◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 118:1-2 14-24 (On this day God has acted); 2 Samuel 6:1-15 (David dances before the ark); Luke 24:1-12 (Women proclaim the resurrection) (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 118:1-2

Psalm 118^[a]

118 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.^[b]
²Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”

Psalm 118:14-24

¹⁴The Lord gives me strength and protects me;^[a]
he has become my deliverer.”^[b]
¹⁵They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.^[c]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.^[d]
¹⁶The Lord’s right hand gives victory;^[e]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
¹⁷I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.^[f]
¹⁸The Lord severely^[g] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
¹⁹Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.^[h]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
²²The stone that the builders discarded^[i]
has become the cornerstone.^[j]
²³This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing!^[k]
²⁴This is the day the Lord has brought about.^[l]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.

Footnotes

Psalm 118:14 tn Heb “my strength and protection [is] the Lord.” The Hebrew term זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song” (“my strength and song [is] the Lord”) in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing). However, many recent commentators have argued that the noun זִמְרָת is here a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v.; cf. NEB “The Lord is my refuge and defence”; NRSV “my strength and my might.”
Psalm 118:14 tn Or “salvation.”
Psalm 118:15 tn Heb “the sound of a ringing shout and deliverance [is] in the tents of the godly.”
Psalm 118:15 tn Heb “does valiantly.” The statement refers here to military success (see Num 24:18; 1 Sam 14:48; Pss 60:12; 108:13).
Psalm 118:16 tn Heb “exalts.”
Psalm 118:17 tn Heb “the works of the Lord.”
Psalm 118:18 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following verbal idea.
Psalm 118:19 tn Heb “the gates of justice.” The gates of the Lord’s temple are referred to here, as v. 20 makes clear. They are called “gates of justice” because they are the entrance to the just king’s palace. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 118:22 tn Or “rejected.”
Psalm 118:22 tn Heb “the head of the corner.”sn The metaphor of the stone…the builders discarded describes the way in which God’s deliverance reversed the psalmist’s circumstances. When he was in distress, he was like a stone which was discarded by builders as useless, but now that he has been vindicated by God, all can see that he is of special importance to God, like the cornerstone of the building.
Psalm 118:23 tn Heb “it is amazing in our eyes.” The use of the plural pronoun here and in vv. 24-27 suggests that the psalmist may be speaking for the entire nation. However, it is more likely that vv. 22-27 are the people’s response to the psalmist’s thanksgiving song (see especially v. 26). They rejoice with him because his deliverance on the battlefield (see vv. 10-12) had national repercussions.
Psalm 118:24 tn Heb “this is the day the Lord has made.” Though sometimes applied in a general way, this statement in its context refers to the day of deliverance which the psalmist and people celebrate.

2 Samuel 6:1-15

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6 David again assembled^[a] all the best^[b] men in Israel, 30,000 in number. ²David and all the men who were with him traveled^[c] to^[d] Baalah^[e] in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name^[f] of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. ³They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart. ⁴They brought^[g] it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark, ⁵while David and all Israel^[h] were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing^[i] and playing various stringed instruments,^[j] tambourines, rattles,^[k] and cymbals.

⁶When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon,^[l] Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of^[m] the ark of God,^[n] because the oxen stumbled. ⁷The Lord was so furious with Uzzah,^[o] he^[p] killed him on the spot^[q] for his negligence.^[r] He died right there beside the ark of God.

⁸David was angry because the Lord attacked^[s] Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah,^[t] which remains its name to this very day. ⁹David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How will the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. ¹¹The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family.^[u] ¹²King David was told,^[v] “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David. ¹³Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David^[w] sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. ¹⁴Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord.^[x] ¹⁵David and all Israel^[y] were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets.^[z]

Footnotes

2 Samuel 6:1 tn The translation understands the verb to be a defective spelling of וַיֶּאֱסֹף (vayy^eʾesof) due to quiescence of the letter א (alef). The root therefore is אָסַף (ʾasaf, “to gather”). The Masoretes, however, pointed the verb as וַיֹּסֶף (vayyosef), understanding it to be a form of יָסַף (yasaf, “to add”). This does not fit the context, which calls for a verb of gathering.
2 Samuel 6:1 tn Or “chosen.”
2 Samuel 6:2 tn Heb “arose and went.”
2 Samuel 6:2 tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.
2 Samuel 6:2 tn This is another name for Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).
2 Samuel 6:2 tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew mss in the first occurrence point the word differently and read the adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”). This is also the understanding of the Syriac Peshitta (Syr., taman). While this yields an acceptable understanding to the text, it is more likely that the MT reading results from dittography. If the word did occur twice, one might have expected the first occurrence to have the article. The present translation therefore reads שֵׁם only once.
2 Samuel 6:4 tn Heb “lifted.”
2 Samuel 6:5 tn Heb “all the house of Israel.”
2 Samuel 6:5 tc Heb “were celebrating before the Lord with all woods of fir” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). If the text is retained, the last expression must be elliptical, referring to musical instruments made from fir wood. But it is preferable to emend the text in light of 1 Chr 13:8, which reads “were celebrating before the Lord with all strength and with songs.”
2 Samuel 6:5 tn Heb “with zithers [?] and with harps.”
2 Samuel 6:5 tn That is, “sistrums” (so NAB, NIV); ASV, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT “castanets.”
2 Samuel 6:6 tn 1 Chr 13:9 has “Kidon.”
2 Samuel 6:6 tn Or “steadied.”
2 Samuel 6:6 tn Heb “and Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and grabbed it.”
2 Samuel 6:7 tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”
2 Samuel 6:7 tn Heb “God.”
2 Samuel 6:7 tc Heb “there.” Since this same term occurs later in the verse it is translated “on the spot” here for stylistic reasons.
2 Samuel 6:7 tc The phrase “his negligence” is absent from the LXX.
2 Samuel 6:8 tn Heb “because the Lord broke out [with] a breaking out [i.e., an outburst] against Uzzah.”
2 Samuel 6:8 sn The name Perez Uzzah means in Hebrew “the outburst [against] Uzzah.”
2 Samuel 6:11 tn Heb “house,” both here and in v. 12.
2 Samuel 6:12 tn Heb “and it was told to King David, saying.”
2 Samuel 6:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Samuel 6:14 tn Heb “and David was dancing with all his strength before the Lord, and David was girded with a linen ephod.”
2 Samuel 6:15 tc Heb “all the house of Israel.” A few medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack the words “the house.”
2 Samuel 6:15 tn Heb “the shofar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).

Luke 24:1-12

The Resurrection

24 Now on the first day^[a] of the week, at early dawn, the women^[b] went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices^[c] they had prepared. ²They^[d] found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb,^[e] ³but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.^[f] ⁴While^[g] they were perplexed^[h] about this, suddenly^[i] two men stood beside them in dazzling^[j] attire. ⁵The^[k] women^[l] were terribly frightened^[m] and bowed^[n] their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living^[o] among the dead? ⁶He is not here, but has been raised!^[p] Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,^[q] ⁷that^[r] the Son of Man must be delivered^[s] into the hands of sinful men,^[t] and be crucified,^[u] and on the third day rise again.”^[v] ⁸Then^[w] the women remembered his words,^[x] ⁹and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven^[y] and to all the rest. ¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene,^[z] Joanna,^[aa] Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. ¹¹But these words seemed like pure nonsense^[ab] to them, and they did not believe them. ¹²But Peter got up and ran to the tomb.^[ac] He bent down^[ad] and saw only the strips of linen cloth;^[ae] then he went home,^[af] wondering^[ag] what had happened.^[ah]

Footnotes

Luke 24:1 sn The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.
Luke 24:1 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Luke 24:1 tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.
Luke 24:2 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Luke 24:2 sn Luke tells the story of the empty tomb with little drama. He simply notes that when they arrived the stone had been rolled away in a position where the tomb could be entered. This large stone was often placed in a channel so that it could be easily moved by rolling it aside. The other possibility is that it was merely placed over the opening in a position from which it had now been moved.
Luke 24:3 tc The translation follows the much better attested longer reading here, “body of the Lord Jesus” (found in {P⁷⁵ א A B C L W Θ Ψ ƒ^1,13 33 565 700 M}), rather than simply “the body” (found in D it) or “the body of Jesus” (found in 579 1241). Further, although this is the only time that “Lord Jesus” occurs in Luke, it seems to be Luke’s normal designation for the Lord after his resurrection (note the many references to Christ in this manner in Acts, e.g., 1:21; 4:33; 7:59; 8:16; 11:17; 15:11; 16:31; 19:5; 20:21; 28:31). Although such a longer reading as this would normally be suspect, in this case some scribes, accustomed to Luke’s more abbreviated style, did not take the resurrection into account.sn What they found was not what they expected—an empty tomb.
Luke 24:4 tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
Luke 24:4 tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.
Luke 24:4 tn Grk “behold.”
Luke 24:4 sn The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).
Luke 24:5 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Luke 24:5 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).
Luke 24:5 tn Or “They were extremely afraid.”
Luke 24:5 sn Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.
Luke 24:5 sn By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.
Luke 24:6 tc The phrase “He is not here, but has been raised” is omitted by a few mss (D it), but it has wide ms support and differs slightly from the similar statement in Matt 28:6 and Mark 16:6. Although NA²⁸ places the phrase at the beginning of v. 6, as do most modern English translations, it is omitted from the RSV and placed at the end of v. 5 in the NRSV.tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, ēgerthē). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God, and such activity by God is a consistent Lukan theological emphasis: Luke 20:37; 24:34; Acts 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 37. A passive construction is also used to refer to Jesus’ exaltation: Luke 24:51; Acts 1:11, 22.
Luke 24:6 sn While he was still in Galilee looks back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. So the point is that this was announced long ago, and should come as no surprise.
Luke 24:7 tn Grk “saying that,” but this would be redundant in English. Although the translation represents this sentence as indirect discourse, the Greek could equally be taken as direct discourse: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee: ‘the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”
Luke 24:7 tn See Luke 9:22, 44; 13:33.
Luke 24:7 tn Because in the historical context the individuals who were primarily responsible for the death of Jesus (the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem in Luke’s view [see Luke 9:22]) would have been men, the translation “sinful men” for ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτωλῶν (anthrōpōn hamartōlōn) is retained here.
Luke 24:7 sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.
Luke 24:7 tn Here the infinitive ἀναστῆναι (anastēnai) is active rather than passive.
Luke 24:8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
Luke 24:8 sn On his words see Luke 9:22.
Luke 24:9 sn Judas is now absent and “the twelve” have now become “the eleven.” Other disciples are also gathered with the remaining eleven.
Luke 24:10 sn Mary Magdalene is always noted first in the appearance lists in the gospels. It is unusual that the first appearance would involve women as in this culture their role as witnesses would not be well accepted. It is a sign of the veracity of the account, because if an ancient were to create such a story he would never have it start with women.
Luke 24:10 sn On Joanna see Luke 8:1-3.
Luke 24:11 sn The term pure nonsense can describe idle talk or a tale. The point is important, since the disciples reacted with disbelief that a resurrection was possible. Sometimes it is thought the ancients were gullible enough to believe anything. But these disciples needed convincing about the resurrection.
Luke 24:12 sn While the others dismissed the report of the women, Peter got up and ran to the tomb, for he had learned to believe in what the Lord had said.
Luke 24:12 sn In most instances the entrance to such tombs was less than 3 ft (1 m) high, so that an adult would have to bend down and practically crawl inside.
Luke 24:12 tn In the NT this term is used only for strips of cloth used to wrap a body for burial (LN 6.154; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνιον).
Luke 24:12 tn Or “went away, wondering to himself.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros heauton) can be understood with the preceding verb ἀπῆλθεν (apēlthen) or with the following participle θαυμάζων (thaumazōn), but it more likely belongs with the former (cf. John 20:10, where the phrase can only refer to the verb).
Luke 24:12 sn Peter’s wondering was not a lack of faith, but struggling in an attempt to understand what could have happened.
Luke 24:12 tc Some Western mss (D it) lack 24:12. The verse has been called a Western noninterpolation, meaning that it reflects a shorter authentic reading in D and other Western witnesses. Many regard all such shorter readings as original (the verse is omitted in the RSV), but the ms evidence for omission is far too slight for the verse to be rejected as secondary. It is included in P⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 118[a]

Footnotes

Footnotes

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

Footnotes

The Resurrection

Footnotes

Psalm 118^[a]