◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 112:1-9 [10] (Light shines in the darkness); Deuteronomy 4:1-14 (The discipline of faith); 1 John 5:1-5 (God’s children obey God’s commandments) (New English Translation)

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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 112:1-9

Psalm 112^[a]

112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one^[b] who obeys^[c] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.^[d]
²His descendants^[e] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly^[f] will be blessed.
³His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.^[g]
⁴In the darkness a light^[h] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.^[i]
⁵It goes well for the one^[j] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.^[k]
⁶For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.^[l]
⁷He does not fear bad news.
He^[m] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
⁸His resolve^[n] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
⁹He generously gives^[o] to the needy;
his integrity endures.^[p]
He will be vindicated and honored.^[q]

Footnotes

Psalm 112:1 sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “fears.”
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.
Psalm 112:2 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
Psalm 112:2 tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.
Psalm 112:3 tn Heb “stands forever.”
Psalm 112:4 tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.
Psalm 112:4 tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.
Psalm 112:5 tn Heb “man.”
Psalm 112:5 tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”
Psalm 112:6 tn Heb “for an eternal memorial a just [one] will be.”
Psalm 112:7 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).
Psalm 112:8 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “stands forever.”
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

Psalm 112:10

¹⁰When the wicked^[a] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration^[b] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.^[c]

Deuteronomy 4:1-14

The Privileges of the Covenant

4 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances^[a] I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors,^[b] is giving you. ²Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to^[c] you. ³You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor,^[d] how he^[e] eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor.^[f] ⁴But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. ⁵Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in^[g] the land you are about to enter and possess. ⁶So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding^[h] to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise^[i] people.” ⁷In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? ⁸And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just^[j] as this whole law^[k] that I am about to share with^[l] you today?

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

⁹Again, however, pay very careful attention,^[m] lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. ¹⁰You^[n] stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he^[o] said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands.^[p] Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” ¹¹You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it^[q] and yet dark with a thick cloud.^[r] ¹²Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything—only a voice was heard.^[s] ¹³And he revealed to you the covenant^[t] he has commanded you to keep, the Ten Commandments,^[u] writing them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land that you are about to enter and possess.^[v]

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 4:1 tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 4:1 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
Deuteronomy 4:2 tn Heb “commanding.”
Deuteronomy 4:3 tc The LXX and Syriac read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in Deut 3:29.
Deuteronomy 4:3 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
Deuteronomy 4:3 tn Or “followed the Baal of Peor” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV), referring to the pagan god Baal.
Deuteronomy 4:5 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).
Deuteronomy 4:6 tn Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”
Deuteronomy 4:6 tn Heb “wise and understanding.”
Deuteronomy 4:8 tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”
Deuteronomy 4:8 tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzot), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.
Deuteronomy 4:8 tn Heb “place before.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
Deuteronomy 4:10 tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
Deuteronomy 4:10 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 4:3.
Deuteronomy 4:10 tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
Deuteronomy 4:11 tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
Deuteronomy 4:11 tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
Deuteronomy 4:12 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
Deuteronomy 4:13 sn This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (b^erit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, TDOT 2:255.
Deuteronomy 4:13 tn Heb “the ten words.”
Deuteronomy 4:14 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”

1 John 5:1-5

5 ¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ^[a] has been fathered^[b] by God, and everyone who loves the father^[c] loves the child fathered by him.^[d] ²By this^[e] we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. ³For^[f] this is the love of God:^[g] that we keep his commandments.^[h] And his commandments do not weigh us down, ⁴because^[i] everyone^[j] who has been fathered by God^[k] conquers^[l] the world.^[m]

Testimony About the Son

This^[n] is the conquering power^[o] that has conquered^[p] the world: our faith. ⁵Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that^[q] Jesus is the Son of God?

Footnotes

1 John 5:1 tn Or “the Messiah.”
1 John 5:1 tn The verb γεννάω (gennaō) here means to be fathered by God and thus a child of God. The imagery in 1 John is that of the male parent who fathers children. See the note on “fathered” in 2:29 for further discussion of this imagery.
1 John 5:1 tc ‡ Most witnesses ([א] A P 1739 M sy) have καί (kai, “also”) before the article τόν (ton). But the external evidence for the shorter reading is significant (B Ψ 048 33 sa), and the conjunction looks to be a motivated reading in which scribes emulated the wording of 4:21 (ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τόν, agapa kai ton [“(should) also love the”]). NA²⁷ places the conjunction in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity, while NA²⁸ keeps the conjunction but omits the brackets.
1 John 5:1 sn Also loves the child fathered by him. Is the meaning of 5:1b a general observation or a specific statement about God and Christians? There are three ways in which the second half of 5:1 has been understood: (1) as a general statement, proverbial in nature, applying to any parent: “everyone who loves the father also loves the child fathered by him.” (2) This has also been understood as a statement that is particularly true of one’s own parent: “everyone who loves his own father also loves the (other) children fathered by him (i.e., one’s own brothers and sisters).” (3) This could be understood as a statement which refers particularly to God, in light of the context (5:1a): “everyone who loves God who fathered Christians also loves the Christians who are fathered by God.” Without doubt options (2) and (3) are implications of the statement in its present context, but it seems most probable that the meaning of the statement is more general and proverbial in nature (option 1). This is likely because of the way in which it is introduced by the author with πᾶς ὁ (pas ho) + participle. The author could have been more explicit and said something like, “everyone who loves God also loves God’s children” had he intended option (3) without ambiguity. Yet that, in context, is the ultimate application of the statement, because it ultimately refers to the true Christian who, because he loves God, also loves the brethren, those who are God’s offspring. This is the opposite of 4:20, where the author asserted that the opponents, who profess to love God but do not love the brethren, cannot really love God because they do not love the brethren.
1 John 5:2 tn Once more there is the familiar difficulty of determining whether the phrase refers (1) to what precedes or (2) to what follows. Here, because ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) is followed by a clause introduced by ὅταν (hotan) which appears to be related, it is best to understand ἐν τούτῳ as referring to what follows. The following ὅταν clause is epexegetical to ἐν τούτῳ, explaining how we know that we love God’s children: “by this we know that we love God’s children, whenever we love God and keep his commandments.”
1 John 5:3 tn The force of the γάρ (gar) at the beginning of 5:3 is similar to another introductory formula used by the author of 1 John, καὶ αὕτη ἐστίν (kai hautē estin; used in 1:5; 5:4, 11, and 14). The γάρ draws an inference based on the preceding statements, particularly the one in 5:2b, regarding the love of God. If in 5:2 loving God and keeping his commandments is the key to knowing that we love God’s children, it is important to define what the love of God involves, and this is what the author is doing in 5:3. In fact, as the following ἵνα (hina) clause makes clear, loving God consists in keeping his commandments.
1 John 5:3 tn Once again the genitive could be understood as (1) objective, (2) subjective, or (3) both. Here an objective sense is more likely (believers’ love for God) because in the previous verse it is clear that God is the object of believers’ love.
1 John 5:3 tn Contrary to the punctuation of NA²⁸ and UBS⁵, it is best to place a full stop (period) following τηρῶμεν (tērōmen) in 5:3. The subordinate clause introduced by ὅτι (hoti) at the beginning of 5:4 is related to the second half of 5:3 which begins with καί (kai). Καί is commonly used by the author to begin a new sentence, probably by analogy with the Hebrew vav consecutive.
1 John 5:4 tn The explicit reason the commandments of God are not burdensome to the believer is given by the ὅτι (hoti) clause at the beginning of 5:4. It is because “everyone who is begotten by God conquers the world.”
1 John 5:4 tn The masculine might have been expected here rather than the neuter πᾶν τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ (pan to gegennēmenon ek tou theou) to refer to the person who is fathered by God. However, BDF §138.1 explains that “the neuter is sometimes used with respect to persons if it is not the individuals but a generic quality that is to be emphasized”; this seems to be the case here, where a collective aspect is in view: As a group, all those who have been begotten by God, that is, all true believers, overcome the world.
1 John 5:4 sn The author is once more looking at the situation antithetically (in ‘either/or’ terms) as he sees the readers on the one hand as true believers (everyone who is fathered by God) who have overcome the world through their faith, and the opponents on the other as those who have claimed to have a relationship with God but really do not; they belong to the world in spite of their claims.
1 John 5:4 tn Or “overcomes.”
1 John 5:4 sn Conquers the world. Once again, the author’s language is far from clear at this point, and so is his meaning, but the author has used the verb conquers (νικάω, nikaō) previously to describe the believer’s victory over the enemy, the evil one himself, in 2:13-14, and over the secessionist opponents, described as “false prophets” in 4:4. This suggests that what the author has in mind here is a victory over the opponents, who now belong to the world and speak its language (cf. 4:5). In the face of the opponents’ attempts through their false teaching to confuse the readers (true believers) about who it is they are supposed to love, the author assures the readers that loving God and keeping his commandments assures us that we really do love God’s children, and because we have already achieved victory over the world through our faith, keeping God’s commandments is not a difficult matter.
1 John 5:4 tn Grk “And this.”
1 John 5:4 tn The standard English translation for ἡ νίκη (hē nikē) is “victory” (BDAG 673 s.v.) but this does not preserve the relationship with the cognate verb νικάω (nikaō; used in 2:13, 14 and present in this context in participial form in 5:4b and 5:5). One alternative would be “conquest,” although R. E. Brown (Epistles of John [AB], 570) suggests “conquering power” as a translation for ἡ νίκη since here it is a metonymy for the means of victory or the power that gives victory, referring to believers’ faith.
1 John 5:4 tn The use of the aorist participle (ἡ νικήσασα, hē nikēsasa) to refer to faith as the conquering power that “has conquered the world” in 5:4b is problematic. Debate here centers over the temporal value of the aorist participle: (1) It may indicate an action contemporaneous with the (present tense) main verb, in which case the alternation between aorist participle in 5:4b and present participle in 5:5 is one more example of the author’s love of stylistic variation with no difference in meaning. (2) Nevertheless, an aorist participle with a present tense main verb would normally indicate an action antecedent to that of the main verb, so that the aorist participle would describe a past action. That is the most probable here. Thus the aorist participle stresses that the conquest of the world is something that has already been accomplished.
1 John 5:5 tn After a verb of perception (the participle ὁ πιστεύων [ho pisteuōn]) the ὅτι (hoti) in 5:5 introduces indirect discourse, a declarative or recitative clause giving the content of what the person named by the participle (ὁ πιστεύων) believes: “that Jesus is the Son of God.” As in 4:15, such a confession constitutes a problem for the author’s opponents but not for his readers who are genuine believers.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 112[a]

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Privileges of the Covenant

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

Footnotes

Testimony About the Son

Footnotes

Psalm 112^[a]