◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 95 (The rock of our salvation); Exodus 16:1-8 (Israel complains of hunger in the wilderness); Colossians 1:15-23 (Christ the reconciliation of all things) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

March 12, 2020

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

March 2020
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Return to today's reading

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 95

Psalm 95^[a]

95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.^[b]
²Let us enter his presence^[c] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.^[d]
³For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to^[e] all gods.
⁴The depths of the earth are in his hand,^[f]
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
⁵The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
⁶Come, let us bow down and worship.^[g]
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.
⁷For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns.^[h]
Today, if only you would obey him.^[i]
⁸He says,^[j] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,^[k]
like they were that day at Massah^[l] in the wilderness,^[m]
⁹where your ancestors challenged my authority,^[n]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
¹⁰For forty years I was continually disgusted^[o] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;^[p]
they do not obey my commands.’^[q]
¹¹So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”^[r]

Footnotes

Psalm 95:1 sn Psalm 95. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God as the creator of the world and the nation’s protector, but he also reminds the people not to rebel against God.
Psalm 95:1 tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”
Psalm 95:2 tn Heb “meet his face.”
Psalm 95:2 tn Heb “with songs of joy.”
Psalm 95:3 tn Heb “above.”
Psalm 95:4 tn The phrase “in his hand” means within the sphere of his authority.
Psalm 95:6 tn Heb “kneel down.”
Psalm 95:7 tn Heb “of his hand.”
Psalm 95:7 tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (ʾim, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
Psalm 95:8 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the following words are spoken by the Lord (see vv. 9-11).
Psalm 95:8 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13, see also Pss 81:7; 106:32). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
Psalm 95:8 sn The name Massah means “testing.” This was another name (along with Meribah) given to the place where Israel complained following the Red Sea Crossing (see Exod 17:1-7, as well as Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8).
Psalm 95:8 tn Heb “do not harden your heart[s] as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness.”
Psalm 95:9 tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”
Psalm 95:10 tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.
Psalm 95:10 tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
Psalm 95:10 tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the Lord’s “ways” are his commands, viewed as a pathway from which his people, likened to wayward sheep (see v. 7), wander.
Psalm 95:11 tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).

Exodus 16:1-8

The Provision of Manna

16 ^[a] When^[b] they journeyed from Elim, the entire company^[c] of Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus^[d] from the land of Egypt. ²The entire company^[e] of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died^[f] by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by^[g] the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full,^[h] for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill^[i] this whole assembly with hunger!”

⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain^[j] bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out^[k] and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them.^[l] Will they walk in my law^[m] or not? ⁵On the sixth day^[n] they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.”^[o]

⁶Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening^[p] you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷and in the morning you will see^[q] the glory of the Lord, because he has heard^[r] your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we,^[s] that you should murmur against us?”

⁸Moses said, “You will know this^[t] when the Lord gives you^[u] meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we?^[v] Your murmurings are not against us,^[w] but against the Lord.”

Footnotes

Exodus 16:1 sn Exod 16 plays an important part in the development of the book’s theme. It is part of the wider section that is the prologue leading up to the covenant at Sinai, a part of which was the obligation of obedience and loyalty (P. W. Ferris, Jr., “The Manna Narrative of Exodus 16:1-10, ” JETS 18 [1975]: 191-99). The record of the wanderings in the wilderness is selective and not exhaustive. It may have been arranged somewhat topically for instructional reasons. U. Cassuto describes this section of the book as a didactic anthology arranged according to association of both context and language (Exodus, 187). Its themes are: lack of vital necessities, murmuring, proving, and providing. All the wilderness stories reiterate the same motifs. So, later, when Israel arrived in Canaan, they would look back and be reminded that it was Yahweh who brought them all the way, in spite of their rebellions. Because he is their Savior and their Provider, he will demand loyalty from them. In the Manna Narrative there is murmuring over the lack of bread (1-3), the disputation with Moses (4-8), the appearance of the glory and the promise of bread (9-12), the provision (13-22), the instructions for the Sabbath (23-30), and the memorial manna (31-36).
Exodus 16:1 tn The sentence begins with a preterite and vav (ו) consecutive, which can be subordinated to the next clause with the preterite and vav consecutive. Here it has been treated as a temporal clause.
Exodus 16:1 tn The word is often rendered “congregation” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but the modern perception of a congregation is not exactly what is in mind in the desert. Another possible rendering is “community” (NAB, NIV, NCV, TEV) or “assembly.” The Hebrew word is used of both good and bad groups (Judg 14:8; Pss 1:5; 106:17-18).
Exodus 16:1 tn The form in the text is לְצֵאתָם (l^etseʾtam, “after their going out”). It clearly refers to their deliverance from Egypt, and so it may be vividly translated.
Exodus 16:2 tn Or “community” or “assembly.”
Exodus 16:3 tn The text reads: מִי־יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ (mi yitten mutenu, “who will give our dying”) meaning “If only we had died.” מוּתֵנוּ is the Qal infinitive construct with the suffix. This is one way that Hebrew expresses the optative with an infinitive construct. See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 91-92, §547.
Exodus 16:3 tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct used in a temporal clause, and the verb “when we ate” has the same structure.
Exodus 16:3 sn That the complaint leading up to the manna is unjustified can be seen from the record itself. They left Egypt with flocks and herds and very much cattle, and about 45 days later they are complaining that they are without food. Moses reminded them later that they lacked nothing (Deut 3:7; for the whole sermon on this passage, see 8:1-20). Moreover, the complaint is absurd because the food of work gangs was far more meager than they recall. The complaint was really against Moses. They crave the eating of meat and of bread and so God will meet that need; he will send bread from heaven and quail as well.
Exodus 16:3 tn לְהָמִית (l^ehamit) is the Hiphil infinitive construct showing purpose. The people do not trust the intentions or the plan of their leaders and charge Moses with bringing everyone out to kill them.
Exodus 16:4 tn The particle הִנְנִי (hin^eni) before the active participle indicates the imminent future action: “I am about to rain.”
Exodus 16:4 tn This verb and the next are the Qal perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives; they follow the sequence of the participle, and so are future in orientation. The force here is instruction—“they will go out” or “they are to go out.”
Exodus 16:4 tn The verb in the purpose/result clause is the Piel imperfect of נָסָה (nasah), אֲנַסֶּנוּ (ʾanassenu)—“in order that I may prove them [him].” The giving of the manna will be a test of their obedience to the detailed instructions of God as well as being a test of their faith in him (if they believe him they will not gather too much). In chap. 17 the people will test God, showing that they do not trust him.
Exodus 16:4 sn The word “law” here properly means “direction” at this point (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 146), but their obedience here would indicate also whether or not they would be willing to obey when the Law was given at Sinai.
Exodus 16:5 tn Heb “and it will be on the sixth day.”
Exodus 16:5 sn There is a question here concerning the legislation—the people were not told why to gather twice as much on the sixth day. In other words, this instruction seems to presume that they knew about the Sabbath law. That law will be included in this chapter in a number of ways, suggesting to some scholars that this chapter is out of chronological order, placed here for a purpose. Some argue that the manna episode comes after the revelation at Sinai. But it is not necessary to take such a view. God had established the Sabbath in the creation, and if Moses has been expounding the Genesis traditions in his teachings then they would have known about that.
Exodus 16:6 tn The text simply has “evening, and you will know.” Gesenius notes that the perfect tense with the vav consecutive occurs as the apodosis to temporal clauses or their equivalents. Here the first word implies the idea “[when it becomes] evening” or simply “[in the] evening” (GKC 337-38 §112.oo).sn Moses is very careful to make sure that they know it is Yahweh who has brought them out, and it will be Yahweh who will feed them. They are going to be convinced of this now.
Exodus 16:7 tn Heb “morning, and you will see.”
Exodus 16:7 tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. It forms an adverbial clause, usually of time, but here a causal clause.
Exodus 16:7 tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we—what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers. The next verse repeats the question to further press the seriousness of what the Israelites are doing.
Exodus 16:8 tn “You will know this” has been added to make the line smooth. Because of the abruptness of the lines in the verse, and the repetition with v. 7, B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 273) thinks that v. 8 is merely a repetition by scribal error—even though the versions render it as the MT has it. But B. Jacob (Exodus, 447) suggests that the contrast with vv. 6 and 7 is important for another reason—there Moses and Aaron speak, and it is smooth and effective, but here only Moses speaks, and it is labored and clumsy. “We should realize that Moses had properly claimed to be no public speaker.”
Exodus 16:8 tn Here again is an infinitive construct with the preposition forming a temporal clause.
Exodus 16:8 tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we—what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers.
Exodus 16:8 tn The word order is “not against us [are] your murmurings.”

Colossians 1:15-23

The Supremacy of Christ

¹⁵^[a] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn^[b] over all creation,^[c]
¹⁶for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions,^[d] whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.
¹⁷He himself is before all things and all things are held together^[e] in him.
¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn^[f] from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.^[g]
¹⁹For God^[h] was pleased to have all his^[i] fullness dwell^[j] in the Son^[k]
²⁰and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him,^[l] whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

²¹And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your^[m] minds^[n] as expressed through^[o] your evil deeds, ²²but now he has reconciled you^[p] by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him— ²³if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm,^[q] without shifting^[r] from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Footnotes

Colossians 1:15 sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.
Colossians 1:15 tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prōtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).
Colossians 1:15 tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pasēs ktiseōs) is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.
Colossians 1:16 tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.
Colossians 1:17 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
Colossians 1:18 tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
Colossians 1:18 tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”
Colossians 1:19 tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the similar phrase “all the fullness of deity” in 2:9 lends credence to God as the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokēsen).
Colossians 1:19 tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.
Colossians 1:19 tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikēsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.
Colossians 1:19 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Colossians 1:20 tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally significant witnesses have it (P⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 M al sy bo). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. The phrase, however, has stronger evidence geographically. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as autographic. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In sum, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original, though a decision is not easy. The NA²⁸ prints the prepositional phrase in brackets indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
Colossians 1:21 tn The article τῇ (tē) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
Colossians 1:21 tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (echthrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.
Colossians 1:21 tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en tois ergois tois ponērois) is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.
Colossians 1:22 tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western groups have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokatēllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokatēllagēte) in P⁴⁶ B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokatēllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagentes) in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 0278 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 M al lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (humas, “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parastēsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the others. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have been a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, so that the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 functioned as subject by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.tn The direct object is omitted in the Greek text, but it is clear from context that “you” (ὑμᾶς, humas) is implied.
Colossians 1:23 tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”
Colossians 1:23 tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 95[a]

Footnotes

The Provision of Manna

Footnotes

The Supremacy of Christ

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

Footnotes

Psalm 95^[a]