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Psalm 113

1  Alleluia.
      Give praise, you servants of the Lord, ♦︎
   O praise the name of the Lord.
2  Blessed be the name of the Lord, ♦︎
   from this time forth and for evermore.
3  From the rising of the sun to its setting ♦︎
   let the name of the Lord be praised.
4  The Lord is high above all nations ♦︎
   and his glory above the heavens.
5  Who is like the Lord our God,
      that has his throne so high, ♦︎
   yet humbles himself to behold
      the things of heaven and earth?
6  He raises the poor from the dust ♦︎
   and lifts the needy from the ashes,
7  To set them with princes, ♦︎
   with the princes of his people.
8  He gives the barren woman a place in the house ♦︎
   and makes her a joyful mother of children.
      Alleluia.

The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah

24Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. ²Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, ‘Put your hand under my thigh ³and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac.’ ⁵The servant said to him, ‘Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?’ ⁶Abraham said to him, ‘See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, “To your offspring I will give this land”, he will send his angel before you; you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.’ ⁹So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.

Duties towards Believers

5Do not speak harshly to an older man,^* but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers, ²to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters—with absolute purity.

3 Honour widows who are really widows. ⁴If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God’s sight. ⁵The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day; ⁶but the widow^* who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. ⁷Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach. ⁸And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.