Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God saved me from death^[a]

¹⁰ After that, Abraham's servant left to go on his journey. He took with him ten of his master's camels. He also took many different kinds of valuable gifts that Abraham had given to him.^[a] He travelled towards Aram Naharaim. He arrived in the town of Nahor.^[b]

¹¹ Abraham's servant stopped outside the town. He made the camels go down on their knees near a well. It was the evening time, when women came to the well to get water. ¹² The servant prayed to God. He prayed, ‘Lord, God of Abraham, my master, please be my guide today. Be kind to my master Abraham, as you have promised him. ¹³ See, I am standing here near this well. The daughters of the people who live in the town will come to get water from the well. ¹⁴ I will say to one of the young women, “Please let me have a drink of water from your pot.” If she is the right woman for your servant Isaac to marry, please may she say, “Yes, drink. Then I will give water to your camels also”. If that happens, then I will know that you have kept your promise to my master.’

¹⁵ The servant was still praying when Rebekah came to the well. She had her pot on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Milcah. Milcah was the wife of Abraham's brother, Nahor. ¹⁶ The young woman was very beautiful. She had not had sex with any man. She went down to the well. She filled her pot with water and she came back up again. ¹⁷ Abraham's servant hurried to meet her. He said, ‘Please give me a little water to drink from your pot.’ ¹⁸ She replied, ‘Yes sir, please drink.’ She quickly took the pot down from her shoulders. She held the pot with her hands and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ After she had done that, she said, ‘Now I will get some water for your camels too. I will do this until they have drunk as much water as they want.’ ²⁰ So Rebekah quickly poured the water from her pot into the place where the animals drank. She ran back to the well to get more water. She did this until the camels had drunk enough. ²¹ Abraham's servant watched the girl, but he did not say anything. He wanted to know if the Lord had helped him to find a wife for Isaac.

²² The camels finished drinking. Then Abraham's servant took out a valuable gold nose ring. It weighed one half shekel. He also took out two large gold rings for Rebekah's arms. They weighed 10 shekels each.

²³ The servant gave them to Rebekah and he asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there a room in your father's house for me and my men to sleep there tonight?’

²⁴ Rebekah replied ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel. Nahor is his father, and Milcah is his mother. ²⁵ We have plenty of grass and food for the camels. And there is a room for you to stay with us for the night.’

²⁶ Then the man turned his face towards the ground. He worshipped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, ‘I praise the Lord who is the God of my master, Abraham. He has been very kind to my master. He has done what he promised to do for him. The Lord has been kind to me too. He has led me here to the house of my master's family.’

²⁸ Rebekah quickly ran back home. She told her mother and her family about what had happened.

²⁹ Rebekah had a brother. His name was Laban. ³⁰ Laban saw the nose ring and the arm rings that Rebekah was wearing. Rebekah told him what the man had said to her. So Laban went out quickly to the well to meet the servant. He found him standing near the well, together with his camels. ³¹ Laban said to him, ‘The Lord has blessed you! You should not continue to stand out here. Come with me. I have prepared a room for you in my house. There is also a place for your camels.’

³² So Abraham's servant went with Laban to the house. They took the luggage off the camels. Someone brought grass and food for the camels. They also brought water so that Abraham's servant and his men could wash their feet. ³³ They prepared food for the servant but he said, ‘I will not eat yet. First I must tell you why I have come here.’ Laban said, ‘Please tell us.’

³⁴ So the servant said, ‘I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵ The Lord has blessed my master very much, so that he has become very rich. The Lord has given him sheep and cows, and silver and gold. He has also given him male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Sarah is my master's wife. She has given birth to a son for him, even when she was very old. My master has given his son everything that belongs to him. ³⁷ My master told me to make a serious promise to him. He said, “I live as a stranger among the Canaanite people. But you must not get a Canaanite woman to be a wife for my son. ³⁸ Instead, go to the land where my father lived and find a wife for my son from among my family there.”

³⁹ So I asked my master, “What should I do if the woman will not return with me?” ⁴⁰ My master said “I have lived to please the Lord. He will send his angel to go with you. You will find a wife for my son, because the Lord will help you. You will find a wife for him from among my own family. ⁴¹ Go to the place where my family group live. If they refuse to let you take her, you will no longer have to keep your promise to me.” 

⁴² I arrived at the town well today. I prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, please help me to find a wife for my master's son. This is why I have travelled here. ⁴³ See, I am standing here near this well. If a young woman comes to get water, I will say to her, ‘Please let me drink some water from your pot.’ ⁴⁴ If she is the woman that the Lord has chosen to marry my master's son, please may she say to me, ‘Yes, drink. Then I will also get some water for your camels to drink.’ ”

⁴⁵ While I was still praying quietly, Rebekah came to the well. She carried her pot on her shoulder. She went down to the well, and got some water. Then I said to her “Please give me some water to drink.” ⁴⁶ She quickly took her pot down from her shoulder. She said, “Drink. Then I will get water for your camels too.” So I drank. And she also gave water to the camels.

⁴⁷ I asked her, “Whose daughter are you?” She said, “I am the daughter of Bethuel. Nahor is his father and Milcah is his mother.” When I heard that, I put the ring in her nose. I put the rings on her arms. ⁴⁸ I turned my face towards the ground and I worshipped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham. The Lord led me to the right place so that I met the granddaughter of my master's brother. The Lord has led me to her, for my master's son. ⁴⁹ So tell me what you will say. If you will show true love to my master, then please say, “Yes.” But if not, then tell me. Then I will know what to do.’

⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel replied, ‘We know that the Lord has caused all this to happen. So what we ourselves say is not important. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah. Take her with you to become the wife of your master's son. That is what the Lord has shown to be right.’

⁵² When Abraham's servant heard their answer, he turned his face towards the ground to thank the Lord.

Jesus speaks to Pharisees and to some teachers of God's Law

7 A group of Pharisees and some teachers of God's Law came from Jerusalem to talk with Jesus. ² They had been watching Jesus' disciples. Some of the disciples did not wash their hands before they ate a meal. That is to say, they did not wash them in the right way. ³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat food until they have washed their hands carefully. They do this because of what their leaders taught them. ⁴ When they come from the market place, they always wash themselves carefully. Unless they do this, they do not eat anything. Their leaders also gave them rules about how they should wash cups, pots and metal bowls.)

⁵ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law said to Jesus, ‘Your disciples do not obey the things that our leaders taught many years ago. Your disciples have not washed their hands in the right way. They are eating their food with unclean hands. That is not right.’

⁶ Jesus said to them, ‘You are hypocrites! What God's prophet Isaiah wrote about you long ago is true:

⁸ Jesus then said, ‘You have stopped obeying God. Instead you obey the ideas that men teach.’

⁹ He said to them, ‘You refuse to obey God's rules, because then you can keep your own ideas! ¹⁰ For example, Moses wrote, “You must love your father and your mother. You must obey them.” He also said, “You must kill anyone who curses his father or his mother.”^{[b] 11} But you teach that a person may say to his father or to his mother, “I would have given gifts to help you. But I cannot do that, because I have given them to God instead.” ¹² If he says that, you let him do nothing to help his father or his mother. ¹³ This shows that you have not obeyed what God says is right. Instead, you have obeyed the ideas that you received from your leaders many years ago. And you do many other things like that.’