Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 113

¹ Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!

² Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever

³ From the rising of the sun to the going down of it and from east to west, the name of the Lord is to be praised!

⁴ The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens!

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God, Who has His seat on high,

⁶ Who humbles Himself to regard the heavens and the earth!^(A)

⁷ [The Lord] raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill,

⁸ That He may seat them with princes, even with the princes of His people.

⁹ He makes the barren woman to be a homemaker and a joyful mother of [spiritual] children. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

² And Abraham said to the eldest servant of his house [Eliezer of Damascus], who ruled over all that he had, I beg of you, put your hand under my thigh;^(A)

³ And you shall swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I have settled,

⁴ But you shall go to my country and to my relatives and take ^[a]a wife for my son Isaac.

⁵ The servant said to him, But perhaps the woman will not be willing to come along after me to this country. Must I take your son to the country from which you came?

⁶ Abraham said to him, See to it that you do not take my son back there.

⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, Who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my family and my birth, Who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, To your offspring I will give this land—He will send His ^[b]Angel before you, and you will take a wife from there for my son.

⁸ And if the woman should ^[c]not be willing to go along after you, then you will be clear from this oath; only you must not take my son back there.

⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking some of all his master’s treasures with him; thus he journeyed to Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates], to the city of Nahor [Abraham’s brother].

5 Do not sharply censure or rebuke an older man, but entreat and plead with him as [you would with] a father. Treat younger men like brothers;

² [Treat] older women like mothers [and] younger women like sisters, in all purity.

³ [Always] treat with great consideration and give aid to those who are truly widowed (solitary and without support).

⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, see to it that these are first made to understand that it is their religious duty [to defray their natural obligation to those] at home, and make return to their parents or grandparents [for all their care by contributing to their maintenance], for this is acceptable in the sight of God.

⁵ Now [a woman] who is a real widow and is left entirely alone and desolate has fixed her hope on God and perseveres in supplications and prayers night and day,

⁶ Whereas she who lives in pleasure and self-gratification [giving herself up to luxury and self-indulgence] is dead even while she [still] lives.

⁷ Charge [the people] thus, so that they may be without reproach and blameless.

⁸ If anyone fails to provide for his relatives, and especially for those of his own family, he has disowned the faith [by failing to accompany it with fruits] and is worse than an unbeliever [who performs his obligation in these matters].