◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 80:1-2 8-19 (O God tend this vine); Isaiah 3:18—4:6 (After judgment glory); Matthew 24:15-27 (The desolating sacrilege) (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 80:1-2

Psalm 80^[a]

For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;^[b] a psalm of Asaph.

80 O Shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep.
You who sit enthroned above the cherubim,^[c] reveal your splendor.^[d]
²In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal^[e] your power.
Come and deliver us.^[f]

Psalm 80:8-19

⁸You uprooted a vine^[a] from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
⁹You cleared the ground for it;^[b]
it took root,^[c]
and filled the land.
¹⁰The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars^[d] by its branches.
¹¹Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,^[e]
and its shoots the Euphrates River.^[f]
¹²Why did you break down its walls,^[g]
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit?^[h]
¹³The wild boars of the forest ruin it;^[i]
the insects^[j] of the field feed on it.
¹⁴O God of Heaven’s Armies,^[k] come back.
Look down from heaven and take notice.
Take care of this vine,
¹⁵the root^[l] your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow.^[m]
¹⁶It is burned^[n] and cut down.
May those who did this die because you are displeased with them.^[o]
¹⁷May you give support to the one you have chosen,^[p]
to the one whom you raised up for yourself.^[q]
¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you.^[r]
¹⁹O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,^[s] restore us.
Smile on us.^[t] Then we will be delivered.^[u]

Footnotes

Psalm 80:8 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
Psalm 80:9 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
Psalm 80:9 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
Psalm 80:10 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (ʾel, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
Psalm 80:11 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
Psalm 80:11 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
Psalm 80:12 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
Psalm 80:12 tn Heb “pluck it.”
Psalm 80:13 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 80:13 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.
Psalm 80:14 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ʾelohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.
Psalm 80:15 tn The form וְכַנָּה (v^ekhannah, “and a root”) is understood as וְכַנָּהּ (v^ekhannah), taking the ה (he) at the end as the third feminine singular pronominal suffix הּ (he with mappiq is hard “h”) rather than as the noun ending (see HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן). Elsewhere the noun refers to a pedestal or base, most often for the wash basin between the tabernacle and the altar. Translations here vary as “root” (NIV), “shoot” (NASB), “stock” (ASV, ESV, RSV), or the contextually driven “vineyard” (KJV).
Psalm 80:15 tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.
Psalm 80:16 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
Psalm 80:16 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
Psalm 80:17 tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)
Psalm 80:17 tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.
Psalm 80:18 tn Heb “and in your name we will call.”
Psalm 80:19 tn Heb “O Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ʾelohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7, 14 for a similar construction.
Psalm 80:19 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
Psalm 80:19 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

Isaiah 3:18-4:6

¹⁸^[a] At that time^[b] the Lord will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry,^[c] neck ornaments, crescent-shaped ornaments, ¹⁹earrings, bracelets, veils, ²⁰headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets,^[d] amulets, ²¹rings, nose rings, ²²festive dresses, robes, shawls, purses, ²³garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns.^[e]

²⁴A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices,^[f]
a rope will replace a belt,
baldness will replace braided locks of hair,
a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,
and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.
²⁵Your^[g] men will fall by the sword,
your strong men will die in battle.^[h]
²⁶Her gates will mourn and lament;
deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.^[i]
4 Seven women will grab hold of
one man at that time.^[j]
They will say, “We will provide^[k] our own food,
we will provide^[l] our own clothes;
but let us belong to you^[m]—
take away our shame!”^[n]

The Branch of the Lord

²At that time^[o]
the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor;^[p]
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel.^[q]
³Those remaining in Zion,^[r] those left in Jerusalem,
will be called “holy,”^[s]
all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.^[t]
⁴At that time^[u] the Lord will wash the excrement^[v] from Zion’s women,
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,^[w]
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation.^[x]
⁵Then the Lord will create
over all Mount Zion^[y]
and over its convocations
a cloud and smoke by day
and a bright flame of fire by night;^[z]
indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence.^[aa]
⁶By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat,
as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.^[ab]

Footnotes

Isaiah 3:18 sn The translation assumes that the direct quotation ends with v. 17. The introductory formula “in that day” and the shift from a poetic to prosaic style indicate that a new speech unit begins in v. 18.
Isaiah 3:18 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
Isaiah 3:18 tn Or “the beauty of [their] ankle jewelry.”
Isaiah 3:20 tn Heb “houses of breath.” HALOT 124 s.v. בַּיִת defines them as “scent-bottles”; cf. NAB, NRSV “perfume boxes.”
Isaiah 3:23 tn The precise meaning of many of the words in this list is uncertain.sn The rhetorical purpose for such a lengthy list is to impress on the audience the guilt of these women with their proud, materialistic attitude, whose husbands and fathers have profited at the expense of the poor.
Isaiah 3:24 tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
Isaiah 3:25 tn The pronoun is feminine singular, suggesting personified Zion, as representative of its women, is the addressee. The reference to “her gates’ in v. 26 makes this identification almost certain.
Isaiah 3:25 tn Heb “your strength in battle.” The verb in the first clause provides the verbal idea for the second clause.
Isaiah 3:26 tn Heb “she will be empty, on the ground she will sit.” Jerusalem is personified as a destitute woman who sits mourning the empty city.
Isaiah 4:1 tn Or “in that day” (ASV).sn The seven-to-one ratio emphasizes the great disparity that will exist in the population due to the death of so many men in battle.
Isaiah 4:1 tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”
Isaiah 4:1 tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”sn In Jewish understanding a husband should provide food and cloth to his wife. These women are so desperate as to be willing to exempt the man from some of his traditional, fundamental duties as a husband.
Isaiah 4:1 tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.”
Isaiah 4:1 sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.
Isaiah 4:2 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
Isaiah 4:2 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh y^ehvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).
Isaiah 4:2 tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”
Isaiah 4:3 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
Isaiah 4:3 tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”
Isaiah 4:3 tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.
Isaiah 4:4 tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”
Isaiah 4:4 tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).
Isaiah 4:4 sn See 1:21 for a related concept.
Isaiah 4:4 tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind,” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (baʿar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”
Isaiah 4:5 tn Heb “over all the place, Mount Zion.” Cf. NLT “Jerusalem”; CEV “the whole city.”
Isaiah 4:5 tn Heb “a cloud by day, and smoke, and brightness of fire, a flame by night.” Though the accents in the Hebrew text suggest otherwise, it might be preferable to take “smoke” with what follows, since one would expect smoke to accompany fire.sn The imagery of the cloud by day and fire by night recalls the days of Moses, when a cloud and fire were tangible reminders that the Lord was guiding and protecting his people (Exod 13:21-22; 14:19, 24). In the future age envisioned in Isa 4, the Lord’s protective presence will be a reality.
Isaiah 4:5 tn Heb “indeed (or “for”) over all the glory, a canopy.” This may allude to Exod 40:34-35, where a cloud overshadows the meeting tent as it is filled with God’s glory.
Isaiah 4:6 tn Heb “a shelter it will be for shade by day from heat, and for a place of refuge and for a hiding place from cloudburst and rain.” Since both of the last nouns of this verse can mean rain, they can either refer to the rain storm and the rain as distinct items or together refer to a heavy downpour. Regardless, they do not represent unrelated phenomena.

Matthew 24:15-27

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵“So when you see the abomination of desolation^[a]—spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand),^[b] ¹⁶“then those in Judea must flee^[c] to the mountains. ¹⁷The one on the roof^[d] must not come down^[e] to take anything out of his house, ¹⁸and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹Woe^[f] to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! ²⁰Pray^[g] that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great suffering^[h] unlike anything that has happened^[i] from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ²³Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’^[j] or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. ²⁴For false messiahs^[k] and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵Remember,^[l] I have told you ahead of time. ²⁶So then, if someone^[m] says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’^[n] do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. ²⁷For just like the lightning^[o] comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

Footnotes

Matthew 24:15 sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).
Matthew 24:15 sn This parenthetical comment is generally regarded as a command by the author made directly to the readers, not as part of Jesus’ original speech. For this reason the statement is not placed within quotation marks.
Matthew 24:16 sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.
Matthew 24:17 sn On the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.
Matthew 24:17 sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There will be no time to come down from the roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.
Matthew 24:19 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:20 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:21 tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”
Matthew 24:21 sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.
Matthew 24:23 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
Matthew 24:24 tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
Matthew 24:25 tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”
Matthew 24:26 tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).
Matthew 24:26 tn Or “in the desert.”
Matthew 24:27 sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 80[a]

For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph.

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Branch of the Lord

Footnotes

The Abomination of Desolation

Footnotes

Psalm 80^[a]

For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;^[b] a psalm of Asaph.