Readings for March 2nd

John 9:1-41 1 Then, as he passed by, he saw a man who was born blind. 2 So, his students asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned to cause him to be born blind, this man or his parents?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the works of God might appear in him. 4 We must do the work of the one who sent me while it is still day; Night is coming when no one is able to work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had said this, he spat and made mud out of the spit and smeared the mud on the man’s eyes. 7 Then he told the man, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam (interpreted as “Sent”). So, he went away and washed and came out seeing. 8 Then his neighbors and the people who used to stare at him because he was a beggar said, “Is this the same man who sat and begged?” 9 Some said that he was, others that he was not, but was similar to the man, then he said, “I am the same one.” 10 Then they asked, “How did your eyes open?” 11 He answered them, “A man named Jesus made mud and spread it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ When I went and washed, I could see again.” 12 So they asked him, “where is this man?” He answered, “I don’t know.” 13 they took the man who had formerly been blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now, it was the Sabbath when Jesus spit mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees questioned him a second time about how he had come to see again. He answered, “he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I saw.” 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, “He is not a man of God, since he did not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a bad man do these types of miracles?” so there was a split between them. 17 Then they asked the blind man again, “What do you think about him, since it was your eyes he opened?” So he answered, “he is a prophet.” 18 So those Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had his eyes opened until they heard from his parents that he had his eyes opened. 19 then they asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind? So, how does he see?” 20 Then the parents answered him, “we know that he is our son, and that he was born blind 21 but we do not know how he can see now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him: he is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 The parents said this because they feared these Jews, since these Jews had already agreed to throw anyone out of the synagogue if they confessed that he was Christ 23 (that is why the parents said, “he is old enough, ask him.”) 24 So they called the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, “Give glory to God:[i] for we know that this man is a sinner.” 25 Whether or not he is a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind; now I see. 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I already told you but you did not listen: why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to be his students too?” 28 Then they made fun of him, “Are you his student? We are students of Moses 29 since we know that Moses spoke to God, but we have no idea where he came from.” 30 the man answered them, “Why are you confused? Why is it that you do not know where he came from when he opened my eyes? 31 We know, ‘God does not listen to bad people,’ but perhaps he listens to a godly person who does what he desires. 32 Since the beginning of time, no one has heard of someone opening the eyes of a man who was born blind. 33 If he was not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” 34 they dismissed him, “You were born in total sin; are you going to teach us?” So they kicked him out. 35 When Jesus heard that they kicked him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “Who is he that I would believe in him?” 37 Jesus answered, “He is the one you are looking at and with whom you are speaking.” 38 He said, “I believe, Lord.” And he bowed down to him. 39 Then Jesus said, “I came into this world to judge, so that those who cannot see will see and so that those who can see will be blind.” 40 When those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things they asked him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus replied, “If you were blind you would not have done wrong, but now, since you think that you see, your wrongs remain.”	Far from a funeral text, Psalm 23 is about life; afterall, goodness and hesed are pursueing him all the days of his life. Furthermore, the last verse is not speaking about living in God's house in Heaven, it clearly indicates that the author intends to return to the temple on a daily basis. I suspect that the grassy fields and restful waters are metaphors for what he finds in the temple. In this case the author knows about sheep, but is near enough to the temple to visit daily, so this does fit David himself but I think that "to David" in the Psalms is a musical designation (maybe "to the tune of") rather than an indication of authorship, even if the author was David, that is why I choose to render it with to (rather than for, or of or any other likely translation). Psalm 23 - A Psalm to David 1 Adonai is my shepherd, I will not be in need 2 He will make me lie down in grassy pastures he will lead me to waters of rest. 3 On account of his name, he will restore my life; he will lead me down the well-worn blameless paths. 4. Even when I walk in the valley of Deathshadow, I will not be afraid of evil if you are with me: your club and staff, they comfort me. 5. You will place a feast for me right in front of my enemies, you cover my head with oil; my cup is full to the point of spilling out. 6. Only goodness and loyalty will chase me every day of my life and I will return to the House of Adonai every day.
	I Samuel 16:1-13 1 Then Adonai said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and I will send you to Jesse in Bethlehem, for I have seen my king among his sons.” 2 Samuel answered, “How shall I go, since if Saul hears of it he will kill me?” So Adonai said, “Choose a cow from the herd and say, ‘I come to sacrifice to Adonai.’ 3 Then call Jesse to the sacrifice and I will tell you what to do. Then you will anoint the one which I tell you for me. 4 So Samuel did as Adonai said and entered into Bethlehem and the elders of the city were afraid and said, “Come in peace(?)” 5 So he answered, “Peacefully --to sacrifice to Adonai-- prepare yourselves and come with me for the sacrifice and prepare Jesse and his sons and call them to the sacrifice. 6 Then he happened to go in and he saw Eliab and he said, “The person in front of me must be Adonai’s Anointed.” 7 Then Adonai said to Samuel, “Do not look at how he looks or at how tall he is, since I have rejected him, because what I see is not what a person sees, since a person looks at the eyes but Adonai looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab. He went to Samuel and Samuel said, “Adonai has certainly not chosen this one.” 9 So Jesse had his son Shammah come to him and he said, “This is not the one Adonai has chosen.” 10 So, Jesse sent his seven sons to Samuel too and Samuel told Jesse, “Adonai’s chosen is not among these.” 11 The Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all of your sons?” Then he said, “He’s still out, and small, now he’s with the grazing flock.” Samuel told Jesse, “Have someone go get him and bring him here, since we cannot leave until he comes here. 12 So he sent for him and had him brought and he had red cheeks and pretty eyes and he was attractive. Then Adonai said, “Stand up and anoint him, because this is the one.” So Samuel took the oil horn and anointed him among his brothers. Then the Spirit of Adonai came upon David from that day. Then, Samuel got up and went to Ramah.
	Ephesians 5:8-14 8 For you were once Darkness but now you Light in the Lord: you must live as children of light. 9 For the fruit of the light is in all goodness, blamelessness, and truth 10 –interpreting what is pleasing to the Lord, 11 and not taking part in the useless actions of Darkness, but rather condemn them. 12 Since the things which they do in secret are shameful even to say, 13 but everything that is condemned is revealed by the light, because light makes everything evident. Therefore someone says, “Get up sleepyhead and rise from the dead, then Christ shall shine upon you.”
	When Paul uses the term "flesh, he is not talking about skin, but rather about everything that is not ruled by spirit. As he explains in this passage, flesh is that which does not naturally obey God's will. The use of the term spirit to describe the redeemed state of the Christian does not indicate complete incorporeal existence, but rather it indicates the same nature as the ressurected Jesus disaplays when he visits the disciples prior to Pentecost: this is a body which is made to be controled by the laws of God, by our higher, spiritual, nature, not ruled by the whims of our shameful failings. Romans 8:1-8 1 So then, judgement no longer goes against those in Christ Jesus, because, by Christ, the law of the Spirit of Life set us free from the law of sin and death. So then, that which the law was powerless to accomplish (because of the flesh), God sent his own son in that very same sinful flesh and he condemned sin within that flesh, 4 so that the regulation of the Law might be carried out in us, who do not live by the rules of the flesh, but by those of the spirit. 5 Because those who live by the rules of the flesh think of material things, but those who live by the rules of the spirit have spiritual things on their minds. 6 For the mind of flesh is tantamount to death, but the mind of spirit is equivalent to life and peace; 7 that is why the fleshly mind is at odds with God: it does not obey God's law, and it is unable to. 8 For no one is able to please God by fleshly means.

Readings for February 24

Psalm 95 1 Come! We must shout for joy to Adonai; for the Rock that Protects, shout us in triumph. 2 we come to meet him with thankful songs, we shout for him in triumph! 3 Because God is the Mighty Adonai And, ruling all gods, the Mighty King.[1] 4 He fits the country fields in his hand, the tallest mountains fail to reach his height 5 The sea is his because he is its creator, and he shaped the land with his hands. 6 We must go in, bow down, and on our knees fall,[2] in front of Adonai our creator, 7 Because he is our God, we are people in his flock, his daily chosen sheep, if we listen to his voice. 8 “Do not be stubborn-hearted like at Meribah, Like that day in the wilderness at Massah 9 Where your fathers lost faith in me, tested me, and then saw what I could do. 10 For forty years I despised that generation, I said, ‘these people’s hearts wander around, because they refuse to learn my road.’ 11 So I took an oath in my anger that they would not enter my rest.”[3]	Exodux 17:1-7 1 All of the Children of Israel were traveling together from the Desert of Syn, by their stages, which Adonai had set. They camped at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people vented their charges against Moses: “Give us water and let us drink.” Moses responded, “why are you accusing me and why are you putting Adonai on trial?” 3 But the people were thirsty there and they murmured against Moses, “Why did you bring us up here from Egypt, to kill us and our kids and our livestock with dehydration?” 4 Moses cried out to Adonai, “What am I going to do to this people since they are almost ready to stone me?” 5 Then Adonai said to Moses, “Go in front of the people with the elders of Israel, walking with the staff you used to strike the river.” 6 Listen, I am about to stand in front of you there on the rock in Horeb, and hit the rock and water will flow from it, and the people can drink it.” So, Moses did so while the elders of Israel watched.” 7 So he called that place Massah and Meribah, because the Children of Israel brought charges against him and put God on trial, asking, “Is Adonai among us?”
John 4:5-42 5 He came to a Samarian city called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave his son Joseph 6 where the Well of Jacob was. Jesus sat down by the well, in the middle of the day, tired from the journey. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus asked her, “give me something to drink,” 8 (since his disciples had gone into the city to buy food). 9 So, the Samaritan woman asked him, “you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman, what are you doing talking to me?” Since Jews and Samaritans are segregated. 10 Jesus answered her, “if you knew the gift of God and who it is who is asking you, ‘give me a drink,” you would demand that he give you living water.” 11 The woman answered, “Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep, so, how could you have living water?”[4] 12 Are you better than our father Jacob, who gave us this well? He drank from it, along with his children and herds.”[5] 13 Jesus answered her, “Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water I give him will not be thirsty ever again because the water I give will become a spring inside him, bubbling up to eternal life.”[6] 15 “Sir, give me some of this water so that I will not have to come out here to get water.” She said to him. 16 Jesus answered, “Go call your husband and come back here.” 17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.” Jesus responded, “you are telling the truth when you say, ‘I have no husband.’ 18 You have had five husbands and now you have someone who is not your husband . . . you told the truth.” 19 She replied, “Sir, I get that you’re a prophet 20 . . . our fathers worshiped at this mountain but you (Jews) say that one must worship in Jerusalem . . . [7] 21 “Believe me, Ma’am,” Jesus said to her, “The time is coming when you will not worship the Father at this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You worship by what you don’t know, we worship by what we do know . . . afterall, ‘Salvation comes from the Jews.’ 23 However, the time is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshiper that the father is seeking for himself. 24 So, God is a spirit and those worshiping him must worship in spirit and truth.” [8] 25 The woman told him, “I know that the Messiah (the one called ‘anointed’) is coming, when he comes, he will answer everything.” 26 Jesus told her, “I, with whom you are speaking, am he.”[9] 27 While this was happening, his disciples came and were surprised that he was talking with a woman, nevertheless, no one said, “What do you want?” or “why are you talking with her?” 28 So, she left her water jar and went into the city and told the people, 29 “Come - see a man who told me everything I ever did; perhaps he is the ‘Anointed.’ 30 They came out of the city and started toward him; 31 in the mean time his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 He told them, “I have food to eat which you do not understand.”[10] 33 The disciples asked each other, “Certainly no one could have brought him anything to eat, could they?” 34 Jesus told them, “My food is to do what the One Who Sent Me wants me to do and to complete his task. 35 Don’t you keep saying, ‘harvest comes in four months?’ I say lift up your eyes and look at the fields[11] because they already look white with the wheat that is ready for harvest. 36 The harvester gets his pay and gathers wheat that results in eternal life.[12] 37 This situation is proves the saying: ‘one plants and another one harvests,’ true. 38 I sent you to harvest something for which you did not work, others did the work and you took part in their effort.” 39 Many of the Samaritans out of that city believed because of the word the woman told them, “he told me everything I did.” 40 Therefore, when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, so he stayed there for two days. [13] 41 So many more believed because of his word and 42 they said to the woman, “we don’t believe in him because of what you said anymore, because we have heard and have seen for ourselves that he is truly the Savior of the World.”
	Romans 5:1-11 1 Therefore, being declared innocent of our crimes, we have peace with God because of our Lord Jesus Christ; 2 because[14] of whom we also have the right to enter by faith into this gift[15] within which we now exist and we take joy in hope of the glory of God; 3 not only this but we also take joy in our distress, because we know that distress results in[16] patient endurance 4 and patient endurance results in character and character results in hope; 5 and hope is no disgrace, because the love of God is poured into our hearts through the Spirit of Holiness, which he gave to us. 6 For Christ died for the ungodly at the right time: while we were still weak. 7 Sure, rarely, someone might face death for a guiltless person -perhaps for a good person someone might be brave enough to die- 8 but this is how God proves his love for us: while we were still criminals, Christ faced death for us. Therefore, we will be rescued from punishment by him, all the more now that we have been declared innocent because of him. 10 for since we were made right with God through the death of his son while we were his enemies, how much more, being put into a right relationship, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only that but we also take joy in God because of our Lord, Jesus Christ, because of whom we are placed in a right relationship with God.
	John 15:12-17 Jesus is saying that his sacrifice is for those who love each other in the same way that made him give his life. If you are not willing to sacrifice your life, the sacrifice of his life is not for you. 12 "This is my command: ‘you must love one another, just like I have loved you.’ 13 No one has greater love than this: love that requires one to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, for the servant does not know what his Master is doing; but I have called you friends, for I have let you know all the things that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would last, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name he may give to you. 17 I command this: you must love one another.

---

[1] This is an example of henotheism: the early Israelites did not view God as the one and only God, but rather the only God worth serving, to whom all other gods must answer.

[2] This could be a reference to temple worship.

[3] The last four verses are a warning, Come in and rejoice in the temple when you triumph, but don’t forget who you are when you are in the desert.

[4] Living water is an expression commonly used to describe flowing water, she is asking how he could get down to the dart of the spring where the water is moving to get that water.

[5] She is saying, “Jacob was happy enough drinking the still waters on top, are you too good to do the same?”

[6] She is hearing, “if you drink this stuff, it flows inside of you forever.”

[7] She thinks that he is a prophet going around testing people and telling riddles and then giving supernatural rewards to those who answer wisely. She thinks that perhaps she can trap him by stumping him with an impossible riddle.

[8] Spirit (p?e?µa) has various meanings which overlap in many languages: Spirit or spirit: from Latin origins, was at one time synonymous with wind and ghost; soul came to mean the same thing in Byzantine Greek, although a soul (????) was supposed to include both elements that make up life: spirit and body; mind or intellect is occasionally used in the New testament, though ???? is much more common which is related to attitude or disposition: an uncommon use but not unheard of - it seems that I John uses spirit (p?e?µa) as “attitude” throughout, though translators almost always get it wrong there. The woman probably heard “mind” or “attitude,” which would be a prophetic wordplay similar to Hebrew prophets, the author probably intended us to hear “Spirit” or “spirit,” Jesus may have intended polyphony or multiple meanings (voices) to show through.

[9] Probably a reference both to her assertion and to the divine name ('???)“I am.”

[10] They think that he is saying, “You didn’t know about the food that I had to eat.”

[11] I think that Jesus intends the double meaning “neighborhoods” here. They hear “look at the fields,” but he means something like, “look at the little communities . . . there is a big (spiritual) harvest to bring in outside Jerusalem.”

[12] They hear something like: “ . . . and gathers (enough) fruit that he could live on it forever.”

[13] It would be very scandalous for a Jew to stay with a Samaritan, and would, according to rabbinic practice, make him unclean for a certain period of time.

[14] Greek students in their first two years would cringe at this translation because they are taught to say “through Jesus” in passages like this, but “through,” in this case really means “by means of;” “because” means “by cause of,” which is virtually identical in meaning and sounds much better to modern ears.

[15] Or “Grace”

[16] Or “Causes”

Lectionary Readings for February 17th

Psalm 121 This is a Psalm of Ascents, I suspect that this title indicates that they were performed as people went up(ascended) Mt. Zion to the temple. The temple singers(and the people?) may have first performed them at the dedication of the temple and probably repeated them at major festivals. A Song of Ascents. 1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where will my rescuei come? 2 My rescue comes from Adonai, Maker of Heaven and Earth. 3 He will not let your foot to shake; Your Guard will not slumber. 4 Behold, Israel’s Guard will not slumber or sleep. 5 Adonai is your Guard; Adonai is your shade on your right hand. 6 The Sun will not strike you down in the daytime, nor the Moon by night.ii 7 Adonai will guard you from all evil; He will guard your life. 8 Adonai will guard your exit and entrance now and forever.iii	Genesis 12 1 Now Adonai said to Abram, "Go from your country, and your relatives and your father's household, to the land which I will show you; 2 Then I will make you into a large nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall become a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse the one who curses you And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you." 4 So, Abram left --as the LORD had told him-- and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.iv
John 3 This is a big text with big problems. Jesus is speaking almost entirely in words with double meanings. By the end of the conversation, Nicodemus is probably hearing Jesus say that the Kingdom consists of randomly chosen people, the author of the gospel, however, probably meant for us to hear that position and pious action are not factors in the people the Spirit chooses, though we are meant to hear baptism and The Spirit. 1 Now there was a certain Pharisee, named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews; 2 he came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God; for no one can do these miraclesv that you do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "I am about to give you a reliable word to live by vi unless a person is born againvii he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, " I am about to give you a reliable word to live by,viii I say to you, ‘unless someone is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God’. 6 ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ix 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 ‘The wind blows where it wants to and you hear its voice, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.x’ 9 Nicodemus said to Him, "How is this possible?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "You are The Teacherxiof Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Pay attention,xiiwe speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ‘No one has gone up into heaven, but he who Descended from Heaven: the Son of Man.’ 14 ‘Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;’xiii 15 so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life. 16 ‘For God loved the world in this way, he gave His unique Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not be destroyed, but have eternal life.’ 17 Since God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved by him.”	Romans 4 It is quite likely that Paul had to write this to people who believed that God would only save the most “godly.” 1 What then will we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has found? 2 Because, if Abraham was declared innocentxiv because of things he did, he has something to be proud of, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was recorded for him as righteousness." 4 Now, the one who works does not receive payment as a favor, xv but as an obligation. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is marked down as righteousness
	John 15 Jesus is saying that his sacrifice is for those who love each other in the same way that made him give his life. If you are not willing to sacrifice your life, the sacrifice of his life is not for you. 12 "This is my command: ‘you must love one another, just like loved you.’ 13 No one has greater love than this, love that requires one to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, for the servant does not know what his Master is doing; but I have called you friends, for I have let you know all the things that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would last, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name he may give to you. 17 I command this: you must love one another.

---

iThe normal gloss is “helper,” in context the one performing the action is a defender, so I believe rescue is a better rendering.

ii Probably referring to the Sun and Moon as supernatural beings that God opposes on Israel’s behalf.

iii Probably a reference to protection for those entering to worship him.

ivHaran had very powerful cults devoted to idolatry, it is remarkable that Abraham found an alternative.

vMiracles or “signs” are miraculous performances that signal something supernatural is at work.

vi“Truly, truly, I say to you. . .”

viiThere is a double meaning here, “born again,” also means, “born from above.” I think that Nicodemus believes that context excludes “born from above,” at this point, since it seems too selective, but by the end he may have a different understanding, since Jesus seems to say that few people will make it and those will be chosen at random.

viii See note 6.

ix It looks like Jesus was still playing on the “born from above” double meaning to say that people have a dual nature, “water” (indicating human birth), and “spirit” (indicating a supernatural birth). The disciples likely only understood the meaning that we read in this text, baptism and receiving the spirit, long after Jesus said it.

x “wind” is the same word as “spirit.” Jesus is saying that Nicodemus is asking the wrong questions, the Spirit does not choose people by merit (it does not respect people based on position or special acts of devotion, it cannot be manipulated, but makes its own choices)

xi Nicodemus called Jesus “a teacher,” Jesus is playing on that description and using a more respectful title, “the teacher,” and playing on Nicodemus higher position, to illustrate one of the possible reasons the Spirit makes its own choices.

xii See note 6

xiii A reference to the cross.

xiv “Rightoeusness” and “justice” have a legal connotations of being found not guilty or being aquitted.

[xv] Or a “Grace”

Rom 5:12-19

Romans 5 is personifying Sin, Death, Salvation etc., using the current perceptions of these concepts as a starting point for Paul's teachings. It helps to picture it all as a play where the concepts are the actors [I've only got a few minutes, so there are surely errors here too].

Therefore, just as through one person Sin entered The World, and, through Sin, Death, so that Death travels among all people, since all have sinned --

For until the Law regarding Sin was in The World, Sin remained unrecorded, since there was no Law,

But Death was king from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the same way Adam disobeyed, he was an example of what the One Who Would Come would be like.

But the Gift was not like the Crime, for when one sinned all died, the Grace of God did much more, and the Gift flowed out to many by the Grace of one Man, but the Gift was not like the One who sinned, for the Judgment came from a single Conviction, but the Gift added many Crimes up to equal Justice. For if Death was made king by the crime of the One, rather, through the One: Jesus Christ, a much greater Overflow of Grace and of the Gift of Justice is becoming king. Therefore, as, through one man's crime, Conviction came to all men, so also through one Justice came to all men with the result of innocent Life. For, just as through the disloyalty of One man many were made sinners, through the obedience of One Righteous Man, many were approved.

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil.
After he had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
And the tempter approached him and said, "If you are The Son of God, command these stones, 'become bread,'"

So he answered, "As it is written,'a person shall not live only on bread, but on everything that comes out of God's mouth.'"

Then the Devil took him to the Holy City and set him on the high point of the temple, and he said to Jesus, "If you are The Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will His angels this command concerning you to take you up by hand to keep your foot from stumbling on a stone.'"

So Jesus said, "Again it is written, 'Do not test the Lord your God.'"

Again the Devil took him to the highest mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the Earth and how great they are. And he said, I will give all this to you, if you fall doun and bow to me."

Then Jesus told him, "Go away, prosecutor, for it is written, "It is the Lord your God you will worship and you will only serve him."

Then the Devil left him and the Angels came and served him.

Genesis 2:1-4 and 15-17

This passage has some poetic symmetry, it also has some literary references to later parts of Genesis. The Heavens and Earth are, I believe, partially personified, so that God is pictured as God over the great Powers of Heaven and Earth, unlike outside mythologies which had gods of comparable power vying for ascendancy.

It is likely that this section was either taken as a whole from another document (like many believe the case to be with several sections of Genesis), or carefully adapted by the compiler of Genesis from a resource for which we have no complete copy (we would say no longer extant, in the field of biblical studies). I'm rushing through this, so there may be errors.

This is the account of The Heavens' and The Earth's creation,
on the day in which Adonai God created The Heavens and The Earth.

When plants had yet to exist on The Earth,
And flora had yet to sprout up from The Ground,
Because Adonai God had not yet provided rain for The Earth,
And there was no person to serve on The Earth,

Then mist came up from The Earth and irrigated the whole surface of The Earth,
And the Lord God formed the People-of-Dust from The Ground and breathed into their nostrils the spirit of life, and humanity became a living being¹

Then Adonai God planted a garden in Eden in the east and placed in it the human whom he had made.
Then Adonai God caused every tree that was beautiful, and every one that grew good things to eat, to grow from The Ground with The Tree of Life and The Tree of Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil in the middle of the garden.
. . .
Then Adonai God took the man and let him stay in the Garden of Eden, to serve it and protect it.

Then Adonai God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make him a helper different than him."²

So Adonai God created all the wild animals of the field and all the animals that fly in the sky from The Ground and he took them to the man to see what he would call them and everything that the man called each living thing, that was its name.



1. "Man" is used here in Hebrew, but context seems to indicate a collective value to the man, he is the representative for all humans, for it is here they come to life.

2. Too lit. "a helper opposite."

Psalm 32

I find Psalm 32 particularly hard to translate (though my Hebrew teacher did not). People complain about Psalm 68, but its difficulties stem from its primitive origins (it has an older, less refined character), Psalm 32 also has an almost primitive feel to it, but it combines this with a very high concentration of poetic language that is often hard for me to understand, let alone interpret or translate. The Psalmist uses parts of speech like participles in places I would not, he leaves out words, and he uses many of his concrete nouns and verbs in figurative ways. Despite all of this the message of the psalm is clear:

I. It is a blessing to have your sins forgiven (vss. 1-2).

II. Uncovering my sins to God opens the road for him to cover them for me (vss. 3-5).

III. The need for help is immediate and God's protection necessary (vss. 6-7)

IV. Don't be stupid, choose to be happy by turning to God (vss. 8-11).

In the following preliminary translation, I have tried to show that this is a poem, though I do not have time enough to render the entire poem in appropriate forms. I have also tried to give additional information about the Hebrew version so that the reader can begin to understand some of the issues involved. I have not noted all of the points of difference, but have tried to give a representative sample of problems faced by the translator-interpreter.

Psalm 32: To David¹: High Poetry²

Blessed: the one lifted up from moral crimes, covered from sin.

Blessed: a person the wrong of whom the Adonai does not mark down, and who has no spirit of deceit in him.³

When: I was silent, my bones decayed as I roared all day in my anguish.

When: Your hand fell heavily on me day and night, turning my juicy delights to summer's drought:⁴

Exalt.⁵

I revealed my sin to you, and I did not cover up my wrongs,

I will say a confession about my crimes to Adonai
because⁶ you took the wickedness of my sin.

Exalt.⁵

May all loyal people pray to you for these things in time to find you⁷;
Surely the great floodwaters shall not reach such a person.

You are my hiding place: my safe⁸ fortress: a cry of deliverance, you surround me.

Exalt.⁵

I will make you think and I will instruct you in which path to walk;
my eye upon you, I will counsel you.

Do not approach me acting like a horse or mule, which has no understanding and
needs a bit or bridle for control.

For the wicked: Great pain is destined.
For the person who trusts Adonai: loyalty turns him around.

Take joy in Adonai and be happy, People Who Act Correctly,
Shout for joy, Everyone With A Right Heart.



Notes:

1.Probably "to be played in the davidic manner," which was most likely an instruction to the musicians performing the psalm.

2. Called a Maskil in Hebrew, this likely designates, as some versions say, "contemplative poetry."

3. I found this hard to render in the original grammatical structure, "Blessed a man not recording God (doing the action) to him iniquity, and there is not a wind/spirit (his) of deceit."

4. "When daily and nightly heavy on (me) hand (your) turning juice/ a highly prized type of food (my) around with drought-summer."

5. A musical term, it may indicate a change in register, but which I felt needed translation of some type since it marks a shift in the structure of the poem and ties this verse to the next.

6. This word is usually translated as "and" but sometimes has the meaning "because," in this case it seems likely since the second thing, "taking away," is stated as completed while "I will say a confession" is stated as not having been completed that because is more correct.

7. the object of this sentence is implied, it may be translated as "answer," and there may be other possibilities as well.

8. lit. "Narrow fortress" probably indicates that it is easily defended.

Online Lectionary

The Living Web Lectionary Project provides links to the lectionary readings. Ours generally coincides with the Episcopal calendar, though this week a few readings go along with the "common" lectionary. Clicking on the listed lections leads you to those passages on the Bible Gateway. If you wish to, you can look up any passage with their look-up tool, in various versions (including Greek and Hebrew).