◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 119:1-8 (Happy are those who walk in the law); Deuteronomy 30:1-9a (God’s fidelity assured); Matthew 15:1-9 (God’s commandments and religious tradition) (New English Translation)

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February 15, 2020

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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

Psalm 119:1-8

Psalm 119^[a]

א (Alef)

119 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless,^[b]
who obey^[c] the law of the Lord.
²How blessed are those who observe his rules,
and seek him with all their heart,
³who, moreover, do no wrong,
but follow in his footsteps.^[d]
⁴You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept.^[e]
⁵If only I were predisposed^[f]
to keep your statutes.
⁶Then I would not be ashamed,
if^[g] I were focused on^[h] all your commands.
⁷I will give you sincere thanks,^[i]
when I learn your just regulations.
⁸I will keep your statutes.
Do not completely abandon me.^[j]

Deuteronomy 30:1-9

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses^[a] I have set before you, you will reflect upon them^[b] in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. ²Then if you and your descendants^[c] turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being^[d] just as^[e] I am commanding you today, ³the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he^[f] has scattered you. ⁴Even if your exiles are in the most distant land,^[g] from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. ⁵Then he^[h] will bring you to the land your ancestors^[i] possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. ⁶The Lord your God will also cleanse^[j] your heart, and the hearts of your descendants^[k] so that you may love him^[l] with all your mind and being and so that you may live. ⁷Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. ⁸You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving^[m] you today. ⁹The Lord your God will make the labor of your hands^[n] abundantly successful and multiply your children,^[o] the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lord will once more^[p] rejoice over you to make you prosperous^[q] just as he rejoiced over your ancestors,

Matthew 15:1-9

Breaking Human Traditions

15 Then Pharisees^[a] and experts in the law^[b] came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said,^[c] ²“Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their^[d] hands when they eat.”^[e] ³He answered them,^[f] “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴For God said,^[g] ‘Honor your father and mother’^[h] and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’^[i] ⁵But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,”^[j] ⁶he does not need to honor his father.’^[k] You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. ⁷Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

⁸‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart^[l] is far from me,
⁹and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”^[m]

Footnotes

Matthew 15:1 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
Matthew 15:1 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 15:1 tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb so that its telic (i.e., final or conclusive) force can be more easily detected: The Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus in order to speak with him.
Matthew 15:2 tc ‡ Although most witnesses read the genitive plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autōn, “their”), it may have been motivated by clarification (as it is in the translation above). Several other authorities do not have the pronoun, however (א B Δ 073 ƒ¹ 579 700 892 1424 f g¹); the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading. NA²⁸ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
Matthew 15:2 tn Grk “when they eat bread.”
Matthew 15:3 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”
Matthew 15:4 tc Most mss (א*^,2b C L N W Γ Δ 0106 33 565 1241 1424 M) have an expanded introduction here; instead of “For God said,” they read “For God commanded, saying” (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο λέγων, ho gar theos eneteilato legōn). But such expansions are generally motivated readings; in this case, most likely it was due to the wording of the previous verse (“the commandment of God”) that caused early scribes to add to the text. Although it is possible that other witnesses reduced the text to the simple εἶπεν (eipen, “[God] said”) because of perceived redundancy with the statement in v. 3, such is unlikely in light of the great variety and age of these authorities (א^2a B D Θ 073 ƒ^{1, 13} 579 700 892 lat co, as well as other versions and fathers).
Matthew 15:4 sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
Matthew 15:4 sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.
Matthew 15:5 tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.
Matthew 15:6 tc The logic of v. 5 would seem to demand that both father and mother are in view in v. 6. Indeed, the majority of mss (C L N W Γ Δ Θ 0106 ƒ¹ 1424 M) have “or his mother” (ἢ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, ē tēn mētera autou) after “honor his father” here. However, there are significant witnesses that have variations on this theme (καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ [kai tēn mētera autou, “and his mother”] in Φ 565 1241 bo and ἢ τὴν μητέρα [“or mother”] in 073 ƒ¹³ 33 579 700 892), which is usually an indication of a predictable addition to the text rather than an authentic reading. Further, the shorter reading (without any mention of “mother”) is found in early and significant witnesses (א B D a e sy^c sa). Although it is possible that the shorter reading came about accidentally (due to the repetition of—ερα αὐτοῦ), the evidence more strongly suggests that the longer readings were intentional scribal alterations.tn Grk “he will never honor his father.” Here Jesus is quoting the Pharisees, whose intent is to release the person who is giving his possessions to God from the family obligation of caring for his parents. The verb in this phrase is future tense, and it is negated with οὐ μή (ou mē), the strongest negation possible in Greek. A literal translation of the phrase does not capture the intended sense of the statement; it would actually make the Pharisees sound as if they agreed with Jesus. Instead, a more interpretive translation has been used to focus upon the release from family obligations that the Pharisees allowed in these circumstances.sn Here Jesus refers to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner. According to contemporary Jewish tradition, the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 4).
Matthew 15:8 tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.
Matthew 15:9 sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 119[a]

א (Alef)

Footnotes

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

Footnotes

Breaking Human Traditions

Footnotes

Psalm 119^[a]