³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.^{(A) 35} The Lord has blessed^(B) my master abundantly,^(C) and he has become wealthy.^(D) He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.^{(E) 36} My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age,^(F) and he has given him everything he owns.^{(G) 37} And my master made me swear an oath,^(H) and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,^{(I) 38} but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’^(J)

⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success^(A) to the journey on which I have come. ⁴³ See, I am standing beside this spring.^(B) If a young woman^(C) comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,”^{(D) 44} and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’^(E)

⁴⁵ “Before I finished praying in my heart,^(F) Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder.^(G) She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’^(H)

⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’^(I) So I drank, and she watered the camels also.^(J)

⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’^(K)

“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel^(L) son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’^(M)

“Then I put the ring in her nose^(N) and the bracelets on her arms,^{(O) 48} and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord.^(P) I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham,^(Q) who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.^{(R) 49} Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness^(S) to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,”^(A) she said.

⁵⁹ So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way,^(B) along with her nurse^(C) and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed^(D) Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her attendants^(G) got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi,^(H) for he was living in the Negev.^{(I) 63} He went out to the field one evening to meditate,^[a](J) and as he looked up,^(K) he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel^{(L) 65} and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil^(M) and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent^(N) of his mother Sarah,^(O) and he married Rebekah.^(P) So she became his wife, and he loved her;^(Q) and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.^(R)

The Coming of Zion’s King

¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.^{(A) 16} And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.^{(B) 17} As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.^{(C) 18} For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a](D) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^{(E) 20} Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.^(F)

²¹ So I find this law at work:^(G) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being^(H) I delight in God’s law;^{(I) 23} but I see another law at work in me, waging war^(J) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin^(K) at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?^{(L) 25} Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!^(M)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,^(N) but in my sinful nature^[b] a slave to the law of sin.^(O)

¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

¹⁸ For John came neither eating^(A) nor drinking,^(B) and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’^(C) But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

The Father Revealed in the Son^(A)