◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 89:1-4 15-18 (I sing of your love); Jeremiah 28:1-4 (Hananiah prophesies falsely); Luke 17:1-4 (Causing little ones to stumble) (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 89:1-4

Psalm 89[a]

A well-written song[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.

89 I will sing continually[c] about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.[d]
2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;[e]
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”[f]
3 The Lord said,[g]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty[h]
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”[i] (Selah)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 89:1 sn Psalm 89. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God’s covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized. The covenant promised the Davidic king military victories, but the king has now been subjected to humiliating defeat.
  2. Psalm 89:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 88.
  3. Psalm 89:1 tn Or “forever.”
  4. Psalm 89:1 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.”
  5. Psalm 89:2 tn Heb “built.”
  6. Psalm 89:2 sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).
  7. Psalm 89:3 tn The words “the Lord said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. It is clear that the words of vv. 3-4 are spoken by the Lord, in contrast to vv. 1-2, which are spoken by the psalmist.
  8. Psalm 89:4 tn Heb “forever I will establish your offspring.”
  9. Psalm 89:4 tn Heb “and I will build to a generation and a generation your throne.”
Psalm 89:15-18

15 How blessed are the people who worship you![a]
O Lord, they experience your favor.[b]
16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated[c] by your justice.
17 For you give them splendor and strength.[d]
By your favor we are victorious.[e]
18 For our shield[f] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.[g]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 89:15 tn Heb “who know the shout.” “Shout” here refers to the shouts of the Lord’s worshipers (see Pss 27:6; 33:3; 47:5).
  2. Psalm 89:15 tn Heb “in the light of your face they walk.” The idiom “light of your face” 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; 80:3, 7, 19; Dan 9:17).
  3. Psalm 89:16 tn Heb “are lifted up.”
  4. Psalm 89:17 tn Heb “for the splendor of their strength [is] you.”
  5. Psalm 89:17 tn Heb “you lift up our horn,” or if one follows the marginal reading (Qere), “our horn is lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
  6. Psalm 89:18 tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “our king” here and with “your anointed one” in Ps 84:9.
  7. Psalm 89:18 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.
Jeremiah 28:1-4

Jeremiah Confronted by a False Prophet

28 The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign.[a] The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah[b] in the Lord’s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people:[c] 2 “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,[d] says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude[e] to the king of Babylon. 3 Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.’ Indeed, the Lord affirms,[f] ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 28:1 tc The original text is unusually full here: Heb “And it happened in that year in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah…said to…” Many scholars see a contradiction between “in the fourth year” and “in the beginning of the reign.” These scholars point to the fact that the Greek version does not have “in that year” and “in the beginning of the reign of”; it merely reads, “in the fourth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month.” These scholars generally also regard the heading at 27:1 to be unoriginal and interpret the heading in the MT here as a faulty harmonization of the original (that in the Greek version) with the erroneous one in the Hebrew of 27:1. However, it is just as possible that the Greek version in both places is an attempt to harmonize the data of 27:1 and 28:1. That is, it left out both the heading at 27:1, and “in that year” and “at the beginning of the reign of” in the heading here because it thought the data was contradictory. On the other hand, it is just as likely that no contradiction really exists here because the term “beginning of the reign” can include the fourth year. E. H. Merrill has argued that the term here refers not to the accession year (see the translator’s note on 26:1) but to the early years in general (“The ‘Accession Year’ and Davidic Chronology,” JANESCU 19 [1989]: 105-6, and cf. note 18 for bibliography on Akkadian parallels). Hence the phrase has been translated both here and in 27:1 as “early in the reign of…” For other attempts at harmonization see the discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 41, n. 1a.sn The dating here is very full and precise. “In that same year” ties the events here in with the messages that Jeremiah delivered to the envoys, the king and his court, and the priests and people while wearing the yoke symbolizing servitude to Nebuchadnezzar. The text wants to show that the events here transpired shortly after those in Jer 27 and that Jeremiah is still wearing the yoke. The supplying of the precise month is important because the end of the chapter will show that Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding Hananiah was fulfilled two months later. Hence Jeremiah is the true prophet, and Hananiah and the others (27:16) are false. The supplying of the year is perhaps significant because the author states in 51:59 that Zedekiah went to Babylon that same year, probably to pledge his loyalty. The suggestion lies ready to hand that the events of this chapter and the preceding one lead to his dismissal of the false prophet Hananiah’s advice and the acceptance of Jeremiah’s.
  2. Jeremiah 28:1 tn Heb “to me.” The rest of the chapter is all in third person narrative (see vv. 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 15). Hence, many explain the first person here as a misunderstanding of the abbreviation “to Jeremiah” (אֶל יִרְמִיָּה [ʾel yirmiyyah] = אֵלַי, [ʾelay]). It is just as likely that there is a similar kind of disjunction here that occurred in 27:1-2, only in the opposite direction. There what started out as a third person report was really a first person report. Here what starts out as a first person report is really a third person report. The text betrays both the hands of the narrator, probably Baruch, and the account-giver, Jeremiah, who dictated a synopsis of his messages and his stories to Baruch to write down (Jer 36:4, 32).
  3. Jeremiah 28:1 tn Heb “And it happened in that year in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, said to me in…” The sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the flavor given in modern equivalent terms.
  4. Jeremiah 28:2 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.
  5. Jeremiah 28:2 sn See the study note on 27:2 for this figure. Hananiah is given the same title, “the prophet,” as Jeremiah throughout the chapter, and he claims to speak with the same authority (compare v. 2a with 27:21a). He even speaks like the true prophet; the verb form “I will break” is in the “prophetic perfect,” emphasizing certitude. His message here is a contradiction of Jeremiah’s message recorded in the preceding chapter (compare especially v. 3 with 27:16, 19-22, and v. 4 with 22:24-28). The people and the priests are thus confronted with a choice of whom to believe. Who is the “true” prophet and who is the “false” one? Only fulfillment of their prophecies will prove which is which (see Deut 18:21-22).
  6. Jeremiah 28:4 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”sn Notice again that the “false” prophet uses the same formula and claims the same source for his message as the true prophet has (cf. 27:22).
Luke 17:1-4

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

17 Jesus[a] said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe[b] to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him to have a millstone[c] tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea[d] than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.[e] 3 Watch[f] yourselves! If[g] your brother[h] sins, rebuke him. If[i] he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive[j] him.”

Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:1 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
  2. Luke 17:1 sn See Luke 6:24-26.
  3. Luke 17:2 tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός). sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
  4. Luke 17:2 tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have…and be thrown.”
  5. Luke 17:2 tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalisē), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.
  6. Luke 17:3 tn It is difficult to know if this looks back or forward or both. The warning suggests it looks back. For this verb, see Luke 8:18; 12:1, 15; 20:46; 21:8, 34. The present imperative reflects an ongoing spirit of watchfulness.
  7. Luke 17:3 tn Both the “if” clause in this verse and the “if” clause in v. 4 are third class conditions in Greek.
  8. Luke 17:3 tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a, contra BDAG 19 s.v. 2.c), but with a familial connotation. It refers equally to men, women, or children. However, because of the familial connotations, “brother” has been retained in the translation here in preference to the more generic “fellow believer” (“fellow Christian” would be anachronistic in this context).
  9. Luke 17:3 tn Grk “And if.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  10. Luke 17:4 sn You must forgive him. Forgiveness is to be readily given and not withheld. In a community that is to have restored relationships, grudges are not beneficial.
New English Translation (NET)

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