Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Her Lover’s Visit Remembered
8 W The sound of my lover! here he comes[a]
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle[b]
or a young stag.
See! He is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
10 My lover speaks and says to me,
M “Arise, my friend, my beautiful one,
and come!
11 For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise, my friend, my beautiful one,
and come!
Chapter 29
Arrival in Haran.[a] 1 (A)After Jacob resumed his journey, he came to the land of the Kedemites. 2 Looking about, he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep huddled near it, for flocks were watered from that well. A large stone covered the mouth of the well.(B) 3 When all the shepherds were assembled there they would roll the stone away from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back again in its place over the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We are from Haran,” they replied. 5 Then he asked them, “Do you know Laban, son of Nahor?” “We do,” they answered.(C) 6 He inquired further, “Is he well?” “He is,” they answered; “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 7 Then he said: “There is still much daylight left; it is hardly the time to bring the animals home. Water the sheep, and then continue pasturing them.” 8 They replied, “We cannot until all the shepherds are here to roll the stone away from the mouth of the well; then can we water the flocks.”
9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was the one who tended them. 10 As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of Laban, he went up, rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well, and watered Laban’s sheep. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. So she ran to tell her father. 13 When Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him. After embracing and kissing him, he brought him to his house. Jacob then repeated to Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “You are indeed my bone and my flesh.”[b]
Marriage to Leah and Rachel. After Jacob had stayed with him a full month,
Chapter 3
Answers to Objections. 1 [a]What advantage is there then in being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much, in every respect. [For] in the first place, they were entrusted with the utterances of God.(A) 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their infidelity nullify the fidelity of God?(B) 4 Of course not! God must be true, though every human being is a liar,[b] as it is written:
“That you may be justified in your words,
and conquer when you are judged.”(C)
5 But if our wickedness provides proof of God’s righteousness, what can we say? Is God unjust, humanly speaking, to inflict his wrath?(D) 6 Of course not! For how else is God to judge the world? 7 But if God’s truth redounds to his glory through my falsehood, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not say—as we are accused and as some claim we say—that we should do evil that good may come of it? Their penalty is what they deserve.(E)
Universal Bondage to Sin.[c]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.