Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Praise for God’s Kindness

¹¹ He made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city. It was in the evening when the women come out to get water.

¹² The servant said, “Lord, you are the God of my master Abraham. Allow me to find a wife for his son today. Please show this kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Here I am, standing by the spring of water. The girls from the city are coming out to get water. ¹⁴ I will say to one of the girls, ‘Please put your jar down so I can drink.’ Then let her say, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels.’ If that happens, I will know she is the right one for your servant Isaac. And I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out of the city. She was the daughter of Bethuel. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother.) Rebekah was carrying her water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ She was very pretty. She was a virgin; she had never had physical relations with a man. She went down to the spring and filled her jar. Then she came back up. ¹⁷ The servant ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

¹⁸ Rebekah said, “Drink, sir.” She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ After he finished drinking, Rebekah said, “I will also pour some water for your camels.” ²⁰ So she quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she kept running to the well until she had given all the camels enough to drink.

²¹ The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure the Lord had made his trip successful. ²² After the camels had finished drinking, he gave Rebekah a gold ring weighing one-fifth of an ounce. He also gave her two gold arm bracelets weighing about four ounces each. ²³ The servant asked, “Who is your father? Is there a place in his house for me and my men to spend the night?”

²⁴ Rebekah answered, “My father is Bethuel. He is the son of Milcah and Nahor.” ²⁵ Then she said, “And, yes, we have straw for your camels. We have a place for you to spend the night.”

²⁶ The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “Blessed is the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and truthful to him. He has led me to my master’s relatives.”

⁹ To be on your list of widows, a woman must be 60 years old or older. She must have been faithful to her husband. ¹⁰ She must be known as a woman who has done good works. By this, I mean good works such as raising her children, accepting visitors in her home, washing the feet of God’s people, helping those in trouble, and using her life to do all kinds of good deeds.

¹¹ But do not put younger widows on that list. After they give themselves to Christ, they are often pulled away from him by their physical desires. And then they want to marry again. ¹² And they will be judged for not doing what they first promised to do. ¹³ Also, those younger widows begin to waste their time going from house to house. They begin to gossip and busy themselves with other people’s lives. They say things that they should not say. ¹⁴ So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. If they do this, then no enemy will have any reason to criticize them. ¹⁵ But some of the younger widows have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶ If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, then she should care for them herself. The church should not have to care for them. Then the church will be able to care for the widows who have no living family.