NL-Day188 2 Kings 3-4; Psalm 124; John 11:1-26

2KINGS 3-4:
Yesterday we heard of the final amazing prophecies of Elijah, and then how he took leave of the prophets and particularly, his successor Elisha. Elisha quickly showed that he was Elijah's successor.

PSALM 124:
I keep being amazed how people (and particularly those in America) don’t seem to learn anything from the amazing things that are happening in our times. The last verse of this psalm expresses the lesson that I think we should have learned by now.

JOHN 11a:
Reminding us of what we heard in John 10: Our Shepherd calls us by name. He knows us thoroughly, just like He and the Father know each other. We hear his voice and recognize him. He goes before us and leads us into a rich and satisfying life. He is our great and good Shepherd because He was willing to sacrifice his life for us.

NLT/GNT Translation comparison:
2Kings 3:27 NLT So he took his oldest son, who would have been the next king, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. As a result, the anger against Israel was great, so they withdrew and returned to their own land.//GNT So he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.
[The Hebrew for the first phrase of the last sentence can be interpreted in several ways. The NLT makes better sense to me. There would have been anger and indignation on Moab’s side, and revulsion on Israel’s side.]

NLT Translation notes:
John 11:5 So although Jesus loved Martha, [and loved] Mary, and [loved] Lazarus,
26 Everyone who [0//lives in me and] believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
[Woah! I am surprised that, apparently, the NLT translators didn’t think that just believing was enough! I don’t see any textual variant that would lead to this addition in the translation.]
31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep [there]. So they followed her [0/there].
38 Jesus was still [upset//angry] as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.