◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 20 (Victory for God’s anointed); Exodus 40:1-15 (Anointing the holy things); Hebrews 10:19-25 (Jesus priest for the people of God) (New English Translation)

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April 7, 2025

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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 20

Psalm 20^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

20 May the Lord answer^[b] you^[c] when you are in trouble;^[d]
may the God of Jacob^[e] make you secure.
²May he send you help from his temple;^[f]
from Zion may he give you support.
³May he take notice of^[g] all your offerings;
may he accept^[h] your burnt sacrifice. (Selah)
⁴May he grant your heart’s desire;^[i]
may he bring all your plans to pass.^[j]
⁵Then we will shout for joy over your^[k] victory;
we will rejoice^[l] in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
⁶Now I am sure^[m] that the Lord will deliver^[n] his chosen king;^[o]
he will intervene for him^[p] from his holy, heavenly temple,^[q]
and display his mighty ability to deliver.^[r]
⁷Some trust in chariots and others in horses,^[s]
but we^[t] depend on^[u] the Lord our God.
⁸They will fall down,^[v]
but we^[w] will stand firm.^[x]
⁹The Lord will deliver the king;^[y]
he will answer us^[z] when we call to him for help!^[aa]

Footnotes

Psalm 20:1 sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.
Psalm 20:1 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.
Psalm 20:1 sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.
Psalm 20:1 tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”
Psalm 20:1 tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.
Psalm 20:2 tc Heb “from [the] temple.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (וֹ, holem vav) has probably been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word begins with a prefixed vav (ו). See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 184.
Psalm 20:3 tn Or “remember.” For other examples of the verb זָכַר (zakhar) carrying the nuance “take notice of,” see Pss 8:4 and 9:12.
Psalm 20:3 tc Heb “consider as fat.” The verbal form should probably be emended to יְדַשְּׁנֶהָ (y^edash^eneha), the final he (ה) being understood as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix referring back to the feminine noun “burnt sacrifice.”
Psalm 20:4 tn Heb “may he give to you according to your heart.” This probably refers to the king’s prayer for protection and victory in battle. See vv. 5-6.
Psalm 20:4 sn May he bring all your plans to pass. This probably refers to the king’s strategy for battle.
Psalm 20:5 sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).
Psalm 20:5 tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נָגִיל (nagil, “we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).
Psalm 20:6 tn Or “know.”sn Now I am sure. The speaker is not identified. It is likely that the king, referring to himself in the third person (note “his chosen king”), responds to the people’s prayer. Perhaps his confidence is due to the reception of a divine oracle of salvation.
Psalm 20:6 tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the Lord typically delivers the king.
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “he will answer him.”
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”
Psalm 20:6 tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).
Psalm 20:7 tn Heb “these in chariots and these in horses.” No verb appears; the verb “invoke” is to be supplied from the following line. The convention of backward ellipsis can apply to the final word of the 2nd line, as in this verse. In this case the idea would be that some “invoke” (i.e., trust in) their military might for victory (cf. NEB “boast”; NIV “trust”; NRSV “take pride”). Verse 8 suggests that the “some/others” mentioned here are the nation’s enemies.
Psalm 20:7 tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s faithful people and the others mentioned in the previous line.
Psalm 20:7 tc The LXX translates the verb as μεγαλυνθησόμεθα (megalunthēsometha) “we will boast.” This may reflect another verb, the Hiphil of גָּבַר (gavar), and depends on two letter confusions, ג (gimel) for ז (zayin) and ב (bet) for כ (kaf).tn Heb “we invoke the name of.” The Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar), when combined with the phrase “in the name,” means “to invoke” (see Josh 23:7; Isa 48:1; Amos 6:10). By invoking the Lord’s name in prayer, the people demonstrate their trust in him.
Psalm 20:8 tn Or “stumble and fall down.”
Psalm 20:8 tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.
Psalm 20:8 tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of עוּד (ʿud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.
Psalm 20:9 tc This translation assumes an emendation of the verbal form הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshiʿah). As it stands, the form is an imperative. In this case the people return to the petitionary mood with which the psalm begins (“O Lord, deliver”). But the immediate context is one of confidence (vv. 6-8), not petition (vv. 1-5). If one takes the final he on the verb “deliver” as dittographic (note the initial he (ה) on the following phrase, “the king”), one can repoint the verbal form as a perfect and understand it as expressing the people’s confidence, “the Lord will deliver the king” (see v. 6). The Hebrew scribal tradition takes “the king” with the following line, in which case it would be best interpreted as a divine title, “may the King answer us” or “the king will answer us” (see Pss 98:6; 145:1). However, the poetic parallelism is better balanced if “the king” is taken with the first line. In this case the referent is the Davidic king, who is earlier called the Lord’s “anointed one” (cf. note on “chosen king” in v. 6; see Pss 21:7; 45:5, 11; 63:11).
Psalm 20:9 tn If the imperative is retained in the preceding line, then the prefixed verbal form is best taken as a jussive of prayer, “may he answer us.” However, if the imperative in the previous line is emended to a perfect, the prefixed form is best taken as imperfect, “he will answer us” (see the note on the word “king” at the end of the previous line).
Psalm 20:9 tn Heb “in the day we call.”

Exodus 40:1-15

Setting Up the Sanctuary

40 ^[a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses:^[b] ²“On the first day of the first month you are to set up^[c] the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ³You are to place the ark of the testimony in it and shield the ark with the special curtain. ⁴You are to bring in the table and set out the things that belong on it;^[d] then you are to bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. ⁵You are to put^[e] the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ⁶You are to put the altar for the burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ⁷You are to put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it.^[f] ⁸You are to set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. ⁹And take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctify it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. ¹⁰Then you are to anoint the altar for the burnt offering with^[g] all its utensils; you are to sanctify the altar, and it will be the most holy altar. ¹¹You must also anoint the large basin and its pedestal, and you are to sanctify it.^[h]

¹²“You are to bring^[i] Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ¹³Then you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may minister as my priest. ¹⁴You are to bring^[j] his sons and clothe them with tunics ¹⁵and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”

Hebrews 10:19-25

Drawing Near to God in Enduring Faith

¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters,^[a] since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us^[b] through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,^[c] ²¹and since we have a great priest^[d] over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings,^[e] because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience^[f] and our bodies washed in pure water. ²³And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. ²⁴And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works,^[g] ²⁵not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day^[h] drawing near.^[i]

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 20[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

Footnotes

Setting Up the Sanctuary

Footnotes

Drawing Near to God in Enduring Faith

Footnotes

Psalm 20^[a]