Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith [C perhaps a musical term or instrument]. A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength;
shout out loud to the God of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
2 ·Begin the music [Lift up a psalm]. ·Play [Sound; L Give] the tambourines [68:25; 149:3; 150:4; Ex. 15:20].
·Play pleasant music on the harps [L …the pleasant/sweet harps] and lyres.
3 Blow the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] at ·the time of the New Moon [L the month; C a monthly religious festival],
when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for Israel;
it is the ·command [judgment] of the God of Jacob [v. 1].
5 He ·gave [set] this ·rule [decree; testimony] to the people of Joseph [C reference to the northern tribes]
when they went out of the land of Egypt [C the exodus; Ex. 12–15].
I heard a ·language [L tongue] I did not know, saying [C God now speaks]:
6 “I ·took the load off [removed the burden from] their shoulders;
·I let them put down their baskets [L Their hands were removed from the baskets].
7 When you were in ·trouble [distress], you called, and I ·saved [rescued] you.
I answered you ·with thunder [L in the secret place of thunder; Ex. 19:18–19].
I tested you at the waters of Meribah [95:8; 106:32; Ex. 17:1–17; Num. 20:1–13]. ·
8 My people, listen. I ·am warning [bear testimony/witness against] you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have ·foreign [strange] gods;
you must not worship any ·false [foreign] god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
·Open [L Widen] your mouth and I will feed you [Deut. 29:6; 32:10–14].
11 “But my people did not listen to ·me [L my voice];
Israel did not ·want [accept] me.
12 So I ·let them go their stubborn way [L threw them away because of their stubborn hearts]
and ·follow [walk according to] their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me;
I wish Israel would ·live [L walk on] my way.
14 Then I would quickly ·defeat [subdue; quell] their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would ·bow [cringe; cower] before him.
Their ·punishment [doom] would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat [Deut. 32:14]
and fill you with honey from the rocks [Deut. 32:13].”
Jacob Arrives in Northwestern Mesopotamia
29 Then Jacob ·continued his journey [L lifted his feet] and came to the land of the people of the East [C the area of the Arameans on the northern Euphrates]. 2 He looked and saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying nearby, because they drank water from this well. A large stone covered the mouth of the well. 3 When all the flocks would gather there, ·the shepherds [L they] would roll the stone away from the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place.
4 Jacob said to the shepherds there, “My brothers, where are you from?”
They answered, “We are from Haran [11:31].”
5 Then Jacob asked, “Do you know Laban, ·grandson [descendant] of Nahor?”
They answered, “We know him.”
6 Then Jacob asked, “How is he?”
They answered, “He is well. Look, his daughter Rachel is coming now with his sheep.”
7 Jacob said, “But look, it is still ·the middle of the day [broad daylight]. It is not time for the sheep to be gathered for the night, so give them water and let them go back into the pasture.”
8 But they said, “We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered. Then we will roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep.”
9 While ·Jacob [L he] was talking with ·the shepherds [L them], Rachel came with her father’s sheep, because ·it was her job to care for the sheep [L she was a shepherdess]. 10 When Jacob saw Laban’s daughter Rachel and Laban’s sheep, he went to the well and rolled the stone from its mouth and watered Laban’s sheep. Now Laban was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s mother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and [L lifted his voice and] cried. 12 He told her that he was from her father’s family and that he was the son of Rebekah. So Rachel ran home and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him. Laban hugged him and kissed him and brought him to his house, where Jacob told Laban everything that had happened.
14 Then Laban said, “You are my own ·flesh and blood [L bone and flesh].”
Jacob Is Tricked
Jacob stayed there a month.
Warnings from Israel’s Past
10 Brothers and sisters, I ·want you to know [L don’t want you to be ignorant of] what happened to our ancestors. They were all under the cloud [C the Israelites were guided in the wilderness by a cloud, a symbol of God’s presence; Ex. 13:21; Num. 9:15–23] and all went through the sea [C the miraculous passage through the Red Sea; Ex. 14:22]. 2 They were all baptized ·as followers of [L into] Moses in the cloud and in the sea [C just as believers are baptized “into Christ” (Rom. 6:3), so the Israelites were “baptized” into Moses, their leader-redeemer]. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food [C the manna God provided from heaven; Ex. 16:15, 35], 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink [C the water miraculously provided from a rock; Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:7–13]. They drank from that spiritual rock that followed them [C in Jewish tradition, the rock travelled with the Israelites, providing continual refreshment], and that rock was Christ [C a type of Christ, who provides spiritual sustenance].
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