Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Praise to the Loving God

¹¹ As evening approached, he had the camels kneel outside the town at the water well, right about the time when women customarily went out to draw water.

¹² That’s when he prayed, “Lord God of my master Abraham, help me to succeed today. Please show your gracious love to my master Abraham. ¹³ I’ve stationed myself here by the spring as the women of the town come to draw water. ¹⁴ May it be that the young woman to whom I ask, ‘Please, lower your jug so that I may drink,’ responds, ‘Have a drink, and I’ll water your camels as well.’ May she be the one whom you have chosen for your servant Isaac. This is how I’ll know that you have shown your gracious love to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah appeared. She was a daughter of Milcah’s son Bethuel. (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.) She approached the well, carrying a jug on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The woman was very beautiful, young, and had not had sexual relations with a man. Going down to the spring, she filled her jug and turned for home. ¹⁷ Then Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and asked her, “Please, let me have a sip of water from your jug.”

¹⁸ “Drink, sir!” she replied as she quickly lowered her jug on her arm to offer him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she also said, “I’ll also draw water^[a] for your camels until they’ve had enough to drink.”

²⁰ She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and ran to the well to draw again until she had drawn enough water^[b] for all ten of the servant’s^[c] camels. ²¹ The man stared at her in silence, waiting to see whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. ²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her wrists, weighing 10 shekels and presented them to her.^[d]

²³ He asked her, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ “I am the daughter of Bethuel,” she answered. “He’s the son of Milcah and Nahor. ²⁵ And yes,” she continued, “we have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place to spend the night.”

²⁶ At this, the man bowed down and worshipped the Lord. ²⁷ “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hasn’t held back his gracious love and faithfulness from my master! The Lord has led me to the house of my master’s relatives!”

⁹ A widow may be put on the widows’^[a] list if she is at least sixty years old and has been the wife of one husband.^{[b] 10} She must be well known for her good actions as a woman who has raised children, welcomed strangers, washed the saints’ feet, helped the suffering, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.

¹¹ But do not include younger widows on your list.^[c] For whenever their natural desires cause them to lose their devotion to the Messiah,^[d] they want to remarry. ¹² They receive condemnation because they have set aside their prior commitment to the Messiah.^{[e] 13} At the same time, they also learn how to be lazy while going from house to house. Not only this, but they even become gossips and keep busy by interfering in other people’s lives, saying things they should not say.

¹⁴ Therefore, I want younger widows to remarry, have children, manage their homes, and not give the enemy any chance to ridicule them. ¹⁵ For some widows^[f] have already turned away to follow Satan. ¹⁶ If any woman^[g] is a believer and has relatives who are widows, she should help them. The church should not be burdened, so it can help those widows who have no other family members to care for them.^[h]