This translation is from the New American Bible. The bolded hyperlinks will take you to additional translations. The entire chapter is included to provide context.
Information about the meaning the original Hebrew or Greek of what seem to be key words is provided in blue. It is provided beneath the specific reading they relate to.
Links to collections of other scriptures addressing principles similar to those set out in these readings are provided after each reading.
Excerpts collected in yellow at the end of this post tell us something about God’s nature or our relationship to Him.
Excerpts collected in green at the end of this post tell us about something God wants us to do.
Excerpts collected in red at the end of this post tell us about something God does not want us to do.
Reading I: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
says = אָמַר= 'āmar Blue Letter Bible certify; declare; to command, to promise, to intend; to avow, to avouch; bear forth, bring to light; to speak, utter; to say in one's heart, to think
flesh, body = בָּשָׂר= basar Blue Letter Bible self;flesh; the body itself; kindred, blood-relations; seflesh as frail or erring; all living creatures; the human race
trusts = בָּטַח= bāṭaḥ Blue Letter Bible to have confidence, be confident;to be bold; to be secure; to feel safe, be careless; to trust, be confident or sure:—be bold (confident, secure, sure), careless (one, woman), put confidence, (make to) hope, (put, make to) trust; to confide in, place one’s confidence in; to be secure, fear nothing for one’s self; persuade to trust
heart = לֵב= lēḇ Blue Letter Bible inner man, mind, will, understanding; midst; soul; mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory; inclination, resolution, determination (of will); conscience; seat of appetites, emotions, passions, courage;feelings, the will and even the intellect; the centre of anything
turns = סוּר= sûr Blue Letter Bible to turn aside, depart; avoid; to be removed; depose; to put aside, leave undone, retract, reject, abolish; eschew; turn off; rebel; put away, withdraw; sour; turn aside to oneself; be without
blessed = בָּרַךְ= bāraḵ Blue Letter Bible to kneel; be adored; to praise, salute; celebrate, adore
hope = מִבְטָח= miḇṭāḥ Blue Letter Bible trust, confidence, refuge; act of confiding;state of confidence, security;a refuge; sure and firm hope
stretches = שָׁלַח= šālaḥ Blue Letter Bible stretch out; extend, direct;to shoot forth (of branches); reach forth; sow, spread, stretch forth; to send, send away;to let loose; to send off or away or out or forth, dismiss, give over, cast out or away; to let go, set free; to be sent off, be put away, be divorced, be impelled; forsake, give (up);eave, let depart; drive cattle to pasture
roots = שֶׁרֶשׁ= šereš Blue Letter Bible involving firmness or permanence; bottom (as lowest stratum); deep, heel; seat, fixed dwelling
fears = דָּאַג= dā'aḡ Blue Letter Bible to fear, be anxious, be concerned, be afraid, dread, be careful
green = רַעֲנָן= raʿănān Blue Letter Bible to be or grow luxuriant or fresh or green; fresh, flourishing; verdant; metaphorically, happy
bears = עָשָׂה=ʿāśâ Blue Letter Bible to do, fashion, accomplish, make; work, make, produce; to deal (with); to act, act with effect, effect;to attend to, put in order; to observe, celebrate;accomplish, advance; follow, fulfill; be industrious, labor; yield; produce by labor
fruit = פְּרִי= pᵊrî Blue Letter Bible fruit of the ground, of produce in general; the result of labor or endeavor; offspring, children, progeny
***
Scriptures addressing similar principles or using similar imagery are considered at:
- What We Can Learn from Dandelions—The Importance of Being Rooted
- Gardening Bible Study: Jeremiah 17:5-8
- Gardening Themed Scripture Meditations—topically organized series and stand-alone meditations
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 4, 6
R (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord
Hope—see above
Counsel = עֵצָה=ʿēṣâ Blue Letter Bible advice; plan; prudence, wisdom; sagacity, consultation
Insolent = לוּץ= lûṣ Blue Letter Bible to scorn, make mouths at, talk arrogantly; boast; mock, deride; to be inflated, haughty; scoff; make mouths at; speak barbarously; act impudently; incapable of or rejecting discipline, correction, instruction
delight = חֵפֶץ= ḥēp̄eṣ Blue Letter Bible pleasure, object of pursuit, ardour, enthusiasm, longing, or desire; things valued; something precious
meditate = הָגָה= hāḡâ Blue Letter Bible utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak; imagine; ponder; study; speak with oneself,soliloquize
yield = נָתַן= nāṯan Blue Letter Bible to give, bestow, grant; consecrate, devote, dedicate; entrust, give over, deliver up; yield produce; be (healed); pour; print; teach; to apply the heart to; to constitute, to make a thing like or similar to
fruit—see above
wicked = רָשָׁע=rāšāʿ Blue Letter Bible guilty one, one guilty of crime;hostile to God; against God or man;morally wrong; ungodly; unrighteous
watches =יָדַע= yāḏaʿBlue Letter Bible to perceive and see, find out and discern; to discriminate, distinguish; to know by experience; to recognize; be acquainted with;to know (a person carnally);to know how, be skillful in; to have knowledge, be wise; to be made known, be or become known, be revealed; to be instructed; privy to; seeing; observe with the eyes; be aware of; to get to know, discover; to turn the mind to anything, to care about, to see about
just = צַדִּיק= ṣadîq Blue Letter Bible lawful, righteous;righteous (in government); righteous (in conduct and character);righteous (as justified and vindicated by God); honest, virtuous, pious
***
Scriptures addressing similar principles or using similar imagery are collected or considered at:
- Wisdom Principles—God is a Refuge for Those Who Love Him
- Wisdom Principles: God’s Ways Give Security
- What We Can Learn About a Fruitful Christian Life From “a tree planted near streams”: Psalm 1:3
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
raised = ἐγείρω = egeirō Blue Letter Bible to arouse, cause to rise; to awake; to raise up, produce, cause to appear; bring before the public; rouse from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; raise up one “down” with disease, lying sick; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon awaken, rouse, stir up; prick up; keep awake
Alleluia: Luke 6:23ab
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad; your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 6:17, 20-26
Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”
Blessed = μακάριος = makarios Blue Letter Bible the highest good; happy;supremely blest; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon blessed, happy; bliss
poor in spirit = πτωχός = ptōchos Blue Letter Bible one who crouches and cowers; reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms; destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour; lowly, afflicted, destitute; helpless, powerless to accomplish an end; destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture; absolute or public mendicancy; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon beggarly
kingdom = βασιλεία = basileia Blue Letter Bible primarily an abstract noun, denoting sovereignty, royal power, dominion; denoting the people over whom a king rules; the right or authority to rule;reign; royal power and dignity; the rule of God; God's rule, the divine administration; the universe subject to God's sway, God's royal domain;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon Dominion; being ruled by a king; reign
hungry = πεινάω = peinaō Blue Letter Bible to suffer want; to be needy; to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire; famish; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon to be starved; hunger after, crave
satisfied = χορτάζω = chortazō Blue Letter Bibleto feed, to fatten; to fill or satisfy with food; to fulfil or satisfy the desire of any one; to gorge; supply food in abundance; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon feed, fatten, eat to their fill
weeping = κλαίω = klaiō Blue Letter Bible to wail; loud expression of grief; to mourn, lament; the sign of pain and grief; sob; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon cry, wail, lament, of any loud expression of pain or sorrow; howling; lament; bewail to oneself
laugh = γελάω = gelaō Blue Letter Bible to laugh as a sign of joy or satisfaction; scorn; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon laugh; laugh at; laugh scornfully, deride; amused at; William J. Slater, Lexicon to Pindar smile, delight
hate= μισέω = miseō Blue Letter Bible Malicious and unjustifiable feelings towards others, whether towards the innocent or by mutual animosity; Relative preference for one thing over another, by way of expressing either aversion from, or disregard for, the claims of one person or thing relatively to those of another; detest; To love less; to postpone in love or esteem, to slight; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon would not suffer
exclude = ἀφορίζω = aphorizō Blue Letter Bible to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate; limit, exclude, appoint, etc.:—divide, separate, sever; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon mark off by boundaries; determine, define; separate, distinguish
insult = ὀνειδίζω = oneidizō Blue Letter Bible to reproach, upbraid; to defame, i.e. rail at, chide, taunt; revile; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon cast in one's teeth, make a reproach to one; reproach, upbraid, chide
denounce = ἐκβάλλω = ekballō Blue Letter Bible drive out, to send out; to draw out, extract; to bring out of, to draw or bring forth; to lead one forth or away somewhere with a force which he cannot resist; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon throw or cast out of; throw out or away; divorce; strike out; let fall, drop; throw away, cast aside, reject; recall, repudiate; go out, depart
rejoice= χαίρω = chairō Blue Letter Bible to joy, rejoice, be glad; joyfully; be cheerful; to be well, to thrive; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon take pleasure in a thing; express one's joy; be glad; delight in
leap for joy = σκιρτάω = skirtaō Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon spring, leap, bound
reward = μισθός = misthos Blue Letter Bible compensation for work, wages; used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and endeavors, in both senses, rewards and punishments; pay for service (literally or figuratively), good or bad; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon wages; pay, allowance for public service; recompense, reward
Woe = οὐαί= ouai Blue Letter Bible denunciation; a primary exclamation of grief; an interjection of grief or of denunciation; alas; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon exclamation of pain and anger; ah!
rich = πλούσιος = plousios Blue Letter Bible wealthy, abounding in material resources; metaph. abounding, abundantly supplied; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon wealthy, opulent; ample, abundant
consolation= παράκλησις = paraklesis Blue Letter Bible comfort; encouragement with alleviation of grief; that which affords comfort or refreshment; persuasive discourse, stirring address — instructive; admonitory, consolatory; powerful hortatory discourse; calling to one's side; an exhortation; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon calling to one's aid, summons, imploring, appealing, exhortation
filled = ἐμπί(μ)πλημι = empi(m)plēmi Blue Letter Bible to fill full, to satisfy; o take one's fill of, glut one's desire for, satisfy, satiate; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon to fill quite full; to fill full of a thing; to fill for oneself or what is one's own
grieve = πενθέω = pentheō Blue Letter Bible lament; to grieve (the feeling or the act); Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon bewail, lament; go into mourning
well = καλῶς = kalōs Blue Letter Bible beautifully, finely, excellently, well; rightly, so that there shall be no room for blame, well, truly; excellently, nobly, commendably;honourably, in honour; fitly; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon beautiful, of outward form; beauteous; good, of fine quality; auspicious;noble, honourable; moral beauty, virtue, honour; rightly; fairly; thoroughly; rightly, deservedly
Scriptures addressing similar principles are collected at Wisdom Principles: We Must Make Real Effort/Sacrifice to Receive All that God Offers, But It Is Well Worth It
What these readings tell us about God/His Ways:
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord
the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord
Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Rejoice and be glad; your reward will be great in heaven
Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied
Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven
woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now
Woe to you who laugh now
Woe to you when all speak well of you
What these readings tell us to do:
trusts in the LORD
whose hope is the LORD
fears not
bears fruit
delights in the law of the LORD
meditates on his law day and night
hope in the Lord
yields its fruit in due season
hope in the Lord
hope in the Lord
Rejoice and be glad
Blessed are you who are poor
Blessed are you who are now hungry
Blessed are you who are now weeping
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
What these readings tell us not to do:
trusts in human beings
seeks his strength in flesh
heart turns away from the LORD
follows ... the counsel of the wicked
walks in the way of sinners
sits in the company of the insolent
you who are rich
Woe to you who are filled now
Woe to you who laugh now
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way
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