Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the Director: On the Gittith. By Asaph.
Celebrating and Remembering God
81 Sing joyfully to God, our strength.
Raise a shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Sing a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding lyre along with the harp.
3 Blow the ram’s horn when there is a New Moon,
when there is a full moon,
on our festival day,
4 because it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance by the God of Jacob,
5 a decree that he prescribed for Joseph
when he went throughout the land of Egypt,
speaking a language I did not recognize.[a]
6 I removed the burden from your[b] shoulder;
your[c] hands were freed of the burdensome basket.[d]
7 In a time of need you called out and I delivered you;
I answered you from the dark thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Listen, My people and I will warn you.
Israel, if only you would obey me!
9 You must neither have a foreign god over you
or worship a strange god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
open your mouth that I may fill it.
11 Yet my people didn’t obey my voice;
Israel didn’t submit to me.
12 So I allowed them[e] to continue in their stubbornness,
living by their own advice.
13 If only my people would obey me,
if only Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies.
I would turn against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord will cringe before him;
their punishment will be permanent.
16 But I will feed Israel[f] with the finest wheat,
satisfying you with honey from the rock.
Jacob Meets Rachel
29 Jacob journeyed on and reached the territory that belonged to the people who lived in the east.[a] 2 As he was observing a well that had been dug out on the open range, all of a sudden he noticed three flocks of sheep lying there, because shepherds watered their flocks from that well. There was a very large stone that covered the opening of the well, 3 and when all the flocks had been gathered there, they would roll away the stone from the opening of the well, water their flocks, and then return the stone to its place covering the opening of the well.
4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?”
“We’re from Haran,” they answered.
5 “Do you happen to know Nahor’s son Laban?” he inquired.
“We do,” they replied.
6 So he asked them, “How’s he doing?”
“Very well,” they answered. “As a matter of fact, look over there! That’s his daughter Rachel, coming here with his sheep.”
7 “Look!” Jacob replied. “The sun[b] is still high. It’s not yet time for the flocks to be gathered. Let’s water the sheep, then let them graze.”
8 But they responded, “We can’t do that until all the sheep have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the opening of the well. Only then can we water the flock.” 9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, since she was a shepherdess.
10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, accompanied by Laban’s sheep, Jacob approached the well, rolled the stone from the opening of the well, and then watered his mother’s brother Laban’s flock. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to cry out loud. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was related to her father, since he was Rebekah’s son, so she ran and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him, kissed him, and brought him back to his house. Then Jacob told Laban about everything that had happened. 14 Laban responded, “You certainly are my flesh and blood!”[c] So Jacob[d] stayed with him for about a month.[e]
Warnings about Idolatry
10 Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the fact that all of our ancestors who left Egypt[a] were under the cloud. They all went through the sea, 2 and they all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was the Messiah.[b]
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.