◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 80:1-7 17-19 (We shall be saved); Zechariah 14:1-9 (God will come to rule); 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18 (A life pleasing God to the end) (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 80:1-7

Psalm 80^[a]

For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;^[b] a psalm of Asaph.

80 O Shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep.
You who sit enthroned above the cherubim,^[c] reveal your splendor.^[d]
²In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal^[e] your power.
Come and deliver us.^[f]
³O God, restore us.
Smile on us.^[g] Then we will be delivered.^[h]
⁴O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,^[i]
how long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you?^[j]
⁵You have given them tears as food;^[k]
you have made them drink tears by the measure.^[l]
⁶You have made our neighbors dislike us,^[m]
and our enemies insult us.
⁷O God of Heaven’s Armies,^[n] restore us.
Smile on us.^[o] Then we will be delivered.^[p]

Footnotes

Psalm 80:1 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
Psalm 80:1 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
Psalm 80:1 sn Cherubim are winged angels. As depicted in the OT, they possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubim suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubim in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
Psalm 80:1 tn Heb “shine forth.”sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.
Psalm 80:2 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
Psalm 80:2 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
Psalm 80:3 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
Psalm 80:3 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
Psalm 80:4 tn Heb “Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (ʾelohe) before צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot; “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ʾelohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. In this context the term “hosts” has been rendered “Heaven’s Armies.”
Psalm 80:4 tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition ב (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.
Psalm 80:5 tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”
Psalm 80:5 tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.
Psalm 80:6 tn Heb “you have made us an object of contention to our neighbors.”
Psalm 80:7 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ʾelohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (ts^evaʾot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also v. 4 for a similar construction.
Psalm 80:7 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
Psalm 80:7 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

Psalm 80:17-19

¹⁷May you give support to the one you have chosen,^[a]
to the one whom you raised up for yourself.^[b]
¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you.^[c]
¹⁹O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,^[d] restore us.
Smile on us.^[e] Then we will be delivered.^[f]

Zechariah 14:1-9

The Sovereignty of the Lord

14 A day of the Lord^[a] is about to come when your possessions^[b] will be divided as plunder in your midst. ²For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away.^[c]

³Then the Lord will go to battle^[d] and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days.^[e] ⁴On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives that lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward.^[f] ⁵Then you will escape^[g] through my mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal.^[h] Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah^[i] of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him. ⁶On that day there will be no light—the sources of light in the heavens will congeal.^[j] ⁷It will happen in one day—a day known to the Lord—not in the day or the night, but in the evening there will be light.^[k] ⁸Moreover, on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem,^[l] half of them to the eastern sea^[m] and half of them to the western sea;^[n] it will happen both in summer and in winter.

⁹The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name.^[o]

Footnotes

Zechariah 14:1 sn The eschatological day of the Lord described here (and through v. 8) is considered by many interpreters to refer to the period known as the great tribulation, a seven year time of great suffering by God’s (Jewish) people culminating in the establishing of the millennial reign of the Lord (vv. 9-21). For other OT and NT references to this aspect of the day of the Lord see Amos 9:8-15; Joel 1:15-2:11; Isa 1:24-31; 2:2-4; 4:2-6; 26:16-27:6; 33:13-24; 59:1-60:22; 65:13-25; Jer 30:7-11; 32:36-44; Ezek 20:33-44; Dan 11:40; 12:1; Matt 24:21, 29; 25:31-46; Rev 19:11-16.
Zechariah 14:1 tn Heb “your plunder.” Cf. NCV “the wealth you have taken.”
Zechariah 14:2 tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”
Zechariah 14:3 sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38-39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).
Zechariah 14:3 tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).
Zechariah 14:4 sn This seismic activity provides a means of escape from Jerusalem so that the Messiah (the Lord), whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, may destroy the wicked nations in the Kidron Valley (the v. of Jehoshaphat, or of “judgment of the Lord”) without harming the inhabitants of the city.
Zechariah 14:5 tc For the MT reading נַסְתֶּם (nastem, “you will escape”) the LXX presupposes נִסְתַּם (nistam, “will be stopped up”; this reading is followed by NAB). This appears to derive from a perceived need to eliminate the unexpected “you” as subject. This not only is unnecessary to Hebrew discourse (see “you” in the next clause), but it contradicts the statement in the previous verse that the mountain will be split open, not stopped up.
Zechariah 14:5 sn Azal is a place otherwise unknown.
Zechariah 14:5 sn The earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1, is apparently the one attested to at Hazor in 760 b.c.
Zechariah 14:6 tn Heb “the splendid will congeal.” This difficult phrase (MT יְקָרוֹת יְקִפָּאוֹן, y^eqarot y^eqippaʾon) is not clarified by the LXX which presupposes וְקָרוּת וְקִפָּאוֹן (v^eqarut v^eqippaʾon, “and cold and ice,” a reading followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV). Besides the fact that cold and ice do not necessarily follow the absence of light, the idea here is that day will be night and night day. The heavenly sources of light “freeze up” as it were, and refuse to shine.
Zechariah 14:7 sn In the evening there will be light. The normal pattern is that light breaks through in the morning (Gen 1:3) but in the day of the Lord in judgment it would do so in the evening. In a sense the universe will be “de-created” in order to be “recreated.”
Zechariah 14:8 sn Living waters will flow out from Jerusalem. Ezekiel sees this same phenomenon in conjunction with the inauguration of the messianic age (Ezek 47; cf. Rev 22:1-5; also John 7:38).
Zechariah 14:8 sn The eastern sea is a reference to the Dead Sea (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
Zechariah 14:8 sn The western sea is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
Zechariah 14:9 sn The expression the Lord will be seen as one with a single name is an unmistakable reference to the so-called Shema, the crystallized statement of faith in the Lord as the covenant God of Israel (cf. Deut 6:4-5). Zechariah, however, universalizes the extent of the Lord’s dominion—he will be “king over all the earth.”

1 Thessalonians 4

A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally then, brothers and sisters,^[a] we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how^[b] you must live and please God (as you are in fact living)^[c] that you do so more and more. ²For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is God’s will: that you become holy,^[d] that you keep away from sexual immorality, ⁴that each of you know how to possess his own body^[e] in holiness and honor, ⁵not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. ⁶In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him,^[f] because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases,^[g] as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly. ⁷For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. ⁸Consequently the one who rejects this is not rejecting human authority^[h] but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹Now on the topic of brotherly love^[i] you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. ¹⁰And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters^[j] in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,^[k] ¹¹to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. ¹²In this way you will live^[l] a decent life before outsiders and not be in need.^[m]

The Lord Returns for Believers

¹³Now we do not want you to be uninformed,^[n] brothers and sisters,^[o] about those who are asleep,^[p] so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that^[q] God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.^[r] ¹⁵For we tell you this by the word of the Lord,^[s] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel,^[t] and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left,^[u] will be suddenly caught up^[v] together^[w] with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Footnotes

1 Thessalonians 4:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.
1 Thessalonians 4:1 sn As you received instruction from us about how (Grk “as you received from us how”). The Greek word translated received is used for accepting instructions passed on as fixed traditions from teacher to follower. Paul speaks in these terms about doctrinal traditions as well as ethical instruction that he passes on to his converts and expects them to keep (cf. 1 Cor 11:2, 23; 15:1-3; Gal 1:9; Phil 4:9; 2 Thess 2:15; 3:6).
1 Thessalonians 4:1 tc This parenthetical clause is absent in several later witnesses (D² Ψ 1175 1241 2464^vid M al), but it may have been expunged for sounding redundant. The longer text, in this instance, is solidly supported by א A B D* F G 0183^vid 0278 33 81 104 326 365 629 al co and should be unquestionably preferred.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 tn Or “your sanctification.”
1 Thessalonians 4:4 tn Grk “to gain [or possess] his own vessel.” “Vessel” is most likely used figuratively for “body” (cf. 2 Cor 4:7). Some take it to mean “wife” (thus, “to take a wife for himself” or “to live with his wife”), but this is less likely. See J. Smith, “1 Thess 4:4—Breaking the Impasse,” BBR 10 (Fall 2000), who argues that “vessel” in this context is very likely a euphemism for the sexual organs.
1 Thessalonians 4:6 tn Grk “not to transgress against or defraud his brother in the matter,” continuing the sentence of vv. 3-5.
1 Thessalonians 4:6 tn Grk “concerning all these things.”
1 Thessalonians 4:8 tn Grk “rejecting man.”
1 Thessalonians 4:9 tn Grk “concerning brotherly love.”
1 Thessalonians 4:10 tn Grk “brothers”; this applies to the second occurrence as well. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.
1 Thessalonians 4:10 sn To do so more and more. See a similar phrase in 1 Thess 4:1.
1 Thessalonians 4:12 tn Grk “that you may live,” continuing the sentence of 4:10b-11.
1 Thessalonians 4:12 tn Or “not be dependent on anyone”; Grk “and have need of nothing,” “of no one.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13 tn Grk “ignorant.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 tc Most witnesses have the perfect participle κεκοιμημένων here (“who have fallen asleep” [D (F G) Ψ 1241 1505 1881 2464 M al]), but the present participle κοιμωμένων (“who are asleep”) is better supported by early and significant mss (א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1739 al) and should be considered the Ausgangstext. tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “sleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term. This word also occurs in vv. 14 and 15.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 tn “we believe that” is understood from the first clause of the verse, which is parallel. Grk “so also God will bring.”
1 Thessalonians 4:14 tn Grk “those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.” It is possible that “through Jesus” describes “bring,” but this gives the unlikely double reference, “through Jesus God will bring them with Jesus.” Instead it describes their “falling sleep,” since through him their death is only sleep and not the threat it once was. Also Christians are those whose total existence—life and death—is in and through and for Christ (1 Cor 8:6).
1 Thessalonians 4:15 sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rhēma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logos tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 tn Neither noun in this phrase (ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, en phōnē archangelou, “with the voice of the archangel”) has the article in keeping with Apollonius’ Canon. Since ἀρχάγγελος (archangelos) is most likely par excellence, both nouns are translated as definite in keeping with Apollonius’ Corollary (see ExSyn 250-51).
1 Thessalonians 4:17 tc The words οἱ περιλειπόμενοι (hoi perileipomenoi, “[the ones] who are left”) are lacking in F G 0226^vid ar b as well as a few fathers, but the rest of the textual tradition has the words. Most likely, the Western mss omitted the words because of perceived redundancy with οἱ ζῶντες (hoi zōntes, “[the ones] who are alive”).
1 Thessalonians 4:17 tn Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 tn Or “simultaneously,” but this meaning does not fit as well in the parallel in 5:10.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 80[a]

For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph.

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Sovereignty of the Lord

Footnotes

A Life Pleasing to God

The Lord Returns for Believers

Footnotes

Psalm 80^[a]

For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;^[b] a psalm of Asaph.