Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Praises to God for Being Saved from Death

116 I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my prayers. ² I will call on Him as long as I live, because He has turned His ear to me.

¹² What should I give to the Lord for all the good things He has done for me? ¹³ I will show Him my thanks for saving me with a gift of wine and praise His name. ¹⁴ I will keep my promises to the Lord before all His people. ¹⁵ The death of His holy ones is of great worth in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁶ For sure I am Your servant, O Lord. I am Your servant, the son of the woman who served You. You have set me free from my chains. ¹⁷ I will give a gift of thanks to You and call on the name of the Lord. ¹⁸ I will keep my promises to the Lord before all His people, ¹⁹ in the holy place of the Lord, and in the center of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of Abraham’s camels and left. He took with him all kinds of gifts from Abraham. Then he went to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia. ¹¹ He made the camels get down on their knees outside the city by the well of water in the evening. It was the time when women go out to get water. ¹² He said, “O Lord, the God of my boss Abraham, let all go well for me today. Show loving-kindness to my boss Abraham. ¹³ See, I am standing here by the well of water. And the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to get water. ¹⁴ If I say to a girl, ‘Let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and she answers, ‘Drink, and I will give water to your camels also,’ let her be the one whom You have chosen for your servant Isaac. I will know by this that You have shown loving-kindness to my boss.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor, the brother of Abraham. She had a jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful and had never lain with a man. She went down to the well, filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her. He said, “Let me drink a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she was quick to lift her jar to her hand and give him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will get water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ She was quick to empty her jar into the animals’ drinking place. Then she ran to the well for more water, and got enough for all his camels.

²¹ The man was quiet and watched her, waiting to know if the Lord had made all go well or not during his visit. ²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a heavy gold ring and two heavy gold objects to wear on her arms. ²³ He said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, is there a place for us to stay in your father’s house?” ²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor.” ²⁵ She also said, “We have both enough straw and food, and a place to stay.” ²⁶ Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of my boss Abraham. He has not kept His loving-kindness and His truth from my boss. He has led me in the way to the house of my boss’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then the girl ran and told about all this to those in her mother’s house. ²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. And Laban ran outside to the man at the well. ³⁰ When he saw the gold objects his sister was wearing, and heard his sister Rebekah saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man. He saw him standing by the camels at the well. ³¹ Laban said, “Come in, you who receive good from the Lord! Why do you stand outside? I have made the house ready, and a place for the camels.” ³² So the man came into the house. Laban took the load off the camels, and gave them straw and food. He got water to wash the feet of Abraham’s servant and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ Then food was set in front of the man to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have told you why I came here.” Laban said, “Tell it.” 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.’

⁴² “So I came to the well today. I said, ‘O Lord, the God of my boss Abraham, may all go well during my visit here. ⁴³ See, I am standing by the well of water. If I say to the girl who comes out for water, “Let me drink a little water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and she says, “You drink, and I will get water for your camels also,” then let her be the woman whom the Lord has chosen for my boss’s son.’ ⁴⁵ Before I had finished speaking in my heart, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the well and got water. I asked her, ‘Let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ And she was quick to take down her jar from her shoulder. She said, ‘Drink, and I will give water to your camels also.’ So I drank and she gave water to the camels also. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah and Nahor.’ And I put the gold objects on her nose and arms. ⁴⁸ Then I bowed low and worshiped the Lord. I gave honor and thanks to the Lord, the God of my boss Abraham. For He had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my boss’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ So now if you will show kindness and be true to my boss, tell me. And if not, tell me so I may know which way to turn.”

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.

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Leaders ^(A)

7 The proud religious law-keepers and some of the teachers of the Law had come from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. ² They had seen some of His followers eat bread without washing their hands. ³ The proud religious law-keepers and all the Jews never eat until they wash their hands. They keep the teaching that was given to them by their early fathers. ⁴ When they come from the stores, they never eat until they wash. There are many other teachings they keep. Some are the washing of cups and pots and pans in a special way.

⁵ Then the proud religious law-keepers and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why do Your followers not obey the teaching given to them by their early fathers? They eat bread without washing their hands.” ⁶ He said to them, “Isaiah told about you who pretend to be someone you are not. Isaiah wrote, ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁷ Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach what men say must be done.’ ^{(B) 8} You put away the Laws of God and obey the laws made by men.”

⁹ Jesus said to them, “You put away the Laws of God but keep your own teaching. ¹⁰ Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother.’ ^(C) ‘He who curses his father and mother will be put to death!’ ^{(D) 11} But you say that it is right if a man does not help his father and mother because he says he has given to God what he could have given to them. ¹² You are not making him do anything for his father and mother. ¹³ You are putting away the Word of God to keep your own teaching. You are doing many other things like this.”