Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Let Us Go to the Country
The Woman
8 Listen! It’s my lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle,
or like a young buck.
Look! There he is, standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peeking through the lattice.
10 My lover responded and said to me,
“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
and come.”
The Man
11 Look! Winter is over.
The rainy season has come to an end.
12 Flowers appear in the land.
The season of singing has arrived.
The cooing of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fruit of the fig tree is beginning to ripen.
The grapevines are in blossom.
They spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling.
My beautiful one, come.
Jacob and Laban
29 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east.[a]
2 He looked around and noticed a well in the field, and he saw three flocks of sheep lying there beside it. (That well was used to water the flocks. There was a large stone over the mouth of the well. 3 All the flocks would gather there. Then the shepherds would roll the stone away from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.)
4 Jacob said to the men waiting there, “My brothers, where are you from?”
They said, “We are from Haran.”
5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson of Nahor?”
They said, “We know him.”
6 He said to them, “Is he doing well?”
They said, “He is. Look, there is his daughter Rachel, coming with the sheep.”
7 He said, “Look, it is still the middle of the day. It is not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep and go pasture them.”
8 They said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered together, 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 arrived with her father’s sheep because she took care of them. 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, rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother. 11 Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet Jacob. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob repeated all these things to Laban. 14 Laban said to him, “Certainly you are my own flesh and blood.”[b]
Jacob lived with him for a month.
A Jew’s Advantage and God’s Faithfulness
3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? Or what benefit is there to circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Indeed, above all else, they were entrusted with the messages of God.
3 Now what if some did not believe? Their unbelief[a] will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? 4 Absolutely not! God must be true, even though everyone is found to be a liar, just as it is written:
So that you would be justified whenever you speak,
and win the case when you judge.[b]
An Absurd Conclusion
5 Now if our unrighteousness demonstrates God’s righteousness, what shall we say? God is not unjust in bringing his wrath on us, is he? (I am speaking from a human point of view.) 6 Absolutely not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 For example,[c] someone might say, “If by my lie the truth of God increases all the more to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?” 8 And why not say (as some slanderously claim we say), “Let us do evil so that good may result.” Their condemnation is deserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.