Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 113

Praise to the Merciful God

¹¹ At evening, the time when women went out to draw water, he made the camels kneel beside a well outside the town.

¹² “Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today,^(A) and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ I am standing here^(B) at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah,^(C) the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—coming with a jug on her shoulder. ¹⁶ Now the girl was very beautiful,^(D) a virgin—no man had been intimate with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jug.”

¹⁸ She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.”^{[a] 20} She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and hurried to the well again to draw water. She drew water for all his camels ²¹ while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the Lord had made his journey a success.

²² As the camels finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing ten shekels of gold. ²³ “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ She also said to him, “We have plenty of straw and feed and a place to spend the night.”

²⁶ Then the man knelt low, worshiped the Lord,^{(E) 27} and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his kindness and faithfulness from my master.^(F) As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

⁹ No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support unless she is at least sixty years old, has been the wife of one husband, ¹⁰ and is well known for good works^(A)—that is, if she has brought up children, shown hospitality,^(B) washed the saints’ feet,^(C) helped the afflicted,^(D) and devoted herself to every good work.^{(E) 11} But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry^{(F) 12} and will therefore receive condemnation^(G) because they have renounced their original pledge. ¹³ At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips^(H) and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say. ¹⁴ Therefore, I want younger women to marry,^(I) have children, manage their households, and give the adversary no opportunity to accuse us.^{(J) 15} For some have already turned away^(K) to follow Satan. ¹⁶ If any^[a] believing woman has widows in her family, let her help them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it can help widows in genuine need.