Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

In Praise of the Lord's Goodness

A Wife for Isaac

24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in everything he did. ² He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, “Place your hand between my thighs^[a] and make a vow. ³ I want you to make a vow in the name of the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan. ⁴ You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives.”

⁵ But the servant asked, “What if the young woman will not leave home to come with me to this land? Shall I send your son back to the land you came from?”

⁶ Abraham answered, “Make sure that you don't send my son back there! ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son. ⁸ If the young woman is not willing to come with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not under any circumstances take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand between the thighs of Abraham, his master, and made a vow to do what Abraham had asked.

¹⁰ The servant, who was in charge of Abraham's property, took ten of his master's camels and went to the city where Nahor had lived in northern Mesopotamia.

Responsibilities toward Believers

5 Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat the younger men as your brothers, ² the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, with all purity.

³ Show respect for widows who really are all alone. ⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first to carry out their religious duties toward their own family and in this way repay their parents and grandparents, because that is what pleases God. ^5 (A)A widow who is all alone, with no one to take care of her, has placed her hope in God and continues to pray and ask him for his help night and day. ⁶ But a widow who gives herself to pleasure has already died, even though she lives. ⁷ Give them these instructions, so that no one will find fault with them. ⁸ But if any do not take care of their relatives, especially the members of their own family, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.