalm 51:9 tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.
Psalm 51:10 sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s motives and moral character.
Psalm 51:10 tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”
Psalm 51:11 tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”
Psalm 51:11 sn Your holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his holy Spirit.”
Psalm 51:11 sn Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14). An alternative understanding of this verse is that the term Holy Spirit is simply metaphorical for the Lord’s presence, but this is unlikely given the other use of the term in Isa 63:10, where the Holy Spirit is personal and distinct from God himself.
Psalm 51:12 tn Heb “and [with] a willing spirit sustain me.” The psalmist asks that God make him the kind of person who willingly obeys the divine commandments. The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

Joshua 23

Joshua Challenges Israel to be Faithful

23 A long time^[a] passed after the Lord made Israel secure from all their enemies,^[b] and Joshua was very old.^[c] ²So Joshua summoned all Israel, including the elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and told them: “I am very old. ³You saw everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your behalf, for the Lord your God fights for you.^[d] ⁴See, I have parceled out to your tribes these remaining nations,^[e] from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea^[f] in the west, including all the nations I defeated.^[g] ⁵The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them,^[h] so you can occupy^[i] their land as the Lord your God promised^[j] you. ⁶Be very strong! Carefully obey^[k] all that is written in the law scroll of Moses so you won’t swerve from it to the right or the left, ⁷or associate with these nations that remain near^[l] you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods!^[m] You must not worship^[n] or bow down to them! ⁸But you must be loyal to^[o] the Lord your God, as you have been^[p] to this very day.

⁹“The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you^[q] to this very day. ¹⁰One of you makes a thousand run away,^[r] for the Lord your God fights for you,^[s] as he promised you he would.^[t] ¹¹Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God!^[u] ¹²But if you ever turn away and make alliances with^[v] these nations that remain near you,^[w] and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them,^[x] ¹³know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you;^[y] they will be a whip that tears^[z] your sides and thorns that blind^[aa] your eyes until you disappear^[ab] from this good land the Lord your God gave you.

¹⁴“Look, today I am about to die.^[ac] You know with all your heart and being^[ad] that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized—not one promise is unfulfilled!^[ae] ¹⁵But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized,^[af] it is just as certain that if you disobey, then the Lord will bring on you every judgment^[ag] until he destroys you from this good land that the Lord your God gave you. ¹⁶If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep,^[ah] and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods,^[ai] then the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear^[aj] quickly from the good land that he gave to you.”

Footnotes

Joshua 23:1 tn Heb “many days.”
Joshua 23:1 tn Heb “the Lord had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around.”
Joshua 23:1 tn Heb “was old, coming into the days.” This expression, referring to advancing in years, also occurs in the following verse.
Joshua 23:3 tn Heb “for the Lord your God, he [is] the one who fights for you.”
Joshua 23:4 tn Heb “I have assigned by lots to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes.”
Joshua 23:4 tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
Joshua 23:4 tn Heb “from the Jordan and all the nations which I cut off and the Great Sea [at] the place where the sun sets.” The relationship of the second half of the verse, which mentions nations already conquered, to the first half, which speaks of “remaining nations,” is difficult to understand.
Joshua 23:5 tn The Hebrew text reads, “from before you.” This has not been included in the translation because it is redundant in English.
Joshua 23:5 tn Or “take possession of.”
Joshua 23:5 tn Heb “said to.”
Joshua 23:6 tn Heb “Be strong so you can be careful to do.”
Joshua 23:7 tn Heb “with.”
Joshua 23:7 tn Heb “and in the name of their gods you must not invoke and you must not make solemn declarations.” The words “and you must not make solemn declarations” are omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition to elucidate the immediately preceding command. The Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) without an object occurs only here and in Josh 6:26.
Joshua 23:7 tn Or “serve.”
Joshua 23:8 tn Heb “hug.”
Joshua 23:8 tn Heb “done.”
Joshua 23:9 tn Heb “not a man has stood before you.”
Joshua 23:10 tn Or “chases a thousand.”
Joshua 23:10 tn Heb “for the Lord your God, he [is] the one who fights for you.”
Joshua 23:10 tn Heb “as he said to you.”
Joshua 23:11 tn Heb “Watch carefully yourselves so as to love the Lord your God.”
Joshua 23:12 tn Heb “and hug.”
Joshua 23:12 tn Heb “the remnant of the these nations, these nations that are with you.”
Joshua 23:12 tn Heb “and go into them, and they into you.”
Joshua 23:13 tn Heb “be a trap and a snare to you.”
Joshua 23:13 tn Heb “in.”
Joshua 23:13 tn Heb “thorns in your eyes.”
Joshua 23:13 tn Or “perish.”
Joshua 23:14 tn Heb “go the way of all the earth.”
Joshua 23:14 tn Or “soul.”
Joshua 23:14 tn Heb “one word from all these words which the Lord your God spoke to you has not fallen, the whole has come to pass for you, one word from it has not fallen.”
Joshua 23:15 tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the Lord your God spoke to you has come to pass.”
Joshua 23:15 tn Heb “so the Lord will bring every injurious [or “evil”] word [or “thing”] upon you.”
Joshua 23:16 tn Heb “when you violate the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you.”
Joshua 23:16 tn Heb “and you walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
Joshua 23:16 tn Or “perish.”

1 Corinthians 11:27-34

²⁷For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸A person should examine himself first,^[a] and in this way^[b] let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard^[c] for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. ³⁰That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.^[d] ³¹But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. ³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. ³³So then, my brothers and sisters,^[e] when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.

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 51[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.[b]

Footnotes

Joshua Challenges Israel to be Faithful

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 51^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.^[b]