Rebecca at the Well, 1691-93, Antonio Bellucci, oil on canvas in a Private Collection

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are online here. The group disbanded but the readings below follow the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in Episcopal worship.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for July 5 - Sisth Sunday after Pentecost - Track 1: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Psalm 45: 11-18 or Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Track 2: Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145:8-15 for both: Romans 7:15-25a and Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. The text is from Bible Study Tools -- New International Version. The Psalms are from the most recent print version of The Book of Common Prayer - 2016.

Track 1

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. ³⁷ And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸ but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’

⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. ⁴³ See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also. ⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ “She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’ “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, ⁴⁸ and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said. ⁵⁹ So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” ⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. ⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Psalm 45: 11-18

¹¹ Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *
    forget your people and your father's house.

¹² The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
    he is your master; therefore do him honor.

¹³ The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
    the rich among the people seek your favor."

¹⁴ All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
    her gown is cloth-of-gold.

¹⁵ In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
    after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.

¹⁶ With joy and gladness they are brought, *
    and enter into the palace of the king.

¹⁷ "In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *
    you shall make them princes over all the earth.

¹⁸ I will make your name to be remembered
    from one generation to another; *
    therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever."

or Song of Solomon 2:8-13

⁸ The voice of my beloved!
    Behold, he comes,

leaping over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.

⁹ My beloved is like a gazelle
    or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands
    behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,
    looking through the lattice.

¹⁰ My beloved speaks and says to me:

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,

¹¹ for behold, the winter is past;
    the rain is over and gone.

¹² The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove
    is heard in our land.

¹³ The fig tree ripens its figs,
    and the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fra grance.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.

Track 2

Zechariah 9:9-12

⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
     Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,
     righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,
     on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
     and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken.
     He will proclaim peace to the nations.

His rule will extend from sea to sea
     and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
     I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
     even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Psalm 145:8-15

⁸ The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, *
    slow to anger and of great kindness.

⁹ The LORD is loving to everyone *
    and his compassion is over all his works.

¹⁰ All your works praise you, O LORD, *
    and your faithful servants bless you.

¹¹ They make known the glory of your kingdom *
    and speak of your power;

¹² That the peoples may know of your power *
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; *
    your dominion endures throughout all ages.

¹⁴ The LORD is faithful in all his words *
    and merciful in all his deeds.

¹⁵ The LORD upholds all those who fall; *
    he lifts up those who are bowed down.

for both

Romans 7:15-25a

¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said to the crowd, ¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

    ¹⁷ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance;
             we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. ²⁷ “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools and the Online Book of Common Prayer for the text.