Sarai and Hagar

1 ^aNow Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was ^bHagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children¹ by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram ^chad lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, ^dshe looked with contempt on her mistress.² 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May ^ethe Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to ^fShur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, ^g“I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”⁴ for she said, ^k“Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”⁵ 14 Therefore the well was called ^lBeer-lahai-roi;⁶ it lies between ^mKadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;⁷ walk before me, and be ⁿblameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^omay multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram ^pfell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^qthe father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram,⁸ but ^ryour name shall be Abraham,^{9 s}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^tyou into nations, and ^ukings shall come from you. 7 And I will ^vestablish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^wto be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And ^xI will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^yI will be their God.”

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a ^zsign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is ^aeight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or ^bbought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Isaac’s Birth Promised

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah¹⁰ shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^cgive¹¹ you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^dshe shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham ^efell on his face ^fand laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but ^gSarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name ^hIsaac.¹² I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and ⁱmultiply him greatly. He ^jshall father twelve princes, and ^kI will make him into a great nation. 21 But ^lI will establish my covenant with Isaac, ^mwhom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

22 When he had finished talking with him, ⁿGod went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

1 And the Lord appeared to him by the ^ooaks¹³ of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. ^pWhen he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord,¹⁴ if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a ^qlittle water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that ^ryou may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—^ssince you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs¹⁵ of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is ^tin the tent.” 10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you ^uabout this time next year, and ^vSarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now ^wAbraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 ^xSo Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ^y“After I am worn out, and ^zmy lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 ^aIs anything too hard¹⁶ for the Lord? ^bAt the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it,¹⁷ saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Giving to the Needy

1 “Beware of ^rpracticing your righteousness before other people in order ^sto be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 ^t“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^ube praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^vreceived their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. ^wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love ^xto stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. ^yTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, ^zgo into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. ^aAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as ^bthe Gentiles do, for ^cthey think that they will be heard ^dfor their many words. 8 Do not be like them, ^efor your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 ^fPray then like this:

14 ^rFor if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 ^sbut if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Fasting

16 “And ^twhen you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. ^uTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, ^vanoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. ^wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19 ^x“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^ymoth and rust⁵ destroy and where thieves ^zbreak in and steal, 20 ^xbut lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 ^a“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 ^abut if ^byour eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 ^c“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^dmoney.⁶

In You Do I Take Refuge

A ^lShiggaion¹ of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

The Value of Wisdom