Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

81 To the overcomer, on the pressers, [the psalm] of Asaph. Make ye fully joy to God, our helper; sing ye heartily to God of Jacob. (To the overcomer, at the winepresses, the song of Asaph. Make ye full out joy to God, our helper; sing ye heartily to the God of Jacob.)

² Take ye a psalm, and give ye a tympan; a merry psaltery with an harp. (Give ye a song, and take ye a drum, or a tambourine; and a merry lute, and a harp.)

³ Blow ye with a trump in the new moon; in the noble day of your solemnity. (Blow ye with a trumpet for the new moon; yea, on the noble day of our solemn feast.)

⁴ For why (this) commandment is in Israel; and doom is to God of Jacob. (For this is a law in Israel; and this ordinance is from the God of Jacob.)

⁵ He setted that witnessing in Joseph; when he went out of the land of Egypt, he heard a language, that he knew not. (He put that command on Joseph; when he went out of the land of Egypt. And I heard a language, that I knew not.)

⁶ He turned away his back from burdens; his hands served in a coffin. (And the Lord said, I took away the burdens from off his back; his hands were delivered from having to carry the baskets.)

⁷ In tribulation thou inwardly calledest me, and I delivered thee; I heard thee in the hid place of tempest, I proved thee at the water(s) of against-saying. (In trouble thou calledest to me, and I saved thee; I answered thee from my hidden place in the tempest, and I proved thee at the waters of Meribah.)

⁸ My people, hear thou me, and I shall be witness against thee; Israel, if thou hearest me, (My people, hear thou me, and I shall witness to thee; Israel, if thou wouldest but listen to me,)

⁹ a fresh God shall not be in thee; and thou shalt not worship an alien god. (there shall be no new god for thee; and thou shalt never worship any foreign, or strange, god.)

¹⁰ For I am thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt; make large thy mouth, and I shall fill it. (For I am the Lord thy God, who led thee out of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I shall fill it.)

¹¹ And my people heard not my voice; and Israel gave not attention to me. (But my people would not listen to my voice; yea, Israel would not give their attention to me.)

¹² And I let go them after the desires of their heart; they shall go in their findings. (So I let them go after the desires of their hearts; and they went forth in their own ways.)

¹³ If my people had heard me; if Israel had gone in my ways. (If my people would but listen to me; if Israel would just follow my ways,)

¹⁴ For not in hap I had made low their enemies; and I had sent mine hand on men doing tribulation to them. (then I would bring down their enemies; and I would send forth my hand against those who give them trouble.)

¹⁵ The enemies of the Lord lied (down) to him; and their time shall be into worlds. (And then the Lord’s enemies would fall down before me; and their punishment would last forever.)

¹⁶ And he fed them with the fatness of wheat; and he [ful]filled them with honey of the stone. (And I would feed you with the fatness of the wheat; and fulfill you with honey from the rocks, that is, with wild honey.)

24 Forsooth Abraham was eld, and of many days, and the Lord had blessed him in all things.

² And he said to the elder servant of his house, that was sovereign on all things that he had, Put thou thine hand under mine hip, (And he said to the oldest servant of his household, who was the ruler over all the things that he had, Put thy hand under my hip,)

³ that I conjure thee by the Lord God of heaven and of earth, that thou take not a wife to my son of the daughters of Canaan, among which I dwell; (and I want thee to swear by the Lord God of heaven and earth, that thou shalt not get a wife for my son from the daughters of Canaan, among whom I live;)

⁴ but that thou go to my land and kindred, and thereof take a wife to my son Isaac. (but that thou shalt go to my land and family, and get a wife from there for my son Isaac.)

⁵ The servant answered, If the woman will not come with me into this land, whether I ought to lead again thy son to the place, from which thou wentest out? (And the servant answered, If the woman will not come back with me to this land, should I lead thy son back to the place from which thou wentest out?)

⁶ Abraham said, Beware, lest any time thou lead again thither my son; (And Abraham said, Nay! Beware, lest any time thou lead my son back there;)

⁷ the Lord God of heaven that took me from the house of my father, and from the land of my birth, which spake to me, and swore (to me), and said, I shall give this land to thy seed, (yea,) he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife to my son (and thou shalt get a wife from there for my son);

⁸ forsooth if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be holden by the oath; nevertheless lead not again my son thither (but do not lead my son back there).

⁹ Therefore the servant putted his hand under the hip of Abraham, his lord, and swore to him on this word (and swore to him on this matter).

¹⁰ And he took ten camels of the flock of his lord, and went forth, and bare with him of all the goods of his lord (And then he took ten camels from his lord’s herd, and went forth, and took with him many good things from his lord); and he went forth, and came to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

¹¹ And when he had made the camels to rest without the city (And when he had made the camels to rest outside the city), beside a well of water, in the eventide, in that time in which women be wont to go out to draw water,

¹² he said, Lord God of my lord Abraham, I beseech, meet with me today, and do mercy with my lord Abraham (and do mercy to my lord Abraham).

¹³ Lo! I stand nigh the well of water, and the daughters of the dwellers of this city shall go out to draw water; (Lo! I stand near to the water well, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city shall go out to draw water;)

¹⁴ therefore the damsel to which I shall say, Bow down thy water pot (so) that I (may) drink, and (she) shall answer, Drink thou, but also I shall give drink to thy camels, that it is which thou hast made ready to thy servant Isaac (she it is whom thou hast prepared for thy servant Isaac); and by this I shall understand that thou hast done mercy to my lord Abraham.

¹⁵ And he had not yet [ful-]filled the words within himself, and lo! Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham, went out, having a water pot in her shoulder (having a water pot on her shoulder);

¹⁶ a damsel full comely/full shapely, and fairest virgin, and unknown of man. Soothly she came down to the well, and filled the water pot, and turned again. (a very shapely young woman, and the most beautiful virgin, yea, unknown by man. And she went down to the well, and filled the water pot, and then came up again.)

¹⁷ And the servant met her, and said, Give thou to me a little of the water of thy pot to drink (Give thou to me a little water to drink from thy water pot).

¹⁸ Which answered, Drink thou, my lord. And anon she did down the water pot on her shoulder, and gave drink to him (And at once she did down the water pot from off her shoulder, and gave him a drink).

¹⁹ And when he had drunk, she said, But also I shall draw water to thy camels, till all have drunk. (And when he had drunk, she said, I shall also draw some water for thy camels, until all of them have had something to drink as well.)

²⁰ And she poured out the water pot in(to) (the) troughs, and ran (down) again to the well, to draw (some more) water, and she gave (the) water drawn to all the camels (and so she gave water to all the camels).

²¹ Soothly he beheld her privily, and would wit whether the Lord had sped his way, or nay. (And he secretly watched her, and wanted to know if the Lord had sped his way, or not.)

²² Therefore after that the camels had drunk, the man brought forth golden earrings, weighing two shekels, and as many bands of the arm (and two arm bands), in the weight of ten shekels.

²³ And he said to her, Whose daughter art thou? show thou to me (and tell me), is [there] any place in the house of thy father (for us) to dwell in?

²⁴ Which answered, I am the daughter of Bethuel, (the) son of Nahor, whom Milcah childed to him.

²⁵ And she added, saying, Also full much of provender and of hay is at us (And we have much provender and hay), and a large place to dwell in.

²⁶ (And) The man bowed himself (down), and worshipped the Lord,

²⁷ and said, Blessed be the Lord God of my lord Abraham, which took not away his mercy and truth from my lord, and led me by the right way, into the house of the brother of my lord. (and said, Blessed be the Lord God of my lord Abraham, who took not away his mercy and truth from my lord, but led me by the right way to the house of my lord’s brother.)

¹ The elder man, to the chosen lady [The elder man to the lady Electa], and to her children, which I love in truth; and not I alone, but also all men that know truth [but and all men that knew truth];

² for the truth that dwelleth in you, and with you shall be without end. [for the truth that dwelleth in you, and with you shall be into without end].

³ Grace be with you, mercy, and peace of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and charity.

⁴ I joyed full much, for I found of thy sons going in truth, as we received commandment of the Father.

⁵ And now I pray thee, lady, not as writing a new commandment to thee, but that that we had from the beginning, that we love each other.

⁶ And this is charity, that we walk after his commandments. For this is the commandment, that as ye heard at the beginning, walk ye in him.

⁷ For many deceivers went out into the world, which acknowledge not that Jesus Christ hath come in flesh; this is a deceiver and antichrist.

⁸ See ye yourselves, lest ye lose the things that ye have wrought, [but] that ye receive full meed;

⁹ witting that each man that goeth before [witting that each man that goeth away], and dwelleth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God. He that dwelleth in the teaching [of Christ], hath both the Son and the Father.

¹⁰ If any man cometh to you, and bringeth not this teaching, do not ye receive him into your house, neither say to him, Hail.

¹¹ For he that saith to him, Hail, communeth with his evil works. Lo! I before-said to you, that ye be not confounded in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹² I have more things to write to you, and I would not by parchment and ink [I having more things to write to you, would not by parchment and ink]; for I hope that I shall come to you, and speak mouth to mouth, that our joy be full.

¹³ The sons of thy chosen sister greet thee well [The sons of thy sister Electa greet thee well]. The grace of God be with thee. Amen.