Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
116 I love the Lord for hearing me,
for listening to my prayers.
2 Yes, he paid attention to me,
so I will always call to him whenever I need help.
12 What can I give the Lord
for all that he has done for me?
13 He saved me,
so I will give him a drink offering,
and I will call on the Lord’s name.
14 I will give the Lord what I promised.
I will go in front of all his people now.
15 Very dear to the Lord are the lives of his followers.
He cares when they face death.
16 Lord, I am your servant!
Yes, I am your slave, as my mother was.
You set me free from the chains of death.
17 I will give you a thank offering.
I will call on the Lord’s name.
18 I will stand before the gathering of his people
and give the Lord what I promised.
19 I will do this in Jerusalem,
in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple.
Praise the Lord!
The Search Begins
10 The servant took ten of Abraham’s camels and left that place. The servant carried with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Mesopotamia, to Nahor’s city. 11 In the evening, when the women come out to get water, he went to the water well outside the city. He made the camels kneel down at the well.
12 The servant said, “Lord, you are the God of my master Abraham. Please show your kindness to my master by helping me find a wife for his son Isaac. 13 Here I am, standing by this well of water, and the young women from the city are coming out to get water. 14 I will say to one of them, ‘Please put your jar down so that I can drink.’ Let her answer show whether she is the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. If she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels,’ I will know that she is the right one. It will be proof that you have shown kindness to my master.”
A Wife Is Found
15 Before the servant finished praying, a young woman named Rebekah came to the well. She was the daughter of Bethuel. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother.) Rebekah came to the well with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 She was very pretty. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the well and filled her jar. 17 Then the servant ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”
18 Rebekah quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. She said, “Drink this, sir.” 19 As soon as she finished giving him something to drink, Rebekah said, “I will also pour some water for your camels.” 20 So Rebekah quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she ran to the well to get more water, and she gave water to all the camels.
21 The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure that the Lord had given him an answer and had made his trip successful. 22 After the camels finished drinking, he gave Rebekah a gold ring that weighed 1/4 ounce.[a] He also gave her two gold arm bracelets that weighed 2 ounces[b] each. 23 The servant asked, “Who is your father? And is there a place in your father’s house for me and my men to sleep?”
24 Rebekah answered, “My father is Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor.” 25 Then she said, “Yes, we have straw and other food for your camels and a place for you to sleep.”
26 The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord. 27 He said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and loyal to him by leading me to his own people.”
28 Then Rebekah ran and told her family about all these things. 29-30 She had a brother named Laban. She told him what the man had said to her. Laban was listening to her. And when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, he ran out to the well. There the man was, standing by the camels at the well. 31 Laban said, “Sir, you are welcome to come in![c] You don’t have to stand outside here. I have prepared a room for you to sleep in and a place for your camels.”
32 So Abraham’s servant went into the house. Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed. Then he gave Abraham’s servant water so that he and the men with him could wash their feet. 33 Laban then gave him food to eat, but the servant refused to eat. He said, “I will not eat until I have told you why I came.”
So Laban said, “Then tell us.”
Bargaining for Rebekah
34 The servant said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master in everything. My master has become a great man. The Lord has given him many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. He has much silver and gold and many servants. He has many camels and donkeys. 36 Sarah was my master’s wife. When she was very old, she gave birth to a son, and my master has given everything he owns to that son. 37 My master forced me to make a promise to him. He said to me, ‘You must not allow my son to marry a girl from Canaan. We live among these people, but I don’t want him to marry one of the Canaanite girls. 38 So you must promise to go to my father’s country. Go to my family and choose a wife for my son.’ 39 I said to my master, ‘Maybe the woman will not come back to this place with me.’ 40 But my master said to me, ‘I serve the Lord, and he will send his angel with you and help you. You will find a wife for my son among my people there. 41 But if you go to my father’s country, and they refuse to give you a wife for my son, you will be free from this promise.’
42 “Today I came to this well and said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful. 43 I will stand by this well and wait for a young woman to come to get water. Then I will say, “Please give me water from your jar to drink.” 44 The right woman will answer in a special way. She will say, “Drink this water, and I will also get water for your camels.” That way I will know that she is the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying, Rebekah came out to the well to get water. She had her water jar on her shoulder as she went to get water from the well. I asked her to give me some water. 46 She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and poured me some water. Then she said, ‘Drink this, and I’ll get some water for your camels.’ So I drank the water, and she gave water to my camels. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ She answered, ‘My father is Bethuel the son of Milcah and Nahor.’ Then I gave her the ring and bracelets for her arms. 48 I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. I thanked him for leading me straight to the granddaughter of my master’s brother. 49 Now, tell me, will you be kind and loyal to my master and give him your daughter? Or will you refuse to give her to him? Tell me so that I will know what I should do.”
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “We see that this is from the Lord, so there is nothing we can say to change it. 51 Here is Rebekah. Take her and go. Let her marry your master’s son. This is what the Lord wants.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard this, he bowed to the ground before the Lord.
God’s Law and Human Traditions(A)
7 Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw that some of his followers ate food with hands that were not clean, meaning that they did not wash their hands in a special way. 3 The Pharisees and all the other Jews never eat before washing their hands in this special way. They do this to follow the traditions they have from their great leaders who lived long ago. 4 And when these Jews buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special way. They also follow other rules from their people who lived before them. They follow rules like the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.[a]
5 The Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Your followers don’t follow the traditions we have from our great leaders who lived long ago. They eat their food with hands that are not clean. Why do they do this?”
6 Jesus answered, “You are all hypocrites. Isaiah was right when he wrote these words from God about you:
‘These people honor me with their words,
but I am not really important to them.
7 Their worship of me is worthless.
The things they teach are only human rules.’ (B)
8 You have stopped following God’s commands, preferring instead the man-made rules you got from others.”
9 Then he said, “You show great skill in avoiding the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings! 10 Moses said, ‘You must respect your father and mother.’[b] He also said, ‘Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.’[c] 11 But you teach that people can say to their father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ 12 You are telling people that they do not have to do anything for their father or mother. 13 So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think it is more important to follow those traditions you have, which you pass on to others. And you do many things like that.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International