Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Hallelujah, God helps weak people^[a]

A wife for Isaac

24 Abraham was now a very old man. The Lord had blessed him in every way. ² Abraham had an important servant in his house. He had authority over everything that belonged to Abraham. Abraham said to him, ‘Come here and make a promise to me. Put your hand between my legs to show that I can trust you.^{[a] 3} You must make a serious promise to me in front of the Lord. He is the God who rules both heaven and earth. I am living among the Canaanite people, but you must promise this to me: Do not get a Canaanite woman to be a wife for my son. ⁴ Instead, you must go to my own country. Go to my family there to find a wife for my son Isaac.’

⁵ The servant asked Abraham, ‘What should I do if the woman will not agree? Maybe she will not come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son to the country that you came from?’

⁶ Abraham replied, ‘No! You must never take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, took me away from there. He took me out of my father's house. He took me away from the land where my family lives. God made a serious promise to me. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” Because God has promised this, he will send his angel to go in front of you. When you arrive there, you will find a woman to marry my son. ⁸ But perhaps the woman will not agree to come back here with you. If that happens, you do not have to keep this promise. But do not take my son back to that land.’ ⁹ So the servant put his hand between Abraham's legs. The servant promised that he would do everything that Abraham had told him.

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.^[b] He travelled towards Aram Naharaim. He arrived in the town of Nahor.^[c]

How to help people in the church

5 Do not speak strongly to an older man and tell him what he must do. Instead, ask him in a kind way, as you would speak to your father. Speak to younger men as you would speak to your brothers. ² Speak to older women as you would speak to your mother. Speak to younger women as you would speak to your sisters. Always respect them properly.

Widows

³ Respect those widows in the church who are really alone. ⁴ If a widow has children or grandchildren, then they should take care of her. The children must help their parents or grandparents because they belong to the same family. Their parents helped them, so they need to give them something in return. The children need to learn that important lesson. It is what God's message teaches them to do and it makes God happy. ⁵ Some widows are really alone and they have nobody to take care of them. A widow like that trusts God that he will help her. As a result, she prays a lot, at night and during the day, and she asks God to help her. ⁶ But some widows only want to enjoy themselves. For a widow like that, her spirit is already dead, even while she is still alive.

⁷ Teach everyone clearly to do these things. Then nobody can say that the believers are doing anything wrong. ⁸ Every believer must take care of his own family. Certainly, he must do that for the people who live with him in his home. If anyone does not do that, it shows that he has refused God's true message. That person is worse than someone who does not believe in Christ.