Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 “[a]Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Climbing (A)on the mountains,
Leaping on the hills!
9 “My beloved is like a (B)gazelle or a (C)young [b]stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering (D)through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘(E)Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for [c]pruning the vines,
And the voice of the (F)turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The (G)fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the (H)vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
Jacob Meets Rachel
29 Then Jacob [a]went on his journey, and came to the land of (A)the sons of the east. 2 He looked, and [b]saw (B)a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from (C)Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the (D)son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” 6 And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is (E)Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob (F)kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was a [c](G)relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and (H)she ran and told her father.
13 So when (I)Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and (J)embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are (K)my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.
All the World Guilty
3 Then what [a]advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that (A)they were entrusted with the (B)oracles of God. 3 What then? If (C)some [b]did not believe, their [c]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 (D)May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found (E)a liar, as it is written,
5 But if our unrighteousness [e](G)demonstrates the righteousness of God, (H)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? ((I)I am speaking in human terms.) 6 (J)May it never be! For otherwise, how will (K)God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie (L)the truth of God abounded to His glory, (M)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “(N)Let us do evil that good may come”? [f]Their condemnation is just.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.