◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 8 (How exalted is your name); Job 38:12-21 (Creation story from Job); 2 Timothy 1:12b-14 (The treasure of the triune God) (New English Translation)
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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.
Duration: 1245 days
New English Translation (NET)
Version
Psalm 8

Psalm 8[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] a psalm of David.

8 O Lord, our Lord,[c]
how magnificent[d] is your reputation[e] throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above.[f]
2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,[g]
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.[h]
3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,[i]
4 Of what importance is the human race,[j] that you should notice[k] them?
Of what importance is mankind,[l] that you should pay attention to them?[m]
5 You made them[n] a little less than[o] the heavenly beings.[p]
You crowned mankind[q] with honor and majesty.[r]
6 you appoint them to rule over your creation;[s]
you have placed[t] everything under their authority,[u]
7 including all the sheep and cattle,
as well as the wild animals,[v]
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that moves through the currents[w] of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,[x]
how magnificent[y] is your reputation[z] throughout the earth![aa]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 8:1 sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.
  2. Psalm 8:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.
  3. Psalm 8:1 tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.
  4. Psalm 8:1 tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”
  5. Psalm 8:1 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
  6. Psalm 8:1 tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tenah; an imperative?) should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natattah) or imperfect (תִתֵּן, titten) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.
  7. Psalm 8:2 tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ʿoz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.
  8. Psalm 8:2 tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.
  9. Psalm 8:3 tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.
  10. Psalm 8:4 tn Heb “What is man[kind]?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (ʾenosh, “man”) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race.
  11. Psalm 8:4 tn Heb “remember him.”
  12. Psalm 8:4 tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.
  13. Psalm 8:4 tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.
  14. Psalm 8:5 tn Heb “him.” The antecedent is “son of man,” so the pronoun is third masculine singular. But since “son of man” is taken in a generic sense, the translation says “them” referring to the human race.
  15. Psalm 8:5 tn Heb “and you make him lack a little from אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim, “God” or “the heavenly beings”). The Piel form of חָסַר (khasar, “to decrease, to be devoid”) is used only here and in Eccl 4:8, where it means “to deprive, to cause to be lacking.” The verb form is past tense, as confirmed both by the preterite pointing of the initial vav (ו) and by the form of the pronominal suffix (without nun as with the forms in the previous verse). Some see this as an allusion to the creation of Adam and Eve in Gen 1:26-27, but it may also be a general reference to the status of humanity. Any connection is theological as Ps 8:5 does not share any terminology with Gen 1:26-27.
  16. Psalm 8:5 tn The Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) can refer to the one true God, to false gods, or the heavenly beings. In this context it would refer either to God or to the angels. The LXX (the ancient Greek translation of the OT) reads “angels” in Ps 8:5 (and is the source of the quotation of Ps 8:5 in Heb 2:7). The term אֱלֹהִים may refer to heavenly beings (angels) in Gen 3:5, where the serpent says to the woman, “you will be like the heavenly beings who know good and evil.” (Note Gen 3:22, where God says, “the man has become like one of us.” Also see the notes at Gen 1:26-27 regarding the plural forms.) In Ps 82:1, 6 אֱלֹהִים may refer to the members of the heavenly assembly (or may be a polemic against false gods).
  17. Psalm 8:5 tn Heb “him.” The antecedent, “son of man” is understood generically as representing the human race. The form of the third masculine singular pronoun on the verb (i.e., without nun connector as in the previous verse) confirms that the verb is a preterite. Although beginning with vav-patakh-dagesh commonly the characterizes the preterite form, it is not always present in poetry. This form of the third masculine singular suffix is used with the short prefixed paradigms, preterite and jussive, of which only the preterite fits the context.
  18. Psalm 8:5 sn Honor and majesty. These terms allude to mankind’s royal status as God’s vice-regents (cf. v. 6 and Gen 1:26-30).
  19. Psalm 8:6 tn Heb “you cause [i.e., “permit, allow”] him to rule over the works of your hands.”
  20. Psalm 8:6 tn The perfect verbal form probably has a present perfect nuance here. It refers to the continuing effects of God’s original mandate (see Gen 1:26-30).
  21. Psalm 8:6 tn Heb “under his feet.”sn Placed everything under their authority. This verse affirms that mankind rules over God’s creation as his vice-regent. See Gen 1:26-30.
  22. Psalm 8:7 tn Heb “and also the beasts of the field.”
  23. Psalm 8:8 tn Heb “paths.”
  24. Psalm 8:9 tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.
  25. Psalm 8:9 tn Or “awesome, majestic.”
  26. Psalm 8:9 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
  27. Psalm 8:9 sn Using the poetic device of inclusio, the psalmist ends the psalm the way he began it. The concluding refrain is identical to v. 1.
Job 38:12-21

12 Have you ever in your life[a] commanded the morning,
or made the dawn know[b] its place,
13 that it might seize the corners of the earth,[c]
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;[d]
its features[e] are dyed[f] like a garment.
15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm raised in violence[g] is broken.[h]
16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea,[i]
or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?[j]
Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness?[k]
18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all.
19 “In what direction[l] does light reside,

and darkness, where is its place,
20 that you may take them to their borders
and perceive the pathways to their homes?[m]
21 You know, for you were born before them;[n]
and the number of your days is great!

Footnotes

  1. Job 38:12 tn The Hebrew idiom is “have you from your days?” It means “never in your life” (see 1 Sam 25:28; 1 Kgs 1:6).
  2. Job 38:12 tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yadaʿ, “to know”) with a double accusative.
  3. Job 38:13 sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.
  4. Job 38:14 sn The verse needs to be understood in the context: as the light shines in the dawn, the features of the earth take on a recognizable shape or form. The language is phenomenological.
  5. Job 38:14 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the objects or features on the earth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. Job 38:14 tc The MT reads “they stand up like a garment” (NASB, NIV) or “its features stand out like a garment” (ESV). The reference could be either to embroidered decoration on a garment or to the folds of a garment (REB “until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak”; cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 497, “the early light of day makes the earth appear as a beautiful garment, exquisite in design and glorious in color”). Since this is thought to be an odd statement, some suggest with Ehrlich that the text be changed to תִּצָּבַּע (titsabbaʿ, “is dyed [like a garment]”). This reference would be to the colors appearing on the earth’s surface under daylight. The present translation follows the emendation.
  7. Job 38:15 tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
  8. Job 38:15 sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).
  9. Job 38:16 tn Heb “the springs of the sea.” The words “that fill” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the phrase.
  10. Job 38:17 tn Heb “uncovered to you.”
  11. Job 38:17 tn Some still retain the traditional phrase “shadow of death” in the English translation (cf. NIV). The reference is to the entrance to Sheol (see Job 10:21).
  12. Job 38:19 tn The interrogative with דֶרֶךְ (derekh) means “in what road” or “in what direction.”
  13. Job 38:20 tn The suffixes are singular (“that you may take it to its border…to its home”), referring to either the light or the darkness. Because either is referred to, the translation has employed plurals, since singulars would imply that only the second item, “darkness,” was the referent. Plurals are also employed by NAB and NIV.
  14. Job 38:21 tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (ʾaz, “then”) functions as a preterite (“you were born”); אָז has been left untranslated because the past tense translation itself suffices to reflect the idiom. The pronoun “them,” referring to light and darkness mentioned in v. 19, has been added to clarify the sense of the statement. Clearly the line is sarcastic.
2 Timothy 1:12-14

12 Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do.[a] But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set[b] and I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me[c] until that day.[d] 13 Hold to the standard[e] of sound words that you heard from me and do so with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.[f] 14 Protect that good thing[g] entrusted to you, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 1:12 tn Grk “suffer these things.”
  2. 2 Timothy 1:12 tn Or “in whom I have believed.”
  3. 2 Timothy 1:12 sn What has been entrusted to me (Grk “my entrustment,” meaning either (1) “what I have entrusted to him” [his life, destiny, etc.] or (2) “what he has entrusted to me” [the truth of the gospel]). The parallel with v. 14 and use of similar words in the pastorals (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 2:2) argue for the latter sense.
  4. 2 Timothy 1:12 sn That day is a reference to the day when Paul would stand before Christ to give account for his service (cf. 2 Tim 1:18; 1 Cor 3:13; 2 Cor 5:9-10).
  5. 2 Timothy 1:13 tn Or “pattern.”
  6. 2 Timothy 1:13 tn Grk “in faith and love in Christ Jesus.”sn With the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This describes the manner in which Timothy must hold to the standard (similar to Paul’s call for him to give attention to his life and his teaching in 1 Tim 4:11-16).
  7. 2 Timothy 1:14 sn That good thing (Grk “the good deposit”) refers to the truth of the gospel committed to Timothy (cf. 1 Tim 6:20).
New English Translation (NET)

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