Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. A song of David.
140 Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Save me from cruel men.
2 They make evil plans.
They always start fights.
3 They make their tongues sharp as a snake’s.
Their words are like snake poison. Selah
4 Lord, guard me from the power of wicked people.
Save me from cruel men
who plan to trip me up.
5 Proud men have hidden a trap for me.
They have spread out a net beside the road.
They have set traps for me. Selah
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Lord, listen to my prayer for help.
7 Lord God, my mighty savior,
you protect me in battle.
8 Lord, do not give the wicked what they want.
Don’t let their plans succeed,
or they will become proud. Selah
9 Those around me have planned trouble.
Now let it come to them.
10 Let burning coals fall on them.
Throw them into the fire
or into pits from which they cannot escape.
11 Don’t let liars settle in the land.
Let evil quickly hunt down cruel men.
12 I know the Lord will get justice for the poor.
He will defend the needy in court.
13 Good people will praise his name.
Honest people will live in his presence.
34 He said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master in everything. My master has become a rich man. The Lord has given him many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. He has given Abraham silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and horses. 36 Sarah, my master’s wife, gave birth to a son when she was old. My master has given everything he owns to that son. 37 My master had me make a promise to him. He said, ‘Don’t get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here. 38 Instead you must go to my father’s people and to my family. There you must get a wife for my son.’ 39 I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ 40 But he said, ‘I serve the Lord. He will send his angel with you and will help you. You will get a wife for my son from my family and my father’s people. 41 Then you will be free from the promise. Or if they will not give you a wife for my son, you will be free from this promise.’
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is clearly from the Lord. We cannot change what must happen. 51 Rebekah is yours. Take her and go. Let her marry your master’s son as the Lord has commanded.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard these words, he bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant gave Rebekah gold and silver jewelry and clothes. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and mother. 54 The servant and the men with him ate and drank. And they spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, the servant said, “Now let me go back to my master.”
55 Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “Let Rebekah stay with us at least ten days. After that she may go.”
56 But the servant said to them, “Do not make me wait. The Lord has made my trip successful. Now let me go back to my master.”
57 Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “We will call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do.” 58 They called her and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man now?”
She said, “Yes, I do.”
59 So they allowed Rebekah and her nurse to go with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 They blessed Rebekah and said,
“Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of people.
And may your descendants capture the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her servant girls got on the camels and followed the servant and his men. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 At this time Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi. He was living in southern Canaan. 63 One evening he went out to the field to think. As he looked up, he saw camels coming. 64 Rebekah looked and saw Isaac. Then she jumped down from the camel. 65 She asked the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant answered, “That is my master.” So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother. And she became his wife. Isaac loved her very much. So he was comforted after his mother’s death.
The Command to Love Others
7 My dear friends, I am not writing a new command to you. It is the same command you have had since the beginning. It is the teaching you have already heard. 8 But I am writing a new command to you. This command is true; you can see its truth in Jesus and in yourselves. The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9 Someone says, “I am in the light.”[a] But if he hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him that will cause him to do wrong. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in darkness. He lives in darkness and does not know where he is going. The darkness has made him blind.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.