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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.

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Psalm 34

Psalm 34^[a]

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.^[b]

34 I will praise^[c] the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.^[d]
²I will boast^[e] in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.^[f]
³Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise^[g] his name together.
⁴I sought the Lord’s help^[h] and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.^[i]
⁶This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him^[j] from all his troubles.
⁷The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s^[k] loyal followers^[l] and delivers them.^[m]
⁸Taste^[n] and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed^[o] is the one^[p] who takes shelter in him.^[q]
⁹Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,^[r]
for those who fear him lack nothing.
¹⁰Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
¹¹Come children. Listen to me.
I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.^[s]
¹²Do you want to really live?^[t]
Would you love to live a long, happy life?^[u]
¹³Then make sure you don’t speak evil words^[v]
or use deceptive speech.^[w]
¹⁴Turn away from evil and do what is right.^[x]
Strive for peace and promote it.^[y]
¹⁵The Lord pays attention to the godly
and hears their cry for help.^[z]
¹⁶But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.^[aa]
¹⁷The godly^[ab] cry out and the Lord hears;
he saves them from all their troubles.^[ac]
¹⁸The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers^[ad] those who are discouraged.^[ae]
¹⁹The godly^[af] face many dangers,^[ag]
but the Lord saves^[ah] them^[ai] from each one of them.
²⁰He protects^[aj] all his bones;^[ak]
not one of them is broken.^[al]
²¹Evil people self-destruct;^[am]
those who hate the godly are punished.^[an]
²²The Lord rescues his servants;^[ao]
all who take shelter in him escape punishment.^[ap]

Footnotes

Psalm 34:1 sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.
Psalm 34:1 tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”sn Pretended to be insane. The psalm heading appears to refer to the account in 1 Sam 21:10-15 which tells how David, fearful that King Achish of Gath might kill him, pretended to be insane in hopes that the king would simply send him away. The psalm heading names the king Abimelech, not Achish, suggesting that the tradition is confused on this point. However, perhaps “Abimelech” was a royal title, rather than a proper name. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 278.
Psalm 34:1 tn Heb “bless.”
Psalm 34:1 tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”
Psalm 34:2 tn Heb “my soul will boast”; or better, “let my soul boast.” Following the cohortative form in v. 1, it is likely that the prefixed verbal form here is jussive.
Psalm 34:2 tn The two prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best taken as jussives, for the psalmist is calling his audience to worship (see v. 3).
Psalm 34:3 tn Or “exalt.”
Psalm 34:4 tn Heb “I sought the Lord.”
Psalm 34:5 tc The translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “they looked to him and were radiant; let their faces not be ashamed.” The MT reads the first verb as a perfect (הִבִּיטוּ, hibbitu), which would be past time, while the LXX (supported by Aquila, the Syriac, Jerome, and some medieval Hebrew mss) reads an imperative (הַבִּיטוּ, habbitu). The MT reads the second verb as a vav plus perfect, while the LXX reads it as an imperative, again a difference of the initial vowel. The third verb is a jussive preceded by אַל (ʾal), which supports reading the first two as imperatives. The second masculine plural pronoun (“your faces”) of the LXX and the Syriac, matches this understanding of the preceding verbs. The MT reading (“their faces”) is consistent with its view of the previous verbs. The reading adopted here interprets the verse as interrupting a testimony given to the congregation with an admonition based on that testimony.
Psalm 34:6 tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.
Psalm 34:7 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 34:7 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 34:7 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.
Psalm 34:8 tn This verb is normally used of tasting food, as in eating a little bit of food (1 Sam 14:43; Jonah 3:7) or evaluating it (Job 12:11; 34:3). The two references to the physical senses stand for invitation and realization. Even a small or beginning experience of God reveals that he is good.
Psalm 34:8 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
Psalm 34:8 tn Heb “man.” The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.”
Psalm 34:8 tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).
Psalm 34:9 tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”
Psalm 34:11 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord I will teach you.” In vv. 13-14 the psalmist explains to his audience what it means to “fear” the Lord.
Psalm 34:12 tn Heb “Who is the man who desires life?” The rhetorical question is used to grab the audience’s attention. “Life” probably refers here to quality of life, not just physical existence or even duration of life. See the following line.
Psalm 34:12 tn Heb “[Who] loves days to see good?”
Psalm 34:13 tn Heb “guard your tongue from evil.”
Psalm 34:13 tn Heb “and your lips from speaking deception.”
Psalm 34:14 tn Or “do good.”
Psalm 34:14 tn Heb “seek peace and pursue it.”
Psalm 34:15 tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”
Psalm 34:16 tn Heb “the face of the Lord [is] against the doers of evil to cut off from the earth memory of them.”
Psalm 34:17 tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).
Psalm 34:17 tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).
Psalm 34:18 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the oppressed and needy.
Psalm 34:18 tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:19 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.
Psalm 34:19 tn Or “trials.”
Psalm 34:19 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.
Psalm 34:19 tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.
Psalm 34:20 tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.
Psalm 34:20 tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.
Psalm 34:20 sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).
Psalm 34:21 tn Heb “evil kills the wicked [one].” The singular form is representative; the typical evil person is envisioned. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action.
Psalm 34:21 tn Heb “are guilty,” but the verb is sometimes used metonymically with the meaning “to suffer the consequences of guilt,” the effect being substituted for the cause.
Psalm 34:22 tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.
Psalm 34:22 tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:19).

Jeremiah 16:14-21

¹⁴Yet^[a] I, the Lord, say:^[b] “A new time will certainly come.^[c] People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’ ¹⁵But in that time they will affirm them with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.”^[d]

¹⁶But for now I, the Lord, say:^[e] “I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.^[f] ¹⁷For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it.^[g] ¹⁸Before I restore them^[h] I will punish them in full^[i] for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own^[j] with their detestable idols.”^[k]

¹⁹Then I said,^[l]

“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.
You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.^[m]
Nations from all over the earth
will come to you and say,
‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods—
worthless idols that could not help them at all.’^[n]
²⁰Can people make their own gods?
No, what they make are not gods at all.”^[o]

²¹The Lord said,^[p]

“So I will now let this wicked people know—
I will let them know my mighty power in judgment.
Then they will know that my name is the Lord.^[q]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 16:14 tn The particle translated here as “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Cf. Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT).
Jeremiah 16:14 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” The Lord has been speaking; the first person has been utilized in translation to avoid a shift that might create confusion.
Jeremiah 16:14 tn Heb “Behold, the days are coming.”
Jeremiah 16:15 tn These two verses, which constitute one long sentence with compound, complex subordinations, has been broken up for sake of English style. It reads, “Therefore, behold the days are coming,” says the Lord [Heb ‘oracle of the Lord’], “and it will not be said any longer, ‘By the life of the Lord who…Egypt,’ but, ‘by the life of the Lord who…,’ and I will bring them back….”
Jeremiah 16:16 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” The Lord has been speaking; the first person has been utilized in translation to avoid a shift that might create confusion.
Jeremiah 16:16 tn Heb “Behold, I am about to send for many fishermen, and they will catch them. And after that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the cracks in the rocks.”sn The picture of rounding up the population for destruction and exile is also seen in Amos 4:2 and Hab 1:14-17.
Jeremiah 16:17 tn Heb “For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from before me. And their sin is not hidden away from before my eyes.”
Jeremiah 16:18 tn Heb “First.” Many English versions and commentaries delete this word because it is missing from the Greek version and is considered a gloss added by a postexilic editor who is said to be responsible also for vv. 14-16. However, the reading of the MT is well attested, being supported by the other ancient versions. The word here refers to order in rank or order of events. Compare Gen 38:28 and 1 Kgs 18:25. Here allusion is made to the restoration previously mentioned. First in order of events is the punishment of destruction and exile, then restoration.
Jeremiah 16:18 tn Heb “double.” However, usage in Deut 15:18 and probably Isa 40:2 argues for “full compensation.” This is supported also by usage in a tablet from Alalakh in Syria. See P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 218, for bibliography.
Jeremiah 16:18 tn Heb “my inheritance.”sn For earlier references to the term used here see Jer 2:7, where it applies as here to the land, Jer 10:16 and 12:8-9, where it applies to the people, and Jer 12:7, where it applies to the temple.
Jeremiah 16:18 tn Many of the English versions take “lifeless statues of their detestable idols” with “filled” as a compound object. This follows the Masoretic punctuation but violates usage. The verb “fill” never takes an object preceded by the preposition בְּ (bet).
Jeremiah 16:19 tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift from God, who has been speaking to Jeremiah, to Jeremiah, who here addresses God.sn The shift here is consistent with the interruptions that have taken place in chapters 14 and 15 and in Jeremiah’s response to God’s condemnation of the people of Judah’s idolatry in chapter 10 (note especially vv. 6-16).
Jeremiah 16:19 tn Heb “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble.” The literal reading, which piles up attributes, is of course more forceful than the predications. However, piling up poetic metaphors like this adds to the length of the English sentence and risks lack of understanding on the part of some readers. Some rhetorical force has been sacrificed for the sake of clarity.
Jeremiah 16:19 tn Once again the translation has sacrificed some of the rhetorical force for the sake of clarity and English style: Heb “Only falsehood did our ancestors possess, vanity and [things in which?] there was no one profiting in them.”sn This passage offers some rather forceful contrasts. The Lord is Jeremiah’s source of strength, security, and protection. The idols are false gods, worthless idols, that can offer no help at all.
Jeremiah 16:20 tn Heb “and they are ‘no gods.’” For the construction here compare 2:11 and a similar construction in 2 Kgs 19:18, and see BDB 519 s.v. לֹא 1.b(b).
Jeremiah 16:21 tn The words “The Lord said” are not in the text. However, it is obvious that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 16:21 tn Or “So I will make known to those nations, I will make known to them at this time my power and my might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.” There is a decided ambiguity in this text about the identity of the pronoun “them.” Is it his wicked people he has been predicting judgment upon or the nations that have come to recognize the folly of idolatry? The nearer antecedent would argue for the latter. However, usage of “hand” (translated here “power”) in 6:12; 15:6; and later in 21:5, and especially the threatening motif of “at this time” (or “now”) in 10:18, suggest that the “So” goes back logically to vv. 16-18, following a grounds of judgment with the threatened consequence, as it has in at least 16 out of 18 occurrences thus far. Moreover, it makes decidedly more sense that the Jews will know that his name is the Lord as the result of the present (“at this time”) display of his power in judgment than that the idolaters will at some later (cf. Isa 2:2-4 for possible parallel) time. There has been a decided emphasis that the people of Israel do not “know” him (cf. 2:8; 4:22; 9:3, 6). Now they will, but in a way they did not wish to. There is probably an allusion (and an ironic reversal) here to Exod 3:13-15; 34:5-7. They have presumed upon his graciousness and forgotten that his name not only involves being with them to help but being against them to punish sin. Even if the alternate translation is followed, the reference is still to God’s mighty power made known in judging the wicked Judeans. The words “power” and “might” are an example of hendiadys, in which two nouns joined by “and” function as a unit.

Mark 1:14-20

Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples

¹⁴Now after John was imprisoned,^[a] Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel^[b] of God.^[c] ¹⁵He^[d] said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God^[e] is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” ¹⁶As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).^[f] ¹⁷Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!”^[g] ¹⁸They left their nets immediately and followed him.^[h] ¹⁹Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their^[i] boat^[j] mending nets. ²⁰Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Footnotes

Mark 1:14 tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).
Mark 1:14 tc Most witnesses, including some significant ones (A D W Γ Δ 28^c 700 1241 1424 M lat sy), have τῆς βασιλείας (tēs basileias) between τὸ εὐαγγέλιον (to euangelion) and τοῦ θεοῦ (tou theou): “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” On the one hand, it is perhaps possible that τῆς βασιλείας was omitted to conform the expression to that which is found in the epistles (cf. Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; 1 Thess 2:2, 8, 9; 1 Pet 4:17). On the other hand, this expression, “the gospel of God,” occurs nowhere else in the Gospels, while “the gospel of the kingdom” is a Matthean expression (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), and “kingdom of God” is pervasive in the synoptic Gospels (occurring over 50 times). Scribes would thus be more prone to add τῆς βασιλείας than to omit it. Further, the external support for the shorter reading (א B L Θ ƒ^1,13 28* 33 565 579 892 sa Or) is significantly stronger than that for the longer reading. There is little doubt, therefore, that the shorter reading is authentic.
Mark 1:14 tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou theou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.
Mark 1:15 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
Mark 1:15 sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ teaching. The nature of the kingdom of God in the NT and in Jesus’ teaching has long been debated by interpreters and scholars, with discussion primarily centering around the nature of the kingdom (earthly, heavenly, or both) and the kingdom’s arrival (present, future, or both). An additional major issue concerns the relationship between the kingdom of God and the person and work of Jesus himself.
Mark 1:16 sn This is a parenthetical comment by the author.
Mark 1:17 tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net—not line—fishing (cf. v. 16; cf. also BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφιβάλλω, ἀμφίβληστρον) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. W. L. Lane, Mark [NICNT], 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.
Mark 1:18 sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.
Mark 1:19 tn Or “a boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tō ploiō) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do in Matt 4:21); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats).
Mark 1:19 sn In 1986 following a period of drought and low lake levels, a fishing boat from the first century was discovered on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was excavated and preserved and can now be seen in the Yigal Allon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar north of Tiberias. The remains of the boat are 27 ft (8.27 m) long and 7.5 ft (2.3 m) wide; it could be rowed by four rowers and had a mast for a sail. The boat is now known as the “Jesus boat” or the “Sea of Galilee boat” although there is no known historical connection of any kind with Jesus or his disciples. However, the boat is typical for the period and has provided archaeologists with much information about design and construction of boats on the Sea of Galilee in the first century.

Psalm 33

Psalm 33^[a]

33 You godly ones, shout for joy because of the Lord!
It is appropriate for the morally upright to offer him praise.
²Give thanks to the Lord with the harp.
Sing to him to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument.
³Sing to him a new song.^[b]
Play skillfully as you shout out your praises to him.^[c]
⁴For the Lord’s decrees^[d] are just,^[e]
and everything he does is fair.^[f]
⁵He promotes^[g] equity and justice;
the Lord’s faithfulness extends throughout the earth.^[h]
⁶By the Lord’s decree^[i] the heavens were made,
and by the breath^[j] of his mouth all the starry hosts.
⁷He piles up the water of the sea;^[k]
he puts the oceans^[l] in storehouses.
⁸Let the whole earth fear^[m] the Lord.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
⁹For he spoke, and it^[n] came into existence.
He issued the decree,^[o] and it stood firm.
¹⁰The Lord frustrates^[p] the decisions of the nations;
he nullifies the plans^[q] of the peoples.
¹¹The Lord’s decisions stand forever;
his plans abide throughout the ages.^[r]
¹²How blessed^[s] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession.^[t]
¹³The Lord watches^[u] from heaven;
he sees all people.^[v]
¹⁴From the place where he lives he looks carefully
at all the earth’s inhabitants.
¹⁵He is the one who forms every human heart,^[w]
and takes note of all their actions.
¹⁶No king is delivered by his vast army;
a warrior is not saved by his great might.
¹⁷A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory;^[x]
despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.
¹⁸Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers,^[y]
those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness^[z]
¹⁹by saving their lives from death^[aa]
and sustaining them during times of famine.^[ab]
²⁰We^[ac] wait for the Lord;
he is our deliverer^[ad] and shield.^[ae]
²¹For our hearts rejoice in him,
for we trust in his holy name.
²²May we experience your faithfulness, O Lord,^[af]
for^[ag] we wait for you.

Footnotes

Psalm 33:1 sn Psalm 33. In this hymn the psalmist praises the Lord as the sovereign creator and just ruler of the world who protects and vindicates those who fear him.
Psalm 33:3 sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the lives of his people in fresh and exciting ways.
Psalm 33:3 tn Heb “play skillfully with a loud shout.”
Psalm 33:4 tn Heb “word.” In this context, which depicts the Lord as the sovereign creator and ruler of the world, the Lord’s “word” refers to the decrees whereby he governs his dominion.
Psalm 33:4 tn Or “upright.”
Psalm 33:4 tn Heb “and all his work [is done] with faithfulness.”
Psalm 33:5 tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of equity and justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world.
Psalm 33:5 tn Heb “fills the earth.”
Psalm 33:6 tn Heb “word.”
Psalm 33:6 tn The word רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit, wind, breath”) is used in the creation account in Gen 1:2 “the Spirit of God was moving.” Here parallel to “decree/word,” it recalls the account of God speaking in order to create (cf. Gen 1:14).
Psalm 33:7 tn Heb “[he] gathers like a pile the waters of the sea.” Some prefer to emend נֵד (ned, “heap, pile”; cf. NASB) to נֹד (nod, “bottle”; cf. NRSV; NIV “into jars”), but “pile” is used elsewhere to describe water that the Lord confines to one place (Exod 15:8; Josh 3:13, 16; Ps 78:13). This verse appears to refer to Gen 1:9, where God decrees that the watery deep be gathered to one place so that dry land might appear. If so, the participles in this and the following line depict this action with special vividness, as if the reader were present on the occasion. Another option is that the participles picture the confinement of the sea to one place as an ongoing divine activity.
Psalm 33:7 tn Or “watery depths.” The form תְּהוֹמוֹת (t^ehomot, “watery depths”) is the plural form of תְּהוֹם (t^ehom, “great deep”; see Gen 1:2).
Psalm 33:8 tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”
Psalm 33:9 tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayyaʿamod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).
Psalm 33:9 tn Heb “he commanded.”
Psalm 33:10 tn Heb “breaks” or “destroys.” The Hebrew perfect verbal forms here and in the next line generalize about the Lord’s activity.
Psalm 33:10 tn Heb “thoughts.”
Psalm 33:11 tn Heb “the thoughts of his heart for generation to generation.” The verb “abides” is supplied in the translation. The Lord’s “decisions” and “plans” here refer to his decrees and purposes.
Psalm 33:12 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
Psalm 33:12 tn Heb “inheritance.”
Psalm 33:13 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal forms in v. 13 state general facts.
Psalm 33:13 tn Heb “all the sons of men.”
Psalm 33:15 tn Heb “the one who forms together their heart[s].” “Heart” here refers to human nature, composed of intellect, emotions and will. The precise force of יָחַד (yakhad, “together”) is unclear here. The point seems to be that the Lord is the creator of every human being.
Psalm 33:17 tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”
Psalm 33:18 tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.
Psalm 33:18 tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”
Psalm 33:19 tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”
Psalm 33:19 tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”
Psalm 33:20 tn Or “our lives.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, life”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
Psalm 33:20 tn Or “[source of] help.”
Psalm 33:20 tn Or “protector.”
Psalm 33:22 tn Heb “let your faithfulness, O Lord, be on us.”
Psalm 33:22 tn Or “just as.”

Matthew 10:16-32

Persecution of Disciples

¹⁶“I^[a] am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves,^[b] so be wise as serpents^[c] and innocent as doves.^[d] ¹⁷Beware^[e] of people, because they will hand you over to councils^[f] and flog^[g] you in their synagogues.^[h] ¹⁸And you will be brought before governors and kings^[i] because of me, as a witness to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹Whenever^[j] they hand you over for trial,^[k] do not worry about how to speak or what to say,^[l] for what you should say will be given to you at that time.^[m] ²⁰For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹“Brother^[n] will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against^[o] parents and have them put to death. ²²And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved! ²³Whenever^[p] they persecute you in one town,^[q] flee to another! I tell you the truth,^[r] you will not finish going through all the towns^[s] of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴“A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave^[t] greater than his master. ²⁵It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much worse will they call^[u] the members of his household!

Fear God, Not Man

²⁶“Do^[v] not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden^[w] that will not be revealed,^[x] and nothing is secret that will not be made known. ²⁷What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear,^[y] proclaim from the housetops.^[z] ²⁸Do^[aa] not be afraid of those who kill the body^[ab] but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.^[ac] ²⁹Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?^[ad] Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.^[ae] ³⁰Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. ³¹So do not be afraid;^[af] you are more valuable than many sparrows.

³²“Whoever, then, acknowledges^[ag] me before people, I will acknowledge^[ah] before my Father in heaven.

Footnotes

Matthew 10:16 tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
Matthew 10:16 sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism (see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30; also 1 Enoch 89:55). For more on the sheep imagery see H. Preisker and S. Schulz, TDNT 6:690. The imagery of sheep surrounded by wolves suggests violence, and prepares the hearers for the persecutions of disciples described in vv. 17-26.
Matthew 10:16 sn The craftiness of serpents is proverbial and can be traced as far back as Gen 3:1. As for how it applies to Jesus’ disciples sent out with the message of the coming kingdom, interpreters have been far less certain, and there is a great diversity of opinion.
Matthew 10:16 sn Doves were regarded in both Greek and Jewish culture of the first century as symbols of purity, integrity, and harmlessness (see H. Greeven, TDNT 6:65-67).
Matthew 10:17 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 10:17 sn Councils in this context has a non-technical sense referring to local judicial bodies (courts) attached to the Jewish synagogue (cf. BDAG 967 s.v. συνέδριον 1.a). These courts would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.
Matthew 10:17 tn Or “and have you flogged” (a causative sense). BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
Matthew 10:17 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
Matthew 10:18 sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of councils and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts 4:3; 5:17-18, 40-41; 6:12; 7:1-60; 8:1-3, and of Gentile persecution in Acts 25:2-12, 24-27.
Matthew 10:19 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 10:19 tn Or “hand you over into custody,” in particular “as a t.t. of police and courts ‘hand over into [the] custody [of]’” (BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b). In context some sort of trial is implied (cf. Luke 12:11).
Matthew 10:19 tn Grk “how or what you might speak.”
Matthew 10:19 tn Grk “in that hour.”
Matthew 10:21 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.sn The mention of father and child in the following clause indicates that brother here refers to actual siblings, the members of one’s own family.
Matthew 10:21 tn Or “will rebel against.”
Matthew 10:23 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 10:23 tn The Greek word πόλις (polis) can mean either “town” or “city” depending on the context (BDAG 844 s.v. 1, “population center of varying size, city, town”).
Matthew 10:23 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amēn) I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
Matthew 10:23 tn The Greek word πόλις (polis), can mean either “town” or “city” (see previous note in this verse). “Town” was employed here to emphasize the large number of places to visit (not just the largest cities) and thus the extensive nature of the disciples’ ministry.
Matthew 10:24 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
Matthew 10:25 tn The words “will they call” are not in the Greek text but are implied, and have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
Matthew 10:26 tn Grk “Therefore do not.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.
Matthew 10:26 tn Or “concealed.”
Matthew 10:26 tn The passive voice here and with the next verb is probably used for rhetorical effect. Although it is common to understand such usage, particularly in the gospels, as examples of the so-called “divine passive” where God is the unstated performer of the action, according to Wallace (ExSyn 438) this category is overused.sn The passive verbs revealed and made known suggest the revelation comes from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known.
Matthew 10:27 tn Grk “what you hear in the ear,” an idiom meaning “say someth. into someone’s ear, i.e., secretly or in confidence, whisper” (BDAG 739 s.v. οὖς 1).
Matthew 10:27 tn The expression “proclaim from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51; BDAG 266 s.v. δῶμα). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.
Matthew 10:28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 10:28 sn A similar exhortation is found in 4 Macc 13:14-15, reflecting the view of Judaism in the intertestamental period. The statement here assumes there is more to a person than a body. As J. Nolland states, “Fear of God is to displace fear of death-dealing persecutors. The stakes are higher with God” (Matthew [NIGTC], 436).
Matthew 10:28 sn While destroy is sometimes taken to mean annihilation, it does not necessarily have to imply that here (“Of eternal death… Mt 10:28, ” BDAG 116 s.v. ἀπόλλυμι 1.a.α). There are some Jewish intertestamental texts that appear to reflect a belief in everlasting punishment for the wicked (Jdt 16:17; 1QS 2:8) as well as Rev 14:11 in the NT. See also the note on the word hell in 5:22.
Matthew 10:29 sn The penny refers to an assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one-sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest items sold in the market. The point of Jesus’ statement is that God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.
Matthew 10:29 tn Or “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.”sn This is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater: If God cares about the lesser thing (sparrows) how much more does he care about the greater thing (people).
Matthew 10:31 sn This represents the third call by Jesus not to be afraid in the section (previously in vv. 26, 28). Since these two previous references were related to fear of persecution, it is probable that this one does as well. Once again the sparrows are mentioned and the argument is from lesser to greater (if God cares about individual hairs on the head and about sparrows, how much more does he care about people).
Matthew 10:32 tn Or “confesses”; cf. BDAG 708 s.v. ὁμολογέω 4, “to acknowledge someth., ordinarily in public, acknowledge, claim, profess, praise.”
Matthew 10:32 tn Grk “I will acknowledge [or, confess] him also.”sn This acknowledgment will take place at the judgment. On Jesus and judgment, see Luke 22:69; Acts 10:42-43; 17:31.

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 34[a]

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.[b]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples

Footnotes

Psalm 33[a]

Footnotes

Persecution of Disciples

Fear God, Not Man

Footnotes

Psalm 34^[a]

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.^[b]

Psalm 33^[a]