◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 59 (Deliver me from my enemies); 2 Kings 9:14-26 (Injustice to Naboth avenged); Ephesians 2:11-22 (One new humanity in Christ) (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 59

Psalm 59^[a]

For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;^[b] a prayer^[c] of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him.^[d]

59 Deliver me from my enemies, my God.
Protect me^[e] from those who attack me.^[f]
²Deliver me from evildoers.^[g]
Rescue me from violent men.^[h]
³For look, they wait to ambush me;^[i]
powerful men stalk^[j] me,
but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord.^[k]
⁴Though I have done nothing wrong,^[l] they are anxious to attack.^[m]
Spring into action and help me. Take notice of me.^[n]
⁵You, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,^[o] the God of Israel,
rouse yourself and punish^[p] all the nations.
Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers. (Selah)
⁶They return in the evening;
they growl^[q] like dogs
and prowl around outside^[r] the city.
⁷Look, they hurl insults at me
and openly threaten to kill me,^[s]
for they say,^[t]
“Who hears?”
⁸But you, O Lord, laugh in disgust at them;^[u]
you taunt^[v] all the nations.
⁹You are my source of strength. I will wait for you.^[w]
For God is my refuge.^[x]
¹⁰The God who loves me will help me;^[y]
God will enable me to triumph over^[z] my enemies.^[aa]
¹¹Do not strike them dead suddenly,
because then my people might forget the lesson.^[ab]
Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,
O Lord who shields us.^[ac]
¹²They speak sinful words.^[ad]
So let them be trapped by their own pride
and by the curses and lies they speak.
¹³Angrily wipe them out. Wipe them out so they vanish.
Let them know that God rules
over Jacob and to the ends of the earth. (Selah)
¹⁴They return in the evening;
they growl^[ae] like dogs
and prowl around outside^[af] the city.
¹⁵They wander around looking for something to eat;
they refuse to sleep until they are full.^[ag]
¹⁶As for me, I will sing about your strength;
I will praise your loyal love in the morning.
For you are my refuge^[ah]
and my place of shelter when I face trouble.^[ai]
¹⁷You are my source of strength. I will sing praises to you.^[aj]
For God is my refuge,^[ak] the God who loves me.^[al]

Footnotes

Psalm 59:1 sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.
Psalm 59:1 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.
Psalm 59:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
Psalm 59:1 tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when Saul sent assassins to surround David’s house and kill him in the morning (see 1 Sam 19:11). However, the psalm itself mentions foreign enemies (vv. 5, 8). Perhaps these references reflect a later adaptation of an original Davidic psalm.
Psalm 59:1 tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”
Psalm 59:1 tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”
Psalm 59:2 tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”
Psalm 59:2 tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”
Psalm 59:3 tn Heb “my life.”
Psalm 59:3 tn The Hebrew verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 56:8.
Psalm 59:3 sn The point is that the psalmist’s enemies have no justifiable reason for attacking him. He has neither rebelled or sinned against the Lord.
Psalm 59:4 tn Heb “without sin.”
Psalm 59:4 tn Heb “they run and they are determined.”
Psalm 59:4 tn Heb “arise to meet me and see.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qaraʾ, “to meet; to encounter”) here carries the nuance of “to help.”
Psalm 59:5 tn Heb “Lord, God, Hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (ʾelohe) before צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot, “hosts”). See Ps 89:9, but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (y^ehvah ʾelohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot) in Pss 80:4, 19; 84:8 as well.
Psalm 59:5 tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).
Psalm 59:6 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
Psalm 59:6 tn Heb “go around.”
Psalm 59:7 tn Heb “look, they gush forth with their mouth, swords [are] in their lips.”
Psalm 59:7 tn The words “for they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The following question (“Who hears?”) is spoken by the psalmist’s enemies, who are confident that no one else can hear their threats against the psalmist. They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.
Psalm 59:8 sn Laugh in disgust. See Pss 2:4; 37:13.
Psalm 59:8 tn Or “scoff at”; or “deride”; or “mock” (see Ps 2:4).
Psalm 59:9 tc Heb “his strength, for you I will watch.” “His strength” should be emended to “my strength” (see v. 17). Some also emend אֶשְׁמֹרָה (ʾeshmorah, “I will watch”) to אֱזַמֵּרָה (ʾezammerah, “I will sing praises [to you]”) See v. 17.
Psalm 59:9 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
Psalm 59:10 tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”
Psalm 59:10 tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”
Psalm 59:10 tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.
Psalm 59:11 tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.
Psalm 59:11 tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”
Psalm 59:12 tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”
Psalm 59:14 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
Psalm 59:14 tn Heb “go around.”
Psalm 59:15 tn Heb “if they are not full, they stay through the night.”
Psalm 59:16 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
Psalm 59:16 tn Heb “and my shelter in the day of my distress.”
Psalm 59:17 tn Heb “my strength, to you I will sing praises.”
Psalm 59:17 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
Psalm 59:17 tn Heb “the God of my loyal love.”

2 Kings 9:14-26

¹⁴Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.

Jehu the Assassin

Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army,^[a] guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria. ¹⁵But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians^[b] when he fought against King Hazael of Syria.^[c] Jehu told his supporters,^[d] “If you really want me to be king,^[e] then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.” ¹⁶Jehu drove his chariot^[f] to Jezreel, for Joram was recuperating^[g] there. (Now King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit^[h] Joram.)

¹⁷Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching.^[i] He said, “I see troops!”^[j] Joram^[k] ordered,^[l] “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’”^[m] ¹⁸So the horseman^[n] went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’”^[o] Jehu replied, “None of your business!^[p] Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.” ¹⁹So he sent a second horseman out to them^[q] and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’”^[r] Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.” ²⁰The watchman reported, “He reached them, but hasn’t started back. The one who drives the lead chariot drives like Jehu son of Nimshi;^[s] he drives recklessly.” ²¹Joram ordered, “Hitch up my chariot.”^[t] When his chariot had been hitched up,^[u] King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots^[v] to meet Jehu. They met up with him^[w] in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

²²When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?”^[x] ²³Joram turned his chariot around and took off.^[y] He said to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap,^[z] Ahaziah!” ²⁴Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Joram’s shoulders.^[aa] The arrow went through^[ab] his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot. ²⁵Jehu ordered^[ac] his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father, Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this oracle against him, ²⁶‘“Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,” says the Lord, “and that I will give you what you deserve^[ad] right here in this plot of land,” says the Lord.’ So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as in the Lord’s message.”

Footnotes

2 Kings 9:14 tn Heb “he and all Israel.”
2 Kings 9:15 tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”
2 Kings 9:15 sn See 2 Kgs 8:28-29a.
2 Kings 9:15 tn The words “his supporters” are added for clarification.
2 Kings 9:15 tn Heb “If this is your desire.” נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers here to the seat of the emotions and will. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 660-61 s.v.
2 Kings 9:16 tn Heb “rode [or, ‘mounted’] and went.”
2 Kings 9:16 tn Heb “lying down.”
2 Kings 9:16 tn Heb “to see.”
2 Kings 9:17 tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shifʿah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).
2 Kings 9:17 tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifʿat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.
2 Kings 9:17 tn Heb “Jehoram” here and in vv. 21, 22, 23, 24; Joram is a short form of the name Jehoram.
2 Kings 9:17 tn Heb “said.”
2 Kings 9:17 tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”
2 Kings 9:18 tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”
2 Kings 9:18 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
2 Kings 9:18 tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”
2 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “and he came to them.”
2 Kings 9:19 tc The MT has simply “peace,” omitting the prefixed interrogative particle. It is likely that the particle has been accidentally omitted; several ancient witnesses include it or assume its presence.
2 Kings 9:20 tn Heb “and the driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi.”
2 Kings 9:21 tn The words “my chariot” are added for clarification.
2 Kings 9:21 tn Heb “and he hitched up his chariot.”
2 Kings 9:21 tn Heb “each in his chariot and they went out.”
2 Kings 9:21 tn Heb “they found him.”
2 Kings 9:22 tn Heb “How [can there be] peace as long as the adulterous acts of Jezebel your mother and her acts of sorcery [are] many?” In this instance “adulterous acts” is employed metaphorically for idolatry. As elsewhere in the OT, worshiping other gods is viewed as spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness to the one true God. The phrase “many acts of sorcery” could be taken literally, for Jezebel undoubtedly utilized pagan divination practices, but the phrase may be metaphorical, pointing to her devotion to pagan customs in general.
2 Kings 9:23 tn Heb “and Jehoram turned his hands and fled.” The phrase “turned his hands” refers to how he would have pulled on the reins in order to make his horses turn around.
2 Kings 9:23 tn Heb “Deceit, Ahaziah.”
2 Kings 9:24 tn Heb “and Jehu filled his hand with the bow and he struck Jehoram between his shoulders.”
2 Kings 9:24 tn Heb “went out from.”
2 Kings 9:25 tn Heb “said to.”
2 Kings 9:26 tn Heb “I will pay you back.”

Ephesians 2:11-22

New Life Corporately

¹¹Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body^[a] by human hands— ¹²that you were at that time without the Messiah,^[b] alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise,^[c] having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.^[d] ¹⁴For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one^[e] and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, ¹⁵when he nullified^[f] in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man^[g] out of two,^[h] thus making peace, ¹⁶and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.^[i] ¹⁷And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, ¹⁸so that^[j] through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, ²⁰because you have been built^[k] on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,^[l] with Christ Jesus himself as^[m] the cornerstone.^[n] ²¹In him^[o] the whole building,^[p] being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:11 tn Grk “in the flesh.”
Ephesians 2:12 tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”
Ephesians 2:12 tn Or “covenants of the promise.”
Ephesians 2:13 tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”sn See the note on “his blood” in 1:7.
Ephesians 2:14 tn Grk “who made the both one.”
Ephesians 2:15 tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargeō) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.
Ephesians 2:15 tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.
Ephesians 2:15 tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.
Ephesians 2:16 tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”
Ephesians 2:18 tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (hoti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).
Ephesians 2:20 tn Grk “having been built.”
Ephesians 2:20 sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.
Ephesians 2:20 tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”
Ephesians 2:20 tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogōniaios) is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.
Ephesians 2:21 tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).
Ephesians 2:21 tc Although several significant witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa hē oikodomē), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1175 1505 1739* M), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”tn Or “every building.” Although “every building” is a more natural translation of the Greek, it does not fit as naturally into the context, which (with its emphasis on corporate unity) seems to stress the idea of one building.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 59[a]

For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[b] a prayer[c] of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him.[d]

Footnotes

Jehu the Assassin

Footnotes

New Life Corporately

Footnotes

Psalm 59^[a]

For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;^[b] a prayer^[c] of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him.^[d]