Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death

A Bride for Isaac

24 Now Abraham ^(A)was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord ^(B)had blessed Abraham in all things. ² So Abraham said ^(C)to the oldest servant of his house, who ^(D)ruled over all that he had, “Please, ^(E)put your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you ^(F)swear^[a] by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that ^(G)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; ^4 (H)but you shall go ^(I)to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord God of heaven, who ^(J)took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ^(K)‘To your ^[b]descendants I give this land,’ ^(L)He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(M)you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

³⁵ “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ^(A)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer ^(B)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (C)He brought them out, after he had ^(D)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, ^(E)and in the Red Sea, ^(F)and in the wilderness forty years.

Israel Rebels Against God

³⁷ “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ^(G)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. ^(H)Him^[a] you shall hear.’

^38 (I)“This is he who was in the ^[b]congregation in the wilderness with ^(J)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, ^(K)the one who received the living ^(L)oracles^[c] to give to us, ³⁹ whom our fathers ^(M)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, ^40 (N)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ^41 (O)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and ^(P)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. ⁴² Then ^(Q)God turned and gave them up to worship ^(R)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: