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.”
Jacob Meets Rachel
29 Then Jacob [a]went on his journey, and came to the land of (A)the sons of the east. 2 He looked, and [b]saw (B)a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from (C)Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the (D)son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” 6 And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is (E)Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob (F)kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was a [c](G)relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and (H)she ran and told her father.
13 So when (I)Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and (J)embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are (K)my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.
Avoid Israel’s Mistakes
10 For (A)I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all (B)under the cloud and all (C)passed through the sea; 2 and all were (D)baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all (E)ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all (F)drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was [a]Christ.
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