◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 119:89-96 (The law of God gives life); Jeremiah 36:27-32 (Jeremiah dictates a second scroll); Luke 4:38-44 (Jesus heals and preaches in synagogues) (New English Translation)

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January 29, 2025

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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 119:89-96

ל (Lamed)

⁸⁹O Lord, your instructions endure;
they stand secure in heaven.^[a]
⁹⁰You demonstrate your faithfulness to all generations.^[b]
You established the earth and it stood firm.
⁹¹Today they stand firm by your decrees,
for all things are your servants.
⁹²If I had not found encouragement in your law,^[c]
I would have died in my sorrow.^[d]
⁹³I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have revived me.
⁹⁴I belong to you. Deliver me!
For I seek your precepts.
⁹⁵The wicked prepare to kill me,^[e]
yet I concentrate on your rules.
⁹⁶I realize that everything has its limits,
but your commands are beyond full comprehension.^[f]

Jeremiah 36:27-32

Baruch and Jeremiah Write Another Scroll

²⁷The Lord’s message came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written down at Jeremiah’s dictation.^[a] ²⁸“Get another^[b] scroll and write on it everything^[c] that was written on the original scroll^[d] that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned. ²⁹Tell King Jehoiakim of Judah, ‘The Lord says, “You burned the scroll. You asked^[e] Jeremiah, ‘How dare you write in this scroll that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and wipe out all the people and animals on it?’”^[f] ³⁰So the Lord says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, “None of his line will occupy the throne of David.^[g] His dead body will be thrown out to be exposed to scorching heat by day and frost by night.^[h] ³¹I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done.^[i] I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, all the disaster that I told them about and that they ignored.”’”^[j] ³²Then Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on this scroll everything that had been on the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. They also added on this scroll several other messages of the same kind.^[k]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 36:27 tn Heb “from the mouth of Jeremiah.”
Jeremiah 36:28 tn Heb “Return, take another.” The verb “return” is used in the sense of repetition: “take again” (cf. BDB 998 s.v. שׁוּב Qal.8). The idea is already contained in “Get another,” so most modern English versions do not represent it.
Jeremiah 36:28 tn Heb “all the former words/things.”
Jeremiah 36:28 tn Heb “first [or former] scroll.”
Jeremiah 36:29 tn Or “In essence you asked.” For explanation see the translator’s note on the end of the verse.
Jeremiah 36:29 tn Heb “You burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why did you write on it, saying, “The king of Babylon will certainly come [the infinitive absolute before the finite verb expresses certainty here, as several places elsewhere in Jeremiah] and destroy this land and exterminate from it both man and beast”?’” The sentence raises several difficulties for translating literally. The “you” in “why did you write” is undefined, though it obviously refers to Jeremiah. The gerund “saying” that introduces ‘Why did you write’ does not fit very well with “you burned the scroll.” Gerunds of this sort are normally explanatory. Lastly, there is no indication in the narrative that Jehoiakim ever directly asked Jeremiah this question. In fact, he had been hidden out of sight so Jehoiakim couldn’t confront him. The question is presented rhetorically, expressing Jehoiakim’s thoughts or intents and giving the rational for burning the scroll, i.e., he questioned Jeremiah’s right to say such things. The translation has attempted to be as literal as possible without resolving some of these difficulties. One level of embedded quotes has been eliminated for greater simplicity. For the rendering of “How dare you” for the interrogative “why do you,” see the translator’s note on 26:9.
Jeremiah 36:30 sn This prophecy was not “totally” fulfilled because his son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) did occupy the throne for three months (2 Kgs 23:8). However, his rule was negligible, and after his capitulation and exile to Babylon, he himself was promised that neither he nor his successors would occupy the throne of David (cf. Jer 22:30 and see the study notes on 22:24, 30).
Jeremiah 36:30 sn Compare the more poetic prophecy in Jer 22:18-19 and see the study note on 22:19.
Jeremiah 36:31 tn Heb “for their iniquity.”
Jeremiah 36:31 tn Heb “all the disaster which I spoke to them about but they did not listen to [or obey].” HALOT, s.v. דבר, Piel.4, shows that the verb can mean “speak about.” Compare usage at Gen 19:21 and Ruth 4:1.
Jeremiah 36:32 tn Heb “And he wrote upon it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned in the fire. And many words like these were added to them besides [or further].” The translation uses the more active form in the last line because of the tendency in contemporary English style to avoid the passive. It also uses the words “everything” for “all the words” and “messages” for “words.” Those are legitimate usages of these phrases, and they avoid the mistaken impression that Jeremiah repeated verbatim either the words on the former scroll or the messages that he had delivered during the course of the preceding twenty-three years.

Luke 4:38-44

³⁸After Jesus left^[a] the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house.^[b] Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus^[c] to help her.^[d] ³⁹So^[e] he stood over her, commanded^[f] the fever, and it left her. Immediately^[g] she got up and began to serve^[h] them.

⁴⁰As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives^[i] sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus.^[j] He placed^[k] his hands on every one of them and healed them. ⁴¹Demons also came out^[l] of many, crying out,^[m] “You are the Son of God!”^[n] But he rebuked^[o] them, and would not allow them to speak,^[p] because they knew that he was the Christ.^[q]

⁴²The next morning^[r] Jesus^[s] departed and went to a deserted place. Yet^[t] the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³But Jesus^[u] said to them, “I must^[v] proclaim the good news of the kingdom^[w] of God to the other towns^[x] too, for that is what I was sent^[y] to do.”^[z] ⁴⁴So^[aa] he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.^[ab]

Footnotes

Luke 4:38 tn Grk “Arising from the synagogue, he entered.” The participle ἀναστάς (anastas) has been taken temporally here, and the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 4:38 sn There is now significant agreement among scholars that the house of Simon Peter in Capernaum has been found beneath the ruins of a fifth-century Byzantine church some 84 ft south of the synagogue. At the bottom of several layers of archaeological remains is a first-century house that apparently was designated for public viewing sometime in the mid-first century, and continued to be so in subsequent centuries. For details see S. Loffreda, “Capernaum—Jesus’ Own City,” Bible and Spade 10.1 (1981): 1-17.
Luke 4:38 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 4:38 tn Grk “they asked him about her.” It is clear from the context that they were concerned about her physical condition. The verb “to help” in the translation makes this explicit.
Luke 4:39 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the resultative nature of Jesus’ actions.
Luke 4:39 tn Or “rebuked,” but “rebuke” implies strong disapproval, while the usage here involves more of a command with perhaps the implication of a threat (L&N 33.331).sn The language here (commanded) almost treats the illness as a personal force (see vv. 35, 41), but this is not the case. This healing shows Jesus’ power over sickness and should not be construed as an exorcism.
Luke 4:39 tn Grk “and immediately.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here. Instead a new sentence is started in the translation.sn The note that this happened immediately shows the speed and totality of the recovery.
Luke 4:39 tn The imperfect verb has been translated ingressively.
Luke 4:40 tn Grk “everyone, as many as had those being sick.” The use of εἶχον (eichon, “had”) suggests that the subject of the accusative participle ἀσθενοῦντας (asthenountas, “those being sick”) is not simply acquaintances, but rather relatives, perhaps immediate family, and certainly close friends.
Luke 4:40 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 4:40 tn Or “laid.” The participle ἐπιτεθείς (epitetheis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
Luke 4:41 sn Demons also came out. Note how Luke distinguishes healing from exorcism here, implying that the two are not identical.
Luke 4:41 tn Grk “crying out and saying.” The participle λέγοντα (legonta) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.
Luke 4:41 tc Most mss (A Q Θ Ψ 0102 ƒ^1,13 M) read “the Christ, the Son of God.” But the earliest and best mss, along with several other witnesses (א B C D L W Ξ 33 579 700 1241 2542 lat sa), lack “the Christ” here. It is likely that later scribes wished to bring the demons’ confession in line with what Luke says they knew later in the verse.
Luke 4:41 tn Or “commanded,” but “rebuke” implies strong disapproval, which seems to be more in keeping with the context here (L&N 33.419).
Luke 4:41 sn Jesus would not allow the demons to speak because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (22:66-71).
Luke 4:41 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn Note how Luke associates Son of God with Messiah (Christ) in this context, a regal connection with OT roots (Ps 2:7). Also, see the note on Christ in 2:11.
Luke 4:42 tn Grk “When it became day.”
Luke 4:42 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 4:42 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate that the crowds still sought Jesus in spite of his withdrawal.
Luke 4:43 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 4:43 tn Here δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) indicates divine commission (cf. Luke 2:49).
Luke 4:43 sn The good news of the kingdom, the kingdom of the rule of God through the Messiah, is the topic of Jesus’ preaching.
Luke 4:43 tn Or “cities.”
Luke 4:43 sn Jesus was sent by God for this purpose. This is the language of divine commission.
Luke 4:43 tn Grk “because for this purpose I was sent.”
Luke 4:44 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the summarization.
Luke 4:44 tc Most mss (A D Θ Ψ ƒ¹³ 33 M latt) have “of Galilee”; others, “of the Jews” (W). “Judea” (read by P⁷⁵ א B Q 579 892 sa, and [with minor variation] C L ƒ¹ 1241) is probably the earlier reading since it is both the harder reading and supported by the best witnesses. “Galilee” is an assimilation to Mark 1:39 and Matt 4:23.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ל (Lamed)

Footnotes

Baruch and Jeremiah Write Another Scroll

Footnotes

Footnotes