◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 50:16-23 (God does not remain silent); 2 Samuel 12:15-25 (David and Bathsheba’s son dies); Ephesians 4:17-24 (The new life) (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 50:16-23

¹⁶God says this to the evildoer:^[a]
“How can you declare my commands,
and talk about my covenant?^[b]
¹⁷For you hate instruction
and reject my words.^[c]
¹⁸When you see a thief, you join him;^[d]
you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives.^[e]
¹⁹You do damage with words,^[f]
and use your tongue to deceive.^[g]
²⁰You plot against your brother;^[h]
you slander your own brother.^[i]
²¹When you did these things, I was silent,^[j]
so you thought I was exactly like you.^[k]
But now I will condemn^[l] you
and state my case against you.^[m]
²²Carefully consider this, you who reject God.^[n]
Otherwise I will rip you to shreds^[o]
and no one will be able to rescue you.
²³Whoever presents a thank offering honors me.^[p]
To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.”^[q]

Footnotes

Psalm 50:16 tn Heb “evil [one].” The singular adjective is used here in a representative sense; it refers to those within the larger covenant community who have blatantly violated the Lord’s commandments. In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, r^eshaʿim) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander, and cheat others (Ps 37:21).
Psalm 50:16 tn Heb “What to you to declare my commands and lift up my covenant upon your mouth?” The rhetorical question expresses sarcastic amazement. The Lord is shocked that such evildoers would give lip-service to his covenantal demands, for their lifestyle is completely opposed to his standards (see vv. 18-20).
Psalm 50:17 tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”
Psalm 50:18 tn Heb “you run with him.”
Psalm 50:18 tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”
Psalm 50:19 tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”
Psalm 50:19 tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”
Psalm 50:20 tn Heb “you sit, against your brother you speak.” To “sit” and “speak” against someone implies plotting against that person (see Ps 119:23).
Psalm 50:20 tn Heb “against the son of your mother you give a fault.”
Psalm 50:21 tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.sn The Lord was silent in the sense that he delayed punishment. Of course, God’s patience toward sinners eventually runs out. The divine “silence” is only temporary (see v. 3, where the psalmist, having described God’s arrival, observes that “he is not silent”).
Psalm 50:21 tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ʾehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).
Psalm 50:21 tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).
Psalm 50:21 tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the Lord’s resolve to accuse and judge the wicked.
Psalm 50:22 tn Heb “[you who] forget God.” “Forgetting God” here means forgetting about his commandments and not respecting his moral authority.
Psalm 50:22 sn Elsewhere in the psalms this verb is used (within a metaphorical framework) of a lion tearing its prey (see Pss 7:2; 17:12; 22:13).
Psalm 50:23 sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.
Psalm 50:23 tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (v^esam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (v^eshomer d^erakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (v^eshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).

2 Samuel 12:15-25

¹⁵Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill.^[a] ¹⁶Then David prayed to^[b] God for the child and fasted.^[c] He would even^[d] go and spend the night lying on the ground. ¹⁷The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us^[e] when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!”^[f]

¹⁹When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he^[g] realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.” ²⁰So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.

²¹His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While^[h] the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!” ²²He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought,^[i] ‘Perhaps^[j] the Lord will show pity and the child will live.’ ²³But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back at this point? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!”

²⁴So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He came to her^[k] and went to bed with her.^[l] Later she gave birth to a son, and David^[m] named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child^[n] ²⁵and sent word through Nathan the prophet that he should be named Jedidiah^[o] for the Lord’s sake.

Footnotes

2 Samuel 12:15 tn Heb “and the Lord struck the child…and he was ill.” It is necessary to repeat “the child” in the translation to make clear who became ill, since “the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became very ill” could be understood to mean that David himself became ill.
2 Samuel 12:16 tn Heb “sought” or “searched for.”
2 Samuel 12:16 tn Heb “and David fasted.”
2 Samuel 12:16 tn The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav. They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.
2 Samuel 12:18 tn Heb “to our voice.”
2 Samuel 12:18 tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!
2 Samuel 12:19 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
2 Samuel 12:21 tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (baʿavur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (b^eʿod, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.
2 Samuel 12:22 tn Heb “said.”
2 Samuel 12:22 tn Heb “Who knows?”
2 Samuel 12:24 tn The combination of the verb בּוֹא (boʾ; “to come, enter”) and the preposition אֶל (ʾel; “to”) means “to approach, to come to” (HALOT 1:113). This common expression is also used as a euphemism for coming together for sexual relations. Although some take the phrase to be a graphic depiction of a man actions in sexual relations with a woman, certain factors clarify that it is a euphemism. First, the phrase also describes a woman approaching a man for sexual relations (2 Sam 11:4), a situation where this phrase cannot be explicitly descriptive. Second, the phrase is paired here with שָׁכַב (shakhav), “to lie down,” which only makes sense if the two are complementary (compare also Gen 19:33-34 which uses both verbs of Lot’s daughters, but without the preposition). The verb שָׁכַב can imply lying down for sleep or for sexual relations. When בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel) is used with שָׁכַב (shakhav), they state the natural progression of approaching and then lying with. Hebrew can use the two together, or either separately, as a euphemism for sexual relations. But if the phrase בּוֹא אֶל were already an explicit depiction of sex, then the latter phrase with שָׁכַב, “to lie with,” would be pointless. So 2 Sam 11:4 and 2 Sam 12:24 are important evidence for how this phrase really works, and it is appropriate to also use euphemisms in translation.
2 Samuel 12:24 tn Heb “and he lay with her.” The phrase is a euphemism for sexual relations.
2 Samuel 12:24 tc The Kethiv reads “he named” while the Qere reads “she named.”tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.
2 Samuel 12:24 tn Heb “him,” referring to the child.
2 Samuel 12:25 sn The name Jedidiah means “loved by the Lord.”

Ephesians 4:17-24

Live in Holiness

¹⁷So I say this, and insist^[a] in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility^[b] of their thinking.^[c] ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding,^[d] being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.^[e] ²⁰But you did not learn about Christ like this, ²¹if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. ²²You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside^[f] the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, ²³to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image^[g]—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.^[h]

Footnotes

Ephesians 4:17 tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.
Ephesians 4:17 tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataiotēs) as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.
Ephesians 4:17 tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”
Ephesians 4:18 tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to περιπατεῖ (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.
Ephesians 4:19 sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.
Ephesians 4:22 tn An alternative rendering for the infinitives in vv. 22-24 (“to lay aside…to be renewed…to put on”) is “that you have laid aside…that you are being renewed…that you have put on.” The three infinitives of vv. 22 (ἀποθέσθαι, apothesthai), 23 (ἀνανεοῦσθαι, ananeousthai), and 24 (ἐνδύσασθαι, endusasthai), form part of an indirect discourse clause; they constitute the teaching given to the believers addressed in the letter. The problem in translation is that one cannot be absolutely certain whether they go back to indicatives in the original statement (i.e., “you have put off”) or imperatives (i.e., “put off!”). Every other occurrence of an aorist infinitive in indirect discourse in the NT goes back to an imperative, but in all of these examples the indirect discourse is introduced by a verb that implies a command. The verb διδάσκω (didaskō) in the corpus Paulinum may be used to relate the indicatives of the faith as well as the imperatives. This translation implies that the infinitives go back to imperatives, though the alternate view that they refer back to indicatives is also a plausible interpretation. For further discussion, see ExSyn 605.
Ephesians 4:24 tn Or “in God’s likeness.” Grk “according to God.” The preposition κατά used here denotes a measure of similarity or equality (BDAG 513 s.v. B.5.b.α).
Ephesians 4:24 tn Or “in righteousness and holiness which is based on truth” or “originated from truth.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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Live in Holiness

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