◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 124 (We have escaped like a bird); Proverbs 7:1-4 (Wisdom is your sister); Ephesians 4:7-16 (Building up the body of Christ) (New English Translation)

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June 16, 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 124

Psalm 124^[a]

A song of ascents;^[b] by David.

124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
²if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,^[c]
³they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
⁴The water would have overpowered us;
the current^[d] would have overwhelmed^[e] us.^[f]
⁵The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.^[g]
⁶The Lord deserves praise,^[h]
for^[i] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
⁷We escaped with our lives,^[j] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
⁸Our deliverer is the Lord,^[k]
the Creator^[l] of heaven and earth.

Proverbs 7:1-4

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress^[a]

7 My child,^[b] devote yourself to my words
and store up my commands inside yourself.^[c]
²Keep my commands^[d] so that you may live,^[e]
and obey^[f] my instruction as your most prized possession.^[g]
³Bind them on your forearm;^[h]
write them on the tablet of your heart.^[i]
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”^[j]
and call understanding a close relative,

Footnotes

Proverbs 7:1 sn The chapter begins with the important teaching of the father (1-5), then it focuses on the seduction: first the victim (6-9), then the temptress (10-12), then the persuasion (13-20), and the capitulation (21-23); the chapter concludes with the deadly results of adultery (24-27).
Proverbs 7:1 tn The text again has “my son.” In this passage perhaps “son” would be the most fitting because of the warning against the adulterous woman. However, since even in this particular folly the temptation works both ways, the general address to either young men or women is retained. Similar warnings would apply to daughters to be warned of smooth-talking, seductive men.
Proverbs 7:1 tn Heb “store up with yourself.” Most translations either use “store” (NIV, NRSV) or “treasure” (NASB, ESV, NKJV) and “with you” (ESV, NRSV, KJV) or “within you” (NIV, NASB, NKJV). BDB 860 s.v. צָפַן Qal.1 suggests that “within you” means “in your own keeping.” HALOT 1049 s.v. describes the verb as “to keep in one’s heart.” NIDOTTE 837 s.v. צָפַן says the verb “takes on the technical meaning of memorizing the commandments of God.” The instructions are to have these lessons stored up inside so that you can draw on them in need.sn The idea here is to study to be prepared. It is the opposite of the idea of getting in a difficult situation and then looking for something in the Bible to apply to your life. This verse is about applying your life to biblical wisdom and being prepared for situations that may come your way.
Proverbs 7:2 tc Before v. 2 the LXX inserts: “My son, fear the Lord and you will be strong, and besides him, fear no other.” Although this addition has the precedent of 3:7 and 9 and harmonizes with 14:26, it does not fit here; the advice is to listen to the teacher.
Proverbs 7:2 tn The construction of an imperative with the vav (ו) of sequence after another imperative denotes a logical sequence of purpose or result: “that you may live,” or “and you will live.”
Proverbs 7:2 tn The term “obey” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Some English versions, in light of the second line of v. 1, supply “guard” (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT).
Proverbs 7:2 tn The Hebrew phrase refers to the pupil of the eye, perhaps by the idiom “the little man in [the] eye.” The term אִישׁוֹן (ʾishon, “pupil”) appears to be a diminutive from אִישׁ (ʾish, “man”). The saying may have arisen because the pupil will make a small reflection of the person looking into another’s eyes. Because of the importance of protecting the eye from harm, the “pupil” of the eye “has the idea of something precious that was to be guarded jealously” (NIDOTTE 386 s.v. אִישׁוֹן). Traditionally this Hebrew idiom is translated into English as “the apple of your eye” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); a more contemporary rendering would be “as your most prized possession.” The point is that the teaching must be the central focus of the disciple’s vision and attention.
Proverbs 7:3 tn Heb “fingers” (so KJV and many other English versions). In light of Deut 6:8, “fingers” appears to be a metonymy for the lower part of the arm or for the hands.
Proverbs 7:3 sn This is an allusion to Deut 6:8. Binding the teachings on the fingers and writing them on the tablets here are implied comparisons for preserving the teaching in memory so that it can be recalled and used with ease.
Proverbs 7:4 sn The metaphor is meant to signify that the disciple will be closely related to and familiar with wisdom and understanding, as close as to a sibling. Wisdom will be personified in the next two chapters, and so referring to it as a sister in this chapter certainly prepares for that personification.

Ephesians 4:7-16

⁷But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured^[a] captives; he gave gifts to men.”^[b] ⁹Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended^[c] to the lower regions,^[d] namely, the earth?^[e] ¹⁰He, the very one^[f] who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. ¹¹And he himself^[g] gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,^[h] ¹²to equip^[i] the saints for the work of ministry, that is,^[j] to build up the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to^[k] the measure of Christ’s full stature.^[l] ¹⁴So^[m] we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.^[n] ¹⁵But practicing the truth in love,^[o] we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. ¹⁶From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together^[p] through every supporting ligament.^[q] As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love.

Footnotes

Ephesians 4:8 tn Grk “he led captive captivity.”
Ephesians 4:8 sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the LXX in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in HT and LXX. It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [AGJU 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 HT and LXX (68:18 ET), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.
Ephesians 4:9 tc The majority of mss (א² B C³ Ψ 1175 1505 2464 M) read πρῶτον (prōton, “first”) here in conjunction with this verb: “he first descended.” The shorter reading, which lacks πρῶτον, should be considered autographic on the basis of both external and internal evidence: It has strong external support from the Alexandrian and Western witnesses (P⁴⁶ א* A C* D F G I^vid 082 6 33 81 1739 1881 it); internally, the inclusion of πρῶτον is most likely an addition to clarify the sense of the passage.
Ephesians 4:9 tc The Western text (D* F G it) lacks the plural noun μέρη (merē, “regions”); the shorter reading cannot be dismissed out of hand since it is also supported by P⁴⁶ (which often has strong affinities, however, with the Western witnesses). The inclusion of the word has strong external support from significant, early mss as well as the majority of Byzantine cursives (א A B C D² I Ψ 33 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 M). Certain scribes may have deleted the word, thinking it superfluous; in addition, if the shorter reading were original one would expect to see at least a little variation in clarifying additions to the text. For these reasons the inclusion of μέρη should be regarded as original.
Ephesians 4:9 tn Grk “to the lower parts of the earth.” This phrase has been variously interpreted: (1) The traditional view understands it as a reference to the underworld (hell), where Jesus is thought to have descended in the three days between his death and resurrection. In this case, “of the earth” would be a partitive genitive. (2) A second option is to translate the phrase “of the earth” as a genitive of apposition: “to the lower parts, namely, the earth” (as in the present translation). Many recent scholars hold this view and argue that it is a reference to the incarnation. (3) A third option, which also sees the phrase “of the earth” as a genitive of apposition, is that the descent in the passage occurs after the ascent rather than before it, and refers to the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost (cf. Acts 4:11-16). Support for this latter view is found in the intertestamental and rabbinic use of Ps 68:18 (quoted in v. 8), which is consistently and solely interpreted as a reference to Moses’ ascent of Mt. Sinai to “capture” the words of the law. The probability, therefore, is that the comments here in v. 9 reflect a polemic against the interpretation of Ps 68:18 in certain circles as a reference to Moses. See W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ (AGJU 32), 46-54; 171-204.
Ephesians 4:10 tn The Greek text lays specific emphasis on “He” through the use of the intensive pronoun, αὐτός (autos). This is reflected in the English translation through the use of “the very one.”
Ephesians 4:11 tn The emphasis on Christ is continued through the use of the intensive pronoun, αὐτός (autos), and is rendered in English as “he himself” as this seems to lay emphasis on the “he.”
Ephesians 4:11 sn Some interpreters have understood the phrase pastors and teachers to refer to one and the same group. This would mean that all pastors are teachers and that all teachers are pastors. This position is often taken because it is recognized that both nouns (i.e., pastors and teachers) are governed by one article in Greek. But because the nouns are plural, it is extremely unlikely that they refer to the same group, but only that the author is linking them closely together. It is better to regard the pastors as a subset of teachers. In other words, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. See ExSyn 284.
Ephesians 4:12 tn On the translation of πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων (pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn) as “to equip the saints” see BDAG 526 s.v. καταρτισμός. In this case the genitive is taken as objective and the direct object of the verbal idea implied in καταρτισμός (katartismos).
Ephesians 4:12 tn The εἰς (eis) clause is taken as epexegetical to the previous εἰς clause, namely, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας (eis ergon diakonias).
Ephesians 4:13 tn The words “attaining to” were supplied in the translation to pick up the καταντήσωμεν (katantēsōmen) mentioned earlier in the sentence and the εἰς (eis) which heads up this clause.
Ephesians 4:13 tn Grk “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” On this translation of ἡλικία (hēlikia, “stature”) see BDAG 436 s.v. 3.
Ephesians 4:14 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
Ephesians 4:14 tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.
Ephesians 4:15 tn The meaning of the participle ἀληθεύοντες (alētheuontes; from the verb ἀληθεύω [alētheuō]) is debated. In classical times the verb could mean “to speak the truth,” or “to be true, to prove true.” In the LXX it appears five times (Gen 20:16; 42:16; Prov 21:3; Isa 44:26; Sir 34:4) and translates four different Hebrew words; there it is an ethical term used of proving or being true, not with the idea of speaking the truth. In the NT the only other place the verb appears is in Gal 4:16 where it means “to speak the truth.” However, in Ephesians the concept of “being truthful” is the best sense of the word. In contrast to the preceding verse, where there are three prepositional phrases to denote falsehood and deceit, the present word speaks of being real or truthful in both conduct and speech. Their deceit was not only in their words but also in their conduct. In other words, the believers’ conduct should be transparent, revealing the real state of affairs, as opposed to hiding or suppressing the truth through cunning and deceit. See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 564-65, and R. Bultmann, TDNT 1:251.
Ephesians 4:16 tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.
Ephesians 4:16 tn Grk “joint of supply.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 124[a]

A song of ascents;[b] by David.

Footnotes

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress[a]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 124^[a]

A song of ascents;^[b] by David.

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress^[a]