Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 “Listen! I hear my love!
Look! Here he comes!
He’s leaping across the mountains.
He’s coming over the hills.
9 The one who loves me is like an antelope or a young deer.
Look! There he stands behind our wall.
He’s gazing through the window.
He’s peering through the screen.
10 He said to me, ‘Rise up, my love.
Come with me, my beautiful one.
11 Look! The winter is past.
The rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers are appearing on the earth.
The season for singing has come.
The cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig trees are producing their early fruit.
The flowers on the vines are giving off their sweet smell.
Rise up and come, my love.
Come with me, my beautiful one.’ ”
Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram
29 Then Jacob continued on his journey. He came to the land where the eastern tribes lived. 2 There he saw a well in the open country. Three flocks of sheep were lying near it. The flocks were given water from the well. The stone over the opening of the well was large. 3 All the flocks would gather there. The shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s opening. They would give water to the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the opening of the well.
4 Jacob asked the shepherds, “My friends, where are you from?”
“We’re from Harran,” they replied.
5 He said to them, “Do you know Nahor’s grandson Laban?”
“Yes, we know him,” they answered.
6 Then Jacob asked them, “How is he?”
“He’s fine,” they said. “Here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”
7 “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high in the sky. It’s not time for the flocks to be brought together. Give water to the sheep and take them back to the grasslands.”
8 “We can’t,” they replied. “We have to wait until all the flocks are brought together. The stone has to be rolled away from the opening of the well. Then we’ll give water to the sheep.”
9 He was still talking with them when Rachel came with her father’s sheep. It was her job to take care of the flock. 10 Rachel was the daughter of Laban, Jacob’s uncle. When Jacob saw Rachel with Laban’s sheep, he went over to the well. He rolled the stone away from the opening. He gave water to his uncle’s sheep. 11 Jacob kissed Rachel. Then he began to cry because he was so happy. 12 He had told Rachel he was a relative of her father. He had also said he was Rebekah’s son. Rachel ran and told her father what Jacob had said.
13 As soon as Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he hurried to meet him. Laban hugged Jacob and kissed him. Then Laban brought him to his home. There Jacob told him everything. 14 Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
Jacob stayed with Laban for a whole month.
God Is Faithful
3 Is there any advantage in being a Jew? Is there any value in being circumcised? 2 There is great value in every way! First of all, the Jews have been given the very words of God.
3 What if some Jews were not faithful? Will the fact that they weren’t faithful keep God from being faithful? 4 Not at all! God is true, even if every human being is a liar. It is written,
“You are right when you sentence me.
You are fair when you judge me.” (Psalm 51:4)
5 Doesn’t the fact that we are wrong prove more clearly that God is right? Then what can we say? Can we say that God is not fair when he brings his anger down on us? As you can tell, I am just using human ways of thinking. 6 God is certainly fair! If he weren’t, how could he judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, “When I lie, it becomes clearer that God is truthful. It makes his glory shine more brightly. Why then does he find me guilty of sin?” 8 Why not say, “Let’s do evil things so that good things will happen”? Some people actually lie by reporting that this is what we say. They are the ones who will rightly be found guilty.
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