Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

113 Praise ye Hashem. Praise O ye avadim of Hashem, praise the Shem of Hashem.

² Blessed be the Shem of Hashem from this time forth and forevermore.

³ From the rising of the shemesh unto the going down of the same the Shem of Hashem is to be praised.

⁴ Hashem is high above kol Goyim, and His kavod above HaShomayim.

⁵ Who is like unto Hashem Eloheinu, Who dwelleth on high,

⁶ Who stoopeth down to behold the things that are in Shomayim, and in ha’aretz!

⁷ He raiseth up the poor out of the aphar (dust), and lifteth the needy out of the ash heap;

⁸ That he may seat him with princes, even with the princes of amo (His people).

⁹ He settleth the akeret (barren woman) in her bais to be a happy em of banim. Praise ye Hashem.

¹¹ And he made his gemalim to kneel down outside the Ir near a be’er hamayim at the time of erev, at the time that women go out to draw mayim.

¹² And he said Hashem Elohei adoni Avraham, now, send me success this yom, and show chesed unto adoni Avraham.

¹³ Hinei, I stand here by the ayin hamayim; and the banot anshei haIr come out to draw mayim;

¹⁴ And let it come to pass, that the na’arah to whom I shall say, Let down thy jug, now, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy gemalim drink also; let the same be she that Thou hast appointed for Thy eved Yitzchak; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast showed chesed unto adoni.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, hinei, Rivkah came out, who was born to Beituel Ben Milcah, eshet Nachor, achi Avraham, with her jug upon her shoulder.

¹⁶ And the na’arah was tovat mareh me’od, a betulah, neither had any ish known her: and she went down to haayenah (the spring), and filled her jug, and came up.

¹⁷ And the eved hurried to meet her, and said, Let me, now, drink a little mayim of thy jug.

¹⁸ And she said,Drink, adoni: and she hasted, and let down her jug upon her yad, and gave him drink

¹⁹ And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw for thy gemalim also, until they have done drinking.

²⁰ And she hasted, and emptied her jug into the trough, and ran back unto the be’er to draw, and drew for all his gemalim.

²¹ And the ish gazed at her and held his peace, so as to have da’as whether Hashem had made his derech prosperous or not.

²² And it came to pass, just as the gemalim had done drinking, that the ish took a nezem zahav (gold ring) by weight a beka, and two tzemidim (bracelets) by weight ten [shekels of] gold for her wrists;

²³ And said, Whose bat art thou? Tell me, now: is there makom in the bais of thy av for us to spend the night?

²⁴ And she said unto him, I am Bat Beituel Ben Milcah, the ben which she bore unto Nachor.

²⁵ She said moreover unto him, We have both teven (straw) and mispo (fodder) enough, and makom (room) to spend the night.

²⁶ And the ish bowed his head, worshiped Hashem.

²⁷ And he said, Baruch Hashem Elohei adoni Avraham, who hath not left destitute of His chesed and His emes; I being on the derech, Hashem led me to the bais achei adoni.

⁹ Let an almanah be enrolled on the [kehillah support] list if she is not less than sixty years old, nesu’ah l’ish echad (a one man woman),

¹⁰ being commended by ma’asim tovim, having brought up banim, having showed hachnosas orchim, having washed the feet of the Kadoshim, having given nechamah (comfort) to the oppressed, having devoted herself to every ma’aseh tov.

¹¹ But younger almanot refuse, for, when they have ta’avah (lust), in disregard of Moshiach they want nissu’in (marriage, see v.9),

¹² Having harsha’ah (condemnation, conviction), because their first havtachah (promise, pledge to ministry, v.9) they annulled.

¹³ And at the same time also they learn atzlut, going around house to house, and not only idle but also platke machers (gossipy intriguers) and busybodies, speaking things they ought not.

¹⁴ Therefore, I counsel younger almanot to proceed with nissu’in (marriage), to bear banim, to manage the bais, giving no occasion to the mitnagged (opponent, antagonist) to reproach us.

¹⁵ For already some almanot have turned aside to follow Hasatan.

¹⁶ If any ma’aminah (believing woman) has in her mishpochah (family) almanot, let her assist her almanot and let not Moshiach’s Kehillah be burdened, that indeed Moshiach’s Kehillah may assist the ones who are true almanot [v.9].