◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 61 (Prayer for a long life); 2 Kings 5:19b-27 (Greed brings leprosy to Gehazi); Ephesians 6:10-20 (An ambassador in chains) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

October 11, 2022

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

October 2022
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 61

Psalm 61^[a]

For the music director, to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.

61 O God, hear my cry for help.
Pay attention to my prayer.
²From the remotest place on earth^[b]
I call out to you in my despair.^[c]
Lead me^[d] up to a rocky summit where I can be safe.^[e]
³Indeed,^[f] you are^[g] my shelter,
a strong tower that protects me from the enemy.^[h]
⁴I will be a permanent guest in your home;^[i]
I will find shelter in the protection of your wings.^[j] (Selah)
⁵For you, O God, hear my vows;
you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers.^[k]
⁶Give the king long life.
Make his lifetime span several generations.^[l]
⁷May he reign^[m] forever before God.
Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him.^[n]
⁸Then I will sing praises to your name continually,^[o]
as I fulfill^[p] my vows day after day.

Footnotes

Psalm 61:1 sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.
Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).
Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “while my heart faints.”
Psalm 61:2 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”
Psalm 61:3 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 61:3 tn Or “have been.”
Psalm 61:3 tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”
Psalm 61:4 tn Heb “I will live as a resident foreigner in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
Psalm 61:4 sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
Psalm 61:5 tn Heb “you grant the inheritance of those who fear your name.” “Inheritance” is normally used of land which is granted as an inheritance; here it refers metaphorically to the blessings granted God’s loyal followers. To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).
Psalm 61:6 tn Heb “days upon days of the king add, his years like generation and generation.”sn It is not certain if the (royal) psalmist is referring to himself in the third person in this verse, or if an exile is praying on behalf of the king.
Psalm 61:7 tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.
Psalm 61:7 tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”
Psalm 61:8 tn Or “forever.”
Psalm 61:8 tn Or perhaps, “and thereby fulfill.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.

2 Kings 5:19-27

¹⁹Elisha^[a] said to him, “Go in peace.”

When he had gone a short distance,^[b] ²⁰Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought,^[c] “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him.^[d] As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”^[e] ²²He answered, “Everything is fine.^[f] My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country.^[g] Please give them a talent^[h] of silver and two suits of clothes.’” ²³Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver.”^[i] He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi.^[j] ²⁴When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants^[k] and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way.^[l]

²⁵When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” ²⁶Elisha^[m] replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you.^[n] This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants.^[o] ²⁷Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict^[p] you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi^[q] went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.^[r]

Footnotes

2 Kings 5:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Kings 5:19 tn Heb “and he went from him a distance of land.” The precise meaning of כִּבְרַה (kivrah) “distance,” is uncertain. See BDB 460 s.v. כִּבְרַה, and HALOT 459-60 s.v. II *כְּבָרַה, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.
2 Kings 5:20 tn Heb “said” (i.e., to himself).
2 Kings 5:20 tn Heb “Look, my master spared this Syrian Naaman by not taking from his hand what he brought.”
2 Kings 5:21 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
2 Kings 5:22 tn Heb “peace.”
2 Kings 5:22 tn Heb “Look now, here, two servants came to me from the Ephraimite hill country, from the sons of the prophets.”
2 Kings 5:22 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).
2 Kings 5:23 tn Heb “Be resolved and accept two talents.”
2 Kings 5:23 tn Heb “before him.”
2 Kings 5:24 tn Heb “from their hand.”
2 Kings 5:24 tn Heb “and he sent the men away and they went.”
2 Kings 5:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Kings 5:26 tn Heb “Did not my heart go as a man turned from his chariot to meet you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes that he was indeed present in “heart” (or “spirit”) and was very much aware of what Gehazi had done. In the MT the interrogative particle has been accidentally omitted before the negative particle.
2 Kings 5:26 tn In the MT the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Is this the time…?” It expects an emphatic negative response.
2 Kings 5:27 tn Heb “cling to.”
2 Kings 5:27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Kings 5:27 tn Traditionally, “he went from before him, leprous like snow.” But see the note at 5:1, as well as M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 66.

Ephesians 6:10-20

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

¹⁰Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes^[a] of the devil. ¹²For our struggle^[b] is not against flesh and blood,^[c] but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness,^[d] against the spiritual forces^[e] of evil in the heavens.^[f] ¹³For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground^[g] on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm therefore, by fastening^[h] the belt of truth around your waist,^[i] by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵by fitting your^[j] feet with the preparation that comes from the good news^[k] of peace,^[l] ¹⁶and in all of this,^[m] by taking up the shield^[n] of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation^[o] and the sword^[p] of the Spirit (which is the word of God). ¹⁸With every prayer and petition, pray^[q] at all times in the Spirit, and to this end^[r] be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray^[s] for me also, that I may be given the right words when I begin to speak^[t]—that I may confidently make known^[u] the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Footnotes

Ephesians 6:11 tn Or “craftiness.” See BDAG 625 s.v. μεθοδεία.
Ephesians 6:12 tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”
Ephesians 6:12 tn Grk “blood and flesh.”
Ephesians 6:12 tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss. sn The phrase world-rulers of this darkness does not refer to human rulers but the evil spirits that rule over the world. The phrase thus stands in apposition to what follows (the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens); see note on heavens at the end of this verse.
Ephesians 6:12 tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.
Ephesians 6:12 sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.
Ephesians 6:13 tn The term ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi) carries the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone (BDAG 80 s.v.). In Eph 6:13, when used in combination with στῆναι (stēnai; cf. also στῆτε [stēte] in v. 14) and in a context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting, standing firm, and being able to stand your ground.
Ephesians 6:14 sn The four participles fastening…putting on…fitting…taking up… indicate the means by which believers can take their stand against the devil and his schemes. The imperative take in v. 17 communicates another means by which to accomplish the standing, i.e., by the word of God.
Ephesians 6:14 tn Grk “girding your waist with truth.” In this entire section the author is painting a metaphor for his readers based on the attire of a Roman soldier prepared for battle and its similarity to the Christian prepared to do battle against spiritually evil forces. Behind the expression “with truth” is probably the genitive idea “belt of truth.” Since this is an appositional genitive (i.e., belt which is truth), the author simply left unsaid the idea of the belt and mentioned only his real focus, namely, the truth. (The analogy would have been completely understandable to his 1st century readers.) The idea of the belt is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense in English.
Ephesians 6:15 tn The definite article τοῖς (tois) was taken as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “your,” since it refers to a part of the physical body.
Ephesians 6:15 tn Grk “gospel.” However, this is not a technical term here.
Ephesians 6:15 tn Grk “in preparation of the gospel of peace.” The genitive τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (tou euangeliou) was taken as a genitive of source, i.e., “that comes from….”
Ephesians 6:16 tn Grk “in everything.”
Ephesians 6:16 sn The Greek word translated shield (θυρεός, thureos) refers to the Roman soldier’s large rectangular wooden shield, called in Latin scutum, about 4 ft (1.2 m) high, covered with leather on the outside. Before a battle in which flaming arrows might be shot at them, the soldiers wet the leather covering with water to extinguish the arrows. The Roman legionaries could close ranks with these shields, the first row holding theirs edge to edge in front, and the rows behind holding the shields above their heads. In this formation they were practically invulnerable to arrows, rocks, and even spears.
Ephesians 6:17 sn An allusion to Isa 59:17.
Ephesians 6:17 sn The Greek term translated sword (μάχαιρα, machaira) refers to the Roman gladius, a short sword about 2 ft (60 cm) long, used for close hand-to-hand combat. This is the only clearly offensive weapon in the list of armor mentioned by the author (he does not, for example, mention the lance [Latin pilum]).
Ephesians 6:18 tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
Ephesians 6:18 tn Grk “and toward it.”
Ephesians 6:19 tn To avoid a lengthy, convoluted sentence in English, the Greek sentence was broken up at this point and the verb “pray” was inserted in the English translation to pick up the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseuxomenoi, “praying”) in v. 18.
Ephesians 6:19 tn Grk “that a word may be given to me in the opening of my mouth.” Here “word” (λόγος, logos) is used in the sense of “message,” but more specifically in this context, “the right words.”
Ephesians 6:19 tn The infinitive γνωρίσαι (gnōrisai, “to make known”) is functioning epexegetically to further explain what the author means by the preceding phrase “that I may be given the right words when I begin to speak.”

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 61[a]

For the music director, to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

Footnotes

Psalm 61^[a]