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August 15, 2024

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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 111

Psalm 111^[a]

111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
²The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited^[b] by all who desire them.
³His work is majestic and glorious,^[c]
and his faithfulness endures^[d] forever.
⁴He does^[e] amazing things that will be remembered;^[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
⁵He gives^[g] food to his faithful followers;^[h]
he always remembers his covenant.^[i]
⁶He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.^[j]
⁷His acts are characterized by^[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.^[l]
⁸They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.^[m]
⁹He delivered his people;^[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.^[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
¹⁰To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;^[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.^[q]
He will receive praise forever.^[r]

1 Kings 1:1-30

Adonijah Tries to Seize the Throne

1 King David was very old;^[a] even when they covered him with blankets,^[b] he could not get warm. ²His servants advised^[c] him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king,^[d] to take care of the king’s needs^[e] and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you^[f] and keep our master, the king, warm.”^[g] ³So they looked through all Israel^[h] for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴The young woman was very beautiful; she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.^[i]

⁵Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith,^[j] was promoting himself,^[k] boasting,^[l] “I will be king!” He managed to acquire^[m] chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard.^[n] ⁶(Now his father had never corrected^[o] him^[p] by saying, “Why do you do such things?” He was also very handsome and had been born right after Absalom.^[q]) ⁷He collaborated^[r] with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported^[s] him.^[t] ⁸But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s elite warriors^[u] did not ally themselves^[v] with Adonijah. ⁹Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened steers at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons,^[w] as well as all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. ¹⁰But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors,^[x] or his brother Solomon.

¹¹Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Has it been reported to you^[y] that Haggith’s son Adonijah has become king behind our master David’s back?^[z] ¹²Now^[aa] let me give you some advice as to how^[ab] you can save your life and your son Solomon’s life. ¹³Visit^[ac] King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise^[ad] your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴While^[ae] you are still there speaking to the king, I will arrive^[af] and verify your report.”^[ag]

¹⁵So Bathsheba visited the king in his private quarters.^[ah] (The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) ¹⁶Bathsheba bowed down on the floor before^[ai] the king. The king said, “What do you want?” ¹⁷She replied to him, “My master, you swore an oath to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you,^[aj] my master the king, are not even aware of it!^[ak] ¹⁹He has sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon. ²⁰Now,^[al] my master, O king, all Israel is watching anxiously to see who is named to succeed my master the king on the throne.^[am] ²¹If a decision is not made,^[an] when my master the king is buried with his ancestors,^[ao] my son Solomon and I^[ap] will be considered state criminals.”^[aq]

²²Just then,^[ar] while she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. ²³The king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” Nathan entered and bowed before the king with his face to the floor.^[as] ²⁴Nathan said, “My master, O king, did you announce, ‘Adonijah will be king after me; he will sit on my throne’? ²⁵For today he has gone down and sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. At this moment^[at] they are having a feast^[au] in his presence, and they have declared, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’^[av] ²⁶But he did not invite me—your servant—or Zadok the priest, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. ²⁷Has my master the king authorized this without informing your servants^[aw] who should succeed my master the king on his throne?”^[ax]

David Picks Solomon as His Successor

²⁸King David responded,^[ay] “Summon Bathsheba!”^[az] She came and stood before the king.^[ba] ²⁹The king swore an oath: “As certainly as the Lord lives (he who has rescued me^[bb] from every danger), ³⁰I will keep^[bc] today the oath I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: ‘Surely Solomon your son will be king after me; he will sit in my place on my throne.’”

Footnotes

1 Kings 1:1 tn Heb “was old, coming into the days” (i.e., advancing in years).
1 Kings 1:1 tn Or “garments.”
1 Kings 1:2 tn Heb “said to.”
1 Kings 1:2 tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).
1 Kings 1:2 tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).
1 Kings 1:2 tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.
1 Kings 1:2 tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”
1 Kings 1:3 tn Heb “through all the territory of Israel.”
1 Kings 1:4 tn Heb “did not know her.” The verb יָדַע (yadaʿ, “to know”) is a euphemism for sexual relations.
1 Kings 1:5 tn Heb “son of Haggith,” but since this formula usually designates the father (who in this case was David), the translation specifies that David was Adonijah’s father.sn Haggith was one of David’s wives (2 Sam 3:4; 2 Chr 3:2).
1 Kings 1:5 tn Heb “lifting himself up.”
1 Kings 1:5 tn Heb “saying.”
1 Kings 1:5 tn Or “he acquired for himself.”
1 Kings 1:5 tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”
1 Kings 1:6 tn Or “disciplined.”
1 Kings 1:6 tn Heb “did not correct him from his days.” The phrase “from his days” means “from his earliest days,” or “ever in his life.” See GKC 382 §119.w, n. 2.
1 Kings 1:6 tn Heb “and she gave birth to him after Absalom.” This does not imply they had the same mother; Absalom’s mother was Maacah, not Haggith (2 Sam 3:4).
1 Kings 1:7 tn Heb “his words were.”
1 Kings 1:7 tn Heb “helped after” (i.e., stood by).
1 Kings 1:7 tn Heb “Adonijah.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
1 Kings 1:8 tn Or “bodyguard” (Heb “mighty men”).
1 Kings 1:8 tn Heb “were not.”
1 Kings 1:9 tc The ancient Greek version omits this appositional phrase.
1 Kings 1:10 tn Or “bodyguard” (Heb “mighty men”).
1 Kings 1:11 tn Heb “Have you not heard?”
1 Kings 1:11 tn Heb “and our master David does not know.”
1 Kings 1:12 tn Heb “now, come.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.
1 Kings 1:12 tn Or “so that.”
1 Kings 1:13 tn Heb “come, go to.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.
1 Kings 1:13 tn Or “swear an oath to.”
1 Kings 1:14 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which here draws attention to Nathan’s concluding word of assurance and support. For this use of the word, see HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה.
1 Kings 1:14 tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will come after you.”
1 Kings 1:14 tn Heb “fill up [i.e., confirm] your words.”
1 Kings 1:15 tn Or “bedroom.”
1 Kings 1:16 tn Heb “bowed low and bowed down to.”
1 Kings 1:18 tc Instead of עַתָּה (ʿattah, “now”) many Hebrew mss, along with the Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, have the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (ʾattah, “you”). This reading is followed in the present translation.
1 Kings 1:18 tn Heb “you do not know [about it].”
1 Kings 1:20 tc Many Hebrew mss have עַתָּה (ʿattah, “now”) rather than the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (ʾattah, “you”).
1 Kings 1:20 tn Heb “the eyes of all Israel are upon you to declare to them who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him.”
1 Kings 1:21 tn The words “if a decision is not made” are added for clarification.
1 Kings 1:21 tn Heb “lies down with his fathers.”
1 Kings 1:21 tn Heb “I and my son Solomon.” The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
1 Kings 1:21 tn Heb “will be guilty”; NASB “considered offenders”; TEV “treated as traitors.”
1 Kings 1:22 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here draws attention to Nathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.
1 Kings 1:23 tn Heb “ground.” Since this was indoors, “floor” is more appropriate than “ground.”
1 Kings 1:25 tn Heb “look.”
1 Kings 1:25 tn Heb “eating and drinking.”
1 Kings 1:25 tn Heb “let the king, Adonijah, live!”
1 Kings 1:27 tc Many Hebrew mss and ancient textual witnesses agree with the Qere in reading this as singular, “your servant.”
1 Kings 1:27 tn Heb “From my master the king is this thing done, and you did not make known to your servants who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him?”
1 Kings 1:28 tn Heb “answered and said.”
1 Kings 1:28 sn Summon Bathsheba. Bathsheba must have left the room when Nathan arrived (see 1:22).
1 Kings 1:28 tn Heb “she came before the king and stood before the king.”
1 Kings 1:29 tn Or “ransomed my life.”
1 Kings 1:30 tn Or “carry out, perform.”

Acts 6:8-15

Stephen is Arrested

⁸Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and miraculous signs^[a] among the people. ⁹But some men from the Synagogue^[b] of the Freedmen (as it was called),^[c] both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia,^[d] stood up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰Yet^[e] they were not able to resist^[f] the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. ¹¹Then they secretly instigated^[g] some men to say, “We have heard this man^[h] speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹²They incited the people, the^[i] elders, and the experts in the law;^[j] then they approached Stephen,^[k] seized him, and brought him before the council.^[l] ¹³They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place^[m] and the law.^[n] ¹⁴For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs^[o] that Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵All^[p] who were sitting in the council^[q] looked intently at Stephen^[r] and saw his face was like the face of an angel.^[s]

Footnotes

Acts 6:8 tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context. Here the work of miracles extends beyond the Twelve for the first time.
Acts 6:9 sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).
Acts 6:9 tn Grk “the so-called Synagogue of the Freedmen.” The translation of the participle λεγομένης (legomenēs) by the phrase “as it was called” is given by L&N 87.86. “Freedmen” would be slaves who had gained their freedom, or the descendants of such people (BDAG 594-95 s.v. Λιβερτῖνος).
Acts 6:9 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia. The Roman province of Asia made up about one-third of modern Asia Minor and was on the western side of it. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
Acts 6:10 tn Grk “and.” The context, however, indicates that the conjunction carries an adversative force.
Acts 6:10 sn They were not able to resist. This represents another fulfillment of Luke 12:11-12; 21:15.
Acts 6:11 tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.
Acts 6:11 tn Grk “heard him,” but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”
Acts 6:12 tn Grk “and the,” but 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.
Acts 6:12 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.
Acts 6:12 tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 6:12 tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.
Acts 6:13 sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.
Acts 6:13 sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.
Acts 6:14 tn Or “practices.”sn Will destroy this place and change the customs. Stephen appears to view the temple as a less central place in light of Christ’s work, an important challenge to Jewish religion, since it was at this time a temple-centered state and religion. Unlike Acts 3-4, the issue here is more than Jesus and his resurrection. Now the impact of his resurrection and the temple’s centrality has also become an issue. The “falseness” of the charge may not be that the witnesses were lying, but that they falsely read the truth of Stephen’s remarks.
Acts 6:15 tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 6:15 tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
Acts 6:15 tn Grk “at him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 6:15 sn His face was like the face of an angel. This narrative description of Stephen’s face adds to the mood of the passage. He had the appearance of a supernatural, heavenly messenger.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 111[a]

Footnotes

Adonijah Tries to Seize the Throne

David Picks Solomon as His Successor

Footnotes

Stephen is Arrested

Footnotes

Psalm 111^[a]