Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God’s Majesty and Care for the Needy

¹¹ And he made the camels kneel outside the city at the well of water, at the time of evening, toward the time the women went out to draw water. ¹² And he said, “O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show loyal love to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are going out to draw water. ¹⁴ And let it be that the girl to whom I shall say, ‘Please, offer your jar that I may drink’ and who says, ‘Drink—and I will also water your camels,’ she is the one you have chosen for your servant, for Isaac. By her I will know that you have shown loyal love to my master.” ¹⁵ And it happened that before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah—who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham—came out, and her jar was on her shoulder. ¹⁶ Now the girl was very pleasing in appearance. She was a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. ¹⁷ And the servant ran to meet her. And he said, “Please, let me drink a little of the water from your jar.” ¹⁸ And she said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly lowered her jar in her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When^[a] she finished giving him a drink she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they finish drinking.” ²⁰ And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water. And she drew water for all his camels. ²¹ And the man was gazing at her silently to know if Yahweh had made his journey successful or not. ²² And it happened that as the camels finished drinking the man took a gold ring of a half shekel in weight and two bracelets for her arms, ten shekels in weight, ²³ and said, “Please tell me, whose daughter are you? Is there a place at the house of your father for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ Then she said to him, “We have both straw and fodder in abundance, as well as a place to spend the night.” ²⁶ And the man knelt down and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁷ And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld^[b] his loyal love and his faithfulness from my master. I was on the way and Yahweh led me to the house of my master’s brother.”

⁹ Let a widow be put on the list if she^[a] is not less than sixty years old, the wife of one husband, ¹⁰ being well-attested by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has helped those who are oppressed, if she has devoted herself to every good work. ¹¹ But refuse younger widows, for whenever their physical desires lead them away from Christ, they want to marry, ¹² thus incurring condemnation because they have broken their former pledge. ¹³ And at the same time also, going around from house to house, they learn to be idle, and not only idle, but also gossipy and busybodies, saying the things that are not necessary. ¹⁴ Therefore I want younger widows to marry, to bear children, to manage a household, to give the adversary no opportunity for reproach. ¹⁵ For already some have turned away and followed after Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing woman has widows, she must help them, and the church must not be burdened, in order that it may help those who are truly widows.