Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
Footnotes
- Psalm 103:1 sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.
- Psalm 103:1 tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).
- Psalm 103:2 tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).
- Psalm 103:3 tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).
- Psalm 103:4 tn Or “redeems.”
- Psalm 103:4 tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24 HT [55:23 ET]).
- Psalm 103:5 tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (ʿedyekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (ʿodekhi, “your duration; your continuance”), that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).
- Psalm 103:5 sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.
- Psalm 103:6 tn Heb “the Lord does fairness, and [acts of] justice for all the oppressed.”
- Psalm 103:7 tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[a] and demonstrates great loyal love.[b]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[c]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[d]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[e]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[f] over his faithful followers.[g]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[h] is from the west,[i]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[j] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[k]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[l]
Footnotes
- Psalm 103:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
- Psalm 103:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
- Psalm 103:9 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).
- Psalm 103:10 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
- Psalm 103:10 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
- Psalm 103:11 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
- Psalm 103:11 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
- Psalm 103:12 tn Heb “sunrise.”
- Psalm 103:12 tn Or “sunset.”
- Psalm 103:12 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (peshaʿ, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
- Psalm 103:13 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
- Psalm 103:13 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 54 Then the seven years of famine began,[a] just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt,[b] “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
56 While the famine was over all the earth,[c] Joseph opened the storehouses[d] and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. 57 People from every country[e] came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.
Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt
42 When Jacob heard[f] there was grain in Egypt, he[g] said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?”[h] 2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us[i] so that we may live[j] and not die.”[k]
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers,[l] for he said,[m] “What if some accident[n] happens[o] to him?” 5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among the other travelers,[p] for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country.[q] Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down[r] before him with[s] their faces to the ground. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger[t] to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered,[u] “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.”[v]
8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies;[w] you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!”[x]
10 But they exclaimed,[y] “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food! 11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”
12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”[z] 13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers.[aa] We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time,[ab] and one is no longer alive.”[ac]
14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you:[ad] You are spies! 15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives,[ae] you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 One of you must go and get[af] your brother, while[ag] the rest of you remain in prison.[ah] In this way your words may be tested to see if[ai] you are telling the truth.[aj] If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17 He imprisoned[ak] them all for three days.
Footnotes
- Genesis 41:54 tn Heb “began to arrive.”
- Genesis 41:55 tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.
- Genesis 41:56 tn Or “over the entire land”; Heb “over all the face of the earth.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal to the next clause.
- Genesis 41:56 tc The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.
- Genesis 41:57 tn Heb “all the earth,” which refers here (by metonymy) to the people of the earth. Note that the following verb is plural in form, indicating that the inhabitants of the earth are in view.
- Genesis 42:1 tn Heb “saw.”
- Genesis 42:1 tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 42:1 sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.
- Genesis 42:2 tn Heb “and buy for us from there.” The word “grain,” the direct object of “buy,” has been supplied for clarity, and the words “from there” have been omitted in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 42:2 tn Following the imperatives, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav expresses purpose of result.
- Genesis 42:2 tn The imperfect tense continues the nuance of the verb before it.
- Genesis 42:4 tn Heb “But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers.” The disjunctive clause highlights the contrast between Benjamin and the other ten.
- Genesis 42:4 tn The Hebrew verb אָמַר (ʾamar, “to say”) could also be translated “thought” (i.e., “he said to himself”) here, giving Jacob’s reasoning rather than spoken words.
- Genesis 42:4 tn The Hebrew noun אָסוֹן (ʾason) is a rare word meaning “accident, harm.” Apart from its use in these passages it occurs in Exodus 21:22-23 of an accident to a pregnant woman. The term is a rather general one, but Jacob was no doubt thinking of his loss of Joseph.
- Genesis 42:4 tn Heb “encounters.”
- Genesis 42:5 tn Heb “in the midst of the coming ones.”
- Genesis 42:6 tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.
- Genesis 42:6 sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).
- Genesis 42:6 tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.
- Genesis 42:7 sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.
- Genesis 42:7 tn Heb “said.”
- Genesis 42:7 tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.
- Genesis 42:9 sn You are spies. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react if they were accused of spying.
- Genesis 42:9 tn Heb “to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”
- Genesis 42:10 tn Heb “and they said to him.” In context this is best understood as an exclamation.
- Genesis 42:12 tn Heb “and he said, ‘No, for the nakedness of the land you have come to see.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 42:13 tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”
- Genesis 42:13 tn Heb “today.”
- Genesis 42:13 tn Heb “and the one is not.”
- Genesis 42:14 tn Heb “to you, saying.”
- Genesis 42:15 tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”sn As surely as Pharaoh lives. Joseph uses an oath formula to let the brothers know the certainty of what he said. There is some discussion in the commentaries on swearing by the life of Pharaoh, but since the formulation here reflects the Hebrew practice, it would be hard to connect the ideas exactly to Egyptian practices. Joseph did this to make the point in a way that his Hebrew brothers would understand. See M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92.
- Genesis 42:16 tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.
- Genesis 42:16 tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.
- Genesis 42:16 tn Heb “bound.”
- Genesis 42:16 tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 42:16 tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”
- Genesis 42:17 sn The same Hebrew word is used for Joseph’s imprisonment in 40:3, 4, 7. There is some mirroring going on in the narrative. The Hebrew word used here (אָסַף, ʾasaf, “to gather”) is not normally used in a context like this (for placing someone in prison), but it forms a wordplay on the name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yosef) and keeps the comparison working.
9 The[a] patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold[b] him into Egypt. But[c] God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made[d] him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Then a famine occurred throughout[e] Egypt and Canaan, causing[f] great suffering, and our[g] ancestors[h] could not find food. 12 So when Jacob heard that there was grain[i] in Egypt, he sent our ancestors[j] there[k] the first time. 13 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family[l] became known to Pharaoh. 14 So Joseph sent a message[m] and invited[n] his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people[o] in all. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there,[p] along with our ancestors,[q] 16 and their bones[r] were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money[s] from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
Footnotes
- Acts 7:9 tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
- Acts 7:9 tn The meaning “sell” for the middle voice of ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi) is given by BDAG 110 s.v. 5.a. See Gen 37:12-36, esp. v. 28.
- Acts 7:9 tn Though the Greek term here is καί (kai), in context this remark is clearly contrastive: Despite the malicious act, God was present and protected Joseph.
- Acts 7:10 tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.
- Acts 7:11 tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”
- Acts 7:11 tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.
- Acts 7:11 sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.
- Acts 7:11 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
- Acts 7:12 tn Or possibly “food,” since in a number of extrabiblical contexts the phrase σιτία καὶ ποτά (sitia kai pota) means “food and drink,” where solid food is contrasted with liquid nourishment (L&N 3.42).
- Acts 7:12 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
- Acts 7:12 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
- Acts 7:13 tn BDAG 194 s.v. γένος 2. gives “family, relatives” here; another alternative is “race” (see v. 19).
- Acts 7:14 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
- Acts 7:14 tn Or “Joseph had his father summoned” (BDAG 121 s.v. ἀποστέλλω 2.b).
- Acts 7:14 tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).
- Acts 7:15 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
- Acts 7:15 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
- Acts 7:16 tn “and they.”
- Acts 7:16 sn See Gen 49:29-32.
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