Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Help

140 O Lord, take me away from sinful men. Keep me safe from men who want to hurt others. ² They make sinful plans in their hearts. They always start wars. ³ They make their tongues sharp like a snake’s. And the poison of a snake is under their lips.

⁴ O Lord, keep me from the hands of the sinful. Keep me safe from men who want to hurt others and have planned to trip my feet. ⁵ The proud have hidden a trap for me. With ropes they have spread a net. They have set traps for me beside the road. ⁶ I said to the Lord, “You are my God. Listen to the voice of my prayers, O Lord. ⁷ O God the Lord, the strength that saves me, You have covered my head in the day of battle. ⁸ O Lord, do not give the sinful what they want. Do not let their plans work, or they will be honored.

⁹ “As for those who gather around me, may the wrong-doing of their lips come upon their heads. ¹⁰ May burning coals fall upon them. May they be thrown into the fire, into deep holes, and rise no more. ¹¹ Do not let the man whose talking hurts people stand in the land. May trouble hurry to catch and destroy the man who wants to hurt others.”

¹² I know that the Lord will stand by those who suffer and do what is right for the poor. ¹³ For sure those who are right and good will give thanks to Your name. Those who are right will live with You.

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ And the Lord has brought much good to my boss. He has become rich. The Lord has given him flocks and cattle, silver and gold, men and women servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My boss’s wife Sarah gave birth to my boss’s son when she was very old. And he has given him all he has.

³⁷ “My boss made me promise, saying, ‘Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live. ³⁸ But go to my father’s house, to those of my family, and take a wife for my son there.’ ³⁹ I said to my owner, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘The Lord, Whom I have always obeyed, will send His angel with you to make all go well during your visit there. You will take a wife for my son from those of my family and from my father’s house. ⁴¹ Then you will be free from your promise to me. When you come to those of my family, and if they do not give her to you, then you will be free from your promise to me.’

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “This thing comes from the Lord. We cannot speak for or against it. ⁵¹ See, Rebekah is in front of you. Take her and go. Let her be the wife of your boss’s son, as the Lord has spoken.” ⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he put his face to the ground before the Lord. ⁵³ He brought out things made of silver and gold, and clothes, and gave them to Rebekah. He gave things of much worth to her brother and mother also. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men with him ate and drank and stayed the night there. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my boss.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, at least ten. Then she may go.” ⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not make me stay any more days, since the Lord has made my way go well. Send me away so I may go to my boss.” ⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the girl and ask her what she wants to do.” ⁵⁸ They called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse. They went with Abraham’s servant and the men who were with him. ⁶⁰ They prayed that good would come to Rebekah, and said to her, “You are our sister. May you become the mother of millions. May your children and all their children’s children after them take over the cities of those who hate them.” ⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her servants got up on the camels and followed the man. So the servant of Abraham took Rebekah and left.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beerlahairoi, and was living in the Negev. ⁶³ Isaac had gone out to pray in the field in the evening. He looked up and saw that camels were coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got off the camel ⁶⁵ and said to Abraham’s servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” Abraham’s servant said, “He is my boss.” So she took a cloth and covered her face. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac all the things he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent, and she became his wife. And he loved her. So Isaac found comfort after his mother’s death.

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing a new Law for you to obey. It is an old Law you have had from the beginning. The old Law is the Word that you have heard. ⁸ And yet it is a new Law that I am writing to you. It is truth. It was seen in Christ and it is seen in you also. The darkness is passing away and the true Light shines instead. ⁹ Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ But whoever loves his brother is in the light. And there will be no reason to sin because of him. ¹¹ Whoever hates his brother is not in the light but lives in darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.