Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient[a] and demonstrates great loyal love.[b]
9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made.[c]
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
12 so that mankind[d] might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,[e]
and your dominion endures through all generations.
14 [f] The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over.[g]
Footnotes
- Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
- Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
- Psalm 145:9 tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”
- Psalm 145:12 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
- Psalm 145:13 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
- Psalm 145:14 tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the (מ) (mem) and (ס) (samek) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing (נ) (nun) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.
- Psalm 145:14 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
Vision Five: The Menorah
4 The angelic messenger[a] who had been speaking with me then returned and woke me, as a person is wakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied,[b] “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top. There are seven lamps at the top, with seven[c] pipes going to the lamps. 3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.”[d] 4 Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, “What are these,[e] sir?” 5 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” So I responded, “No, sir.” 6 Therefore he told me, “This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’[f] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Oracle of Response
7 “What are you, you great mountain?[g] Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple[h] capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’[i] because of this.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 4:1 tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in 1:9.
- Zechariah 4:2 tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”
- Zechariah 4:2 tc The MT, supported by a Qumran manuscript, reads “seven and seven,” which would be fourteen. But Hebrew normally says “four and ten.” The LXX simply reads “seven,” suggesting the MT has a case of dittography.
- Zechariah 4:3 sn The vision apparently describes two olive trees providing olive oil by pipes to a large basin atop the menorah. From this basin two pipes extend to each of the seven lamps of the menorah, for a total of fourteen pipes in all. See vv. 11-12.
- Zechariah 4:4 sn Here these must refer to the lamps, since the identification of the olive trees is left to vv. 11-14.
- Zechariah 4:6 sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).
- Zechariah 4:7 sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).
- Zechariah 4:7 tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).
- Zechariah 4:7 sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).
21 On that same occasion[a] Jesus[b] rejoiced[c] in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise[d] you, Father, Lord[e] of heaven and earth, because[f] you have hidden these things from the wise[g] and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.[h] Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.[i] 22 All things have been given to me by my Father.[j] No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides[k] to reveal him.”
23 Then[l] Jesus[m] turned[n] to his[o] disciples and said privately, “Blessed[p] are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see[q] what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Footnotes
- Luke 10:21 tn Grk “In that same hour” (L&N 67.1).
- Luke 10:21 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Luke 10:21 sn Jesus rejoiced. The account of the mission in 10:1-24 ends with several remarks about joy.
- Luke 10:21 tn Or “thank.”
- Luke 10:21 sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.
- Luke 10:21 tn Or “that.”
- Luke 10:21 sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31, where Paul states that not many of the wise, powerful, or privileged had responded to the gospel.
- Luke 10:21 tn Or “to the childlike,” or “the innocent” (BDAG 671 s.v. νήπιος 1.b.β).
- Luke 10:21 tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.b.δ states: “as a reverential way of expressing oneself, when one is speaking of an eminent pers., and esp. of God, not to connect the subject directly w. what happens, but to say that it took place ‘before someone.’”
- Luke 10:22 sn This verse, frequently referred to as the “bolt from the Johannine blue,” has been noted for its conceptual similarity to statements in John’s Gospel (10:15; 17:2). The authority of the Son and the Father are totally intertwined. The statement here also occurs in Matt 11:27, and serves as a warning against drawing a simplistic dichotomy between Jesus’ teaching in the synoptic gospels and Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of John.
- Luke 10:22 tn Or “wishes”; or “intends”; or “plans” (cf. BDAG 182 s.v. βούλομαι 2.b). Here it is the Son who has sovereignty.
- Luke 10:23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
- Luke 10:23 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Luke 10:23 tn Grk “turning to the disciples, he said.” The participle στραφείς (strapheis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
- Luke 10:23 tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
- Luke 10:23 sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation, as v. 20 also noted. See also Luke 2:30.
- Luke 10:24 sn This is what past prophets and kings had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.
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