Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
For the choir director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Shout (C)joyfully to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike (E)the timbrel,
The sweet sounding (F)lyre with the (G)harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the (H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (I)feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he [b](J)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a (K)language that I did not know:
6 “I [c](L)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [d]basket.
7 “You (M)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I (N)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I proved you at the (O)waters of Meribah. [e]Selah.
8 “(P)Hear, O My people, and I will [f]admonish you;
O Israel, if you (Q)would listen to Me!
9 “Let there be no (R)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 “(S)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(T)Open your mouth wide and I will (U)fill it.
11 “But My people (V)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [g]obey Me.
12 “So I (W)gave [h]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices.
13 “Oh that My people (X)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Y)walk in My ways!
14 “I would quickly (Z)subdue their enemies
And (AA)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 “(AB)Those who hate the Lord would (AC)pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 “[i]But I would feed you with the [j](AD)finest of the wheat,
And with (AE)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
A Bride for Isaac
24 Now (A)Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had (B)blessed Abraham in every way. 2 Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had (C)charge of all that he owned, “(D)Please place your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, (E)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you (F)shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of (G)the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4 but you will go to (H)my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” 6 Then Abraham said to him, “(I)Beware that you do not take my son back there! 7 (J)The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘(K)To your [a]descendants I will give this land,’ He will send (L)His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will (M)be free from this my oath; (N)only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant (O)placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of (P)good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to [b]Mesopotamia, to (Q)the city of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by (R)the well of water at evening time, (S)the time when women go out to draw water. 12 He said, “(T)O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please [c](U)grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, (V)I am standing by the [d]spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; 14 now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and [e]who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”
Rebekah Is Chosen
15 (W)Before he had finished speaking, behold, (X)Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of (Y)Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. 16 The girl was (Z)very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had [f]had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “(AA)Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” 18 (AB)She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 Now when she had finished giving him a drink, (AC)she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. 21 (AD)Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her [g]in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a (AE)gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her [h]wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father’s house?” 24 She said to him, “(AF)I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.” 26 Then the man (AG)bowed low and worshiped the Lord. 27 He said, “(AH)Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken (AI)His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, (AJ)the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”
Walk According to His Commandments
1 (A)The elder to the (B)chosen (C)lady and her children, whom I (D)love in truth; and not only I, but also all who (E)know the truth, 2 for (F)the sake of the truth which abides (G)in us and will be (H)with us forever: 3 (I)Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 (J)I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. 5 Now I ask you, lady, (K)not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had (L)from the beginning, that we (M)love one another. 6 And (N)this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, (O)just as you have heard (P)from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
7 For (Q)many deceivers have (R)gone out into the world, those who (S)do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is (T)the deceiver and the (U)antichrist. 8 (V)Watch yourselves, (W)that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. 9 [a]Anyone who [b]goes too far and (X)does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, (Y)do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting (Z)participates in his evil deeds.
12 (AA)Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that [c]your (AB)joy may be made full.
13 The children of your (AC)chosen sister greet you.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.