Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

In Praise of the Lord's Goodness

²⁸ The young woman ran to her mother's house and told the whole story. ²⁹ Now Rebecca had a brother named Laban, and he ran outside to go to the well where Abraham's servant was. ³⁰ Laban had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and had heard her say what the man had told her. He went to Abraham's servant, who was standing by his camels at the well, ³¹ and said, “Come home with me. You are a man whom the Lord has blessed. Why are you standing out here? I have a room ready for you in my house, and there is a place for your camels.”

³² So the man went into the house, and Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and fodder. Then he brought water for Abraham's servant and his men to wash their feet. ³³ When food was brought, the man said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”

Laban said, “Go on and speak.”

³⁴ “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. ³⁵ “The Lord has greatly blessed my master and made him a rich man. He has given him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, silver, gold, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys. ³⁶ Sarah, my master's wife, bore him a son when she was old, and my master has given everything he owns to him. ³⁷ My master made me promise with a vow to obey his command. He said, ‘Do not choose a wife for my son from the young women in the land of Canaan. ³⁸ Instead, go to my father's people, to my relatives, and choose a wife for him.’ ³⁹ And I asked my master, ‘What if she will not come with me?’ ⁴⁰ He answered, ‘The Lord, whom I have always obeyed, will send his angel with you and give you success. You will get for my son a wife from my own people, from my father's family. ⁴¹ There is only one way for you to be free from your vow: if you go to my relatives and they refuse you, then you will be free.’

⁴² “When I came to the well today, I prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please give me success in what I am doing.

Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth^(A)

¹⁶ Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures ¹⁷ and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,

²⁰ Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him, ²¹ as he said to them, “This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.”

²² They were all well impressed with him and marveled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, “Isn't he the son of Joseph?”

²³ He said to them, “I am sure that you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You will also tell me to do here in my hometown the same things you heard were done in Capernaum. ^24 (C)I tell you this,” Jesus added, “prophets are never welcomed in their hometown. ^25 (D)Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. ^26 (E)Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. ^27 (F)And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. ²⁹ They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, ³⁰ but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.