Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 138[a]
By David.
138 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
before the heavenly assembly[b] I will sing praises to you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.[c]
3 When[d] I cried out for help, you answered me.
You made me bold and energized me.[e]
4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks[f] to you, O Lord,
when they hear the words you speak.[g]
5 Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds,[h]
for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent.[i]
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks after the lowly,
and from far away humbles[j] the proud.
7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger,[k] you revive me.
You oppose my angry enemies,[l]
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord avenges me.[m]
O Lord, your loyal love endures.
Do not abandon those whom you have made.[n]
Footnotes
- Psalm 138:1 sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.
- Psalm 138:1 tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.
- Psalm 138:2 tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God’s mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.
- Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “in the day.”
- Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”
- Psalm 138:4 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.
- Psalm 138:4 tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”
- Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “ways.”
- Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “great.”
- Psalm 138:6 tc The form of the verb is יְיֵדָע (yeyedaʿ) commonly understood to be Qal of יָדַע I (yadaʿ), although the Qal should not have two yod’s. Most likely one י (yod) should be deleted as dittography, or the second should be read as a ו (vav) and the form be understood as a Hifil.tn The Hifil of יָדַע II (yadaʿ) means “to humiliate,” causative of the Qal “be submissive, humbled, quiet” (cf. Job 21:19; Prov 5:6; Isa 45:4; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7). DCH supposes that the Qal can mean “to humiliate” in this verse. The more common homophonous root יָדַע means “to know,” sometimes with the nuance “to care for.” Alternatively the adjective גָּבֹהַּ (gavoah) can be understood as the subject, referring to God, “the exalted one cares for [the lowly] from a distance,” but the parallel thought in the next verse favors a contrast in this verse also.
- Psalm 138:7 tn Or “distress.”
- Psalm 138:7 tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”
- Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.
- Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”
33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will populate the cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be plowed, instead of being desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 They will say, “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken—and I will do it!’
37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them:[a] I will multiply their people like sheep.[b] 38 Like the sheep for offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 36:37 tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here: “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”
- Ezekiel 36:37 sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 When the disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread. 6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees[a] and Sadducees.”[b] 7 So[c] they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.” 8 When Jesus learned of this,[d] he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing[e] among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000, and how many baskets you took up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up? 11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Footnotes
- Matthew 16:6 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
- Matthew 16:6 sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
- Matthew 16:7 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ saying about the Pharisees and Sadducees.
- Matthew 16:8 tn Or “becoming aware of it.”
- Matthew 16:8 tn Or “discussing.”
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