Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 81
For the worship leader. A song of Asaph accompanied by the harp.[a]
God’s covenant people celebrated many festivals honoring God and His provisions. Poets composed songs specifically for use on feast days. Psalm 81 is one of those. It was written to celebrate the Festival of Booths. God commanded His people to celebrate this festival every year so they would remember how God provided for them as they moved toward the promised land (Deuteronomy 16:13–15). A portion of this psalm (verses 5b–16) would have been sung by the lead musician as if he were speaking for God.
In the annual rhythm of festivals and praise, God is reminding the people of all He has done for them and of their past disobedience in spite of His love. He is also calling His people to renew their commitment to Him, a reasonable request on a holiday honoring Him.
1 Sing with joy to God, our strength, our fortress.
Raise your voices to the True God of Jacob.
2 Sing and strike up a melody;
sound the tambourine,
strum the sweet lyre and the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet to announce the new moon,
the full moon, the day of our feast.[b]
4 For this is prescribed for Israel,
a rule ordained by the True God of Jacob.
5 A precept established by God in Joseph
during His journey in Egypt.
I hear it said in a language foreign to me:
6 “I removed the burden from your shoulders;
I removed heavy baskets from your hands.
7 You cried out to Me, I heard your distress, and I delivered you;
I answered you from the secret place, where clouds of thunder roll.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
[pause][c]
8 “O My people, hear Me; I will rebuke you.
Israel, Israel! If you would only listen to Me.
9 Do not surround yourselves with other gods
or bow down to strange gods.
10 I am the Eternal, your True God.
I liberated you from slavery, led you out from the land of Egypt.
If you open your mouth wide, I will fill it.
11 “But My own people did not hear My voice!
Israel refused to obey Me.
12 So I freed them to follow their hard hearts,
to do what they thought was best.
13 If only My people would hear My voice
and Israel would follow My direction!
14 Then I would not hesitate to humble their enemies
and defeat their opposition Myself.
15 Those who hate the Eternal will cower in His presence, pretending to submit;
they secretly loathe Him, yet their doom is forever.
16 But you—I will feed you the best wheat
and satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”
24 Abraham was now very old. He had seen many years come and go. The Eternal One had blessed his life in every imaginable way. 2 One day, Abraham spoke to his oldest and most-trusted servant, the man in charge of all his affairs.
Abraham: Put your hand here underneath my thigh. 3 Swear by the Eternal One, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not arrange for my son to marry any of the Canaanite daughters here where I am living. 4 Instead promise me you will go to my own country and my own relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.
Servant: 5 But what if the woman is not willing to follow me here to this unfamiliar land? Do you want me then to take Isaac back to your homeland?
Abraham: 6 Absolutely not! Isaac’s future is here. Do not take my son back there. 7 The Eternal One, the God of heaven, the God who led me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth long ago, the God who spoke to me and swore to me, “I am going to give this land to your future generations”—that God will send His messenger to guide and help you find a wife for my son from there. 8 If for some reason the woman is not willing to follow you, then I free you from the obligation of my oath. But you must never take my son back there!
9 The trusted servant took the oath, holding in his hand Abraham’s power to give life. He swore to do what his master required.
This solemn oath, sworn with the servant’s hand beneath Abraham’s thigh, binds the servant to carry out the request.
10 Then the servant gathered together 10 of his master’s camels and left, taking all kinds of valuable gifts from his master to give to his relatives. He traveled all the way to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 11 Outside of the city, he made the camels kneel down by a well of water to rest after the long journey. It was nearly dusk, the time when all of the women were coming out to draw water from the well. 12 He said a prayer.
Servant: O Eternal One, God of my master Abraham, please make me successful today and show Your loyal love to my master Abraham. 13 You see that I am standing here by the spring as the young women of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the girl to whom I say, “Please dip your jar in the water that I may drink,” and who will reply, “Drink, and I will draw water for your camels”—let her be the one You have chosen to be a wife for Your servant Isaac. When You do this, I will know of Your loyal love for my master.
15 Before he could finish his prayer, it happened that Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel (Milcah’s and Nahor’s son—Nahor, you remember, was Abraham’s brother) approached the spring with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 She was a very beautiful girl and still a virgin. No man had ever touched her. He watched her go down to the spring, fill her jar, and come back up the hill. 17 The servant wasted no time; he ran down to meet her.
Servant: Please let me have a little water to drink from your jar.
Rebekah: 18 Drink, my lord.
She quickly lowered her jar onto her hand and tipped it for him to drink. 19 After she had finished giving him water, she offered to do more.
Rebekah: I’ll draw some water for your camels too. I’ll make sure they drink all they need.
20 She quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw more water. She continued to draw water until all of the camels had drunk their fill. 21 The man gazed at her in silence, waiting and wondering if she was the one the Eternal One intended for Isaac, the one who would make his journey a success. 22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out from his things a gold nose ring weighing about a fifth of an ounce, plus two gold bracelets for her arms weighing four ounces.
Servant: 23 Please tell me, whose daughter are you? Is there any room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?
Rebekah: 24 I am the daughter of Bethuel (son of Milcah, Nahor’s wife). 25 We have plenty of straw and feed for your camels and also space for you to spend the night.
26 The servant bowed his head and worshiped the Eternal One.
Servant: 27 Blessed be the Eternal One, the God of my master Abraham, who has not failed to show His loyal love and faithfulness to my master, for the Eternal has led me directly to the house of my master’s relatives.
1 I, the elder, to you, a lady chosen by God along with her children. I truly love all of you and am confident that all who know the truth share in my love for you. 2 The truth, which lives faithfully within all of us and will be with us for all eternity, is the basis for our abounding love. 3 May grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Jesus the Anointed, the Father’s own Son, surround you and be with you always in truth and love.
4 I was so filled with joy to hear stories about your children walking in truth, in the very way the Father called us to live. 5 So now, dear lady, I am asking you to live by the command that we love one another. I’m not writing to you some new commandment; it’s one we received in the beginning from our Lord. 6 Love is defined by our obedience to His commands. This is the same command you have known about from the very beginning; you must live by it. 7 The corrupt world is filled with liars and frauds who deny the reality that Jesus the Anointed has come into the world as a man of flesh and blood. These people are deceivers and antiChrists.[a] 8 Ensure that you do not lose what we have worked for so that you will be fully rewarded.
9 Any person who drifts away and fails to live in the teachings of the Anointed One, our Liberating King, does not have God. But the person who lives in this teaching will have both the Father and the Son. 10 If any person comes to you with a teaching that does not align with the true message of Jesus, do not welcome that person into your house or greet him as you would a true brother. 11 Anyone who welcomes this person has become a partner in advancing his wicked agenda.
12 I have so much more to tell you, but I would rather meet with you personally than try to capture these sentiments by ink on paper. I hope to come and see you so that our joy will be complete.
13 The children of your chosen sister send you warm greetings.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.