Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Wishing to Be Near God

For the director of music. A maskil of the sons of Korah.

A Prayer for Protection

A Wife for Isaac

24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. ² Abraham said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of everything he owned, “Put your hand under my leg.^{[a] 3} Make a promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Don’t get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here. ⁴ Instead, go back to my country, to the land of my relatives, and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant said to him, “What if this woman does not want to return with me to this land? Then, should I take your son with me back to your homeland?”

⁶ Abraham said to him, “No! Don’t take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and the land of my relatives. And he promised me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ The Lord will send his angel before you to help you get a wife for my son there. ⁸ If the girl won’t come back with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under his master’s leg and made a promise to Abraham about this.

¹⁰ The servant took ten of Abraham’s camels and left, carrying with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Northwest Mesopotamia to Nahor’s city. ¹¹ In the evening, when the women come out to get water, he made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city.

¹² The servant said, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, allow me to find a wife for his son today. Please show this kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Here I am, standing by the spring, and the girls from the city are coming out to get water. ¹⁴ I will say to one of them, ‘Please put your jar down so I can drink.’ Then let her say, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels.’ If that happens, I will know she is the right one for your servant Isaac and that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, came out of the city. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother.) Rebekah was carrying her water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ She was very pretty, a virgin; she had never had sexual relations with a man. She went down to the spring and filled her jar, then came back up. ¹⁷ The servant ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

¹⁸ Rebekah said, “Drink, sir.” She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ After he finished drinking, Rebekah said, “I will also pour some water for your camels.” ²⁰ So she quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she kept running to the well until she had given all the camels enough to drink.

²¹ The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure the Lord had made his trip successful.

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ What about you? You call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law of Moses and brag that you are close to God. ¹⁸ You know what he wants you to do and what is important, because you have learned the law. ¹⁹ You think you are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in darkness. ²⁰ You think you can show foolish people what is right and teach those who know nothing. You have the law; so you think you know everything and have all truth. ²¹ You teach others, so why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but you steal. ²² You say that others must not take part in adultery, but you are guilty of that sin. You hate idols, but you steal from temples. ²³ You brag about having God’s law, but you bring shame to God by breaking his law, ²⁴ just as the Scriptures say: “Those who are not Jews speak against God’s name because of you.”^[a]

²⁵ If you follow the law, your circumcision has meaning. But if you break the law, it is as if you were never circumcised. ²⁶ People who are not Jews are not circumcised, but if they do what the law says, it is as if they were circumcised. ²⁷ You Jews have the written law and circumcision, but you break the law. So those who are not circumcised in their bodies, but still obey the law, will show that you are guilty. ²⁸ They can do this because a person is not a true Jew if he is only a Jew in his physical body; true circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. ²⁹ A person is a Jew only if he is a Jew inside; true circumcision is done in the heart by the Spirit, not by the written law. Such a person gets praise from God rather than from people.