◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 52 (I am like a green olive tree); Amos 5:18-27 (Let justice roll down like waters); Ephesians 3:14-21 (The love of Christ surpasses knowledge) (New English Translation)

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July 18, 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 52

Psalm 52^[a]

For the music director, a well-written song^[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”^[c]

52 Why do you boast about your evil plans,^[d] O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long.^[e]
²Your tongue carries out your destructive plans;^[f]
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.^[g]
³You love evil more than good,
lies more than speaking the truth.^[h] (Selah)
⁴You love to use all the words that destroy,^[i]
and the tongue that deceives.
⁵Yet^[j] God will make you a permanent heap of ruins.^[k]
He will scoop you up^[l] and remove you from your home;^[m]
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
⁶When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying:^[n]
⁷“Look, here is the man who would not make^[o] God his protector.
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”^[p]
⁸But I^[q] am like a flourishing^[r] olive tree in the house of God;
I continually^[s] trust in God’s loyal love.
⁹I will continually^[t] thank you when^[u] you execute judgment;^[v]
I will rely on^[w] you,^[x] for your loyal followers know you are good.^[y]

Footnotes

Psalm 52:1 sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.
Psalm 52:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
Psalm 52:1 tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s head shepherd (1 Sam 21:7), informed Saul of David’s whereabouts (see 1 Sam 21-22).
Psalm 52:1 tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”
Psalm 52:1 tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.
Psalm 52:2 tn Heb “destruction your tongue devises.”
Psalm 52:2 tn Heb “like a sharpened razor, doer of deceit.” The masculine participle עָשָׂה (ʿasah) is understood as a substantival vocative, addressed to the powerful man.
Psalm 52:3 tn Or “deceit more than speaking what is right.”
Psalm 52:4 tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (balaʿ) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.
Psalm 52:5 tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.
Psalm 52:5 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
Psalm 52:5 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
Psalm 52:5 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
Psalm 52:6 tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”
Psalm 52:7 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”
Psalm 52:7 tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ʿazaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayyaʿaz), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ʿoshro, “his wealth”).
Psalm 52:8 tn The disjunctive construction (vav [ו] + subject) highlights the contrast between the evildoer’s destiny (vv. 5-7) and that of the godly psalmist’s security.
Psalm 52:8 tn Or “luxuriant, green, leafy.”
Psalm 52:8 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever and ever.”
Psalm 52:9 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
Psalm 52:9 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 52:9 tn Heb “you have acted.” The perfect verbal form (1) probably indicates a future perfect here. The psalmist promises to give thanks when the expected vindication has been accomplished. Other options include (2) a generalizing (“for you act”) or (3) rhetorical (“for you will act”) use.
Psalm 52:9 tn Or “wait on.”
Psalm 52:9 tn Heb “your name.” God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character.
Psalm 52:9 tn Heb “for it is good in front of your loyal followers.”

Amos 5:18-27

The Lord Demands Justice

¹⁸Woe^[a] to those who wish for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?
It will bring darkness, not light.
¹⁹Disaster will be inescapable,^[b]
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped into^[c] a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
²⁰Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring^[d] darkness, not light—
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
²¹“I absolutely despise^[e] your festivals!

I get no pleasure^[f] from your religious assemblies.
²²Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings,^[g] I will not be satisfied;
I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves.^[h]
²³Take away from me your^[i] noisy songs;
I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.^[j]
²⁴Justice must flow like torrents of water,
righteous actions^[k] like a stream that never dries up.
²⁵You did not bring me^[l] sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family^[m] of Israel.

²⁶You will pick up your images^[n] of Sikkuth,^[o] your king,^[p]
and Kiyyun,^[q] your star god, which you made for yourselves,
²⁷and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord.
He is called the God of Heaven’s Armies.

Footnotes

Amos 5:18 tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
Amos 5:19 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Amos 5:19 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
Amos 5:20 tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”
Amos 5:21 tn Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”
Amos 5:21 tn Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22-23.
Amos 5:22 tn Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”
Amos 5:22 tn Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”
Amos 5:23 tn In this verse the second person suffixes are singular and not plural like they are in vv. 21-22 and vv. 25-27. Some have suggested that perhaps a specific individual or group within the nation is in view.
Amos 5:23 tn The Hebrew word probably refers to “harps” (NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “lutes” (NEB).
Amos 5:24 tn Traditionally, “righteousness.”
Amos 5:25 tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.sn Like Jer 7:22-23, this passage seems to contradict the Pentateuchal accounts that indicate Israel did offer sacrifices during the wilderness period. It is likely that both Amos and Jeremiah overstate the case to emphasize the relative insignificance of sacrifices in comparison to weightier matters of the covenant. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 428.
Amos 5:25 tn Heb “house.”
Amos 5:26 tn This word appears in an awkward position in the Hebrew, following “Kiyyun.” It is placed here for better sense.
Amos 5:26 tn The Hebrew term סִכּוּת (sikkut) apparently refers to Sakkuth, a Mesopotamian star god identified with Ninurta in an Ugaritic god list. The name is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some English versions, following the LXX, translate as “tent” or “shrine” (NEB, NIV), pointing the term as סֻכַּת (sukkat; cf. 9:11).
Amos 5:26 tc LXX, Vulgate, and Acts 7:43 read “Moloch” (cf. KJV). The Hebrew consonants are the same for both “king” and “Moloch” (מֹלֶךְ; molekh).
Amos 5:26 tn The Hebrew term כִּיּוּן (kiyyun) apparently refers to the Mesopotamian god Kayamanu, or Saturn. The name, like “Sikkuth” in the previous line, is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some versions translate as “pedestal” (NEB, NIV), relating the term to the root כּוּן (kun).

Ephesians 3:14-21

Prayer for Strengthened Love

¹⁴For this reason^[a] I kneel^[b] before the Father,^[c] ¹⁵from^[d] whom every family^[e] in heaven and on earth is named. ¹⁶I pray that^[f] according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, ¹⁷that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,^[g] ¹⁹and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to^[h] all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who by the power that is working within us^[i] is able to do far beyond^[j] all that we ask or think, ²¹to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 52[a]

For the music director, a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”[c]

Footnotes

The Lord Demands Justice

Footnotes

Prayer for Strengthened Love

Footnotes

Psalm 52^[a]

For the music director, a well-written song^[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”^[c]