Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ^(A)had borne him no children. And she had ^(B)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was ^(C)Hagar. ^2 (D)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ^(E)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, ^(F)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall ^[a]obtain children by her.” And Abram ^(G)heeded the voice of Sarai. ³ Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram ^(H)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴ So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became ^(I)despised in her ^[b]eyes.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, ^[c]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. ^(J)The Lord judge between you and me.”

^6 (K)So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, ^(L)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now the ^(M)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, ^(N)by the spring on the way to ^(O)Shur. ⁸ And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and ^(P)submit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ^(Q)“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-^[e]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here ^[f]seen Him ^(U)who sees me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^(V)Beer Lahai Roi;^[g] observe, it is ^(W)between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So ^(X)Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The Sign of the Covenant^(Y)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ^(Z)appeared to Abram and said to him, ^(AA)“I am ^[h]Almighty God; ^(AB)walk before Me and be ^(AC)blameless. ² And I will make My ^(AD)covenant between Me and you, and ^(AE)will multiply you exceedingly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴ “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(AF)a father of ^[i]many nations. ⁵ No longer shall ^(AG)your name be called ^[j]Abram, but your name shall be ^[k]Abraham; ^(AH)for I have made you a father of ^[l]many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make ^(AI)nations of you, and ^(AJ)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(AK)establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, ^(AL)to be God to you and ^(AM)your descendants after you. ⁸ Also ^(AN)I give to you and your descendants after you the land ^(AO)in^[m] which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(AP)I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham: “As for you, ^(AQ)you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: ^(AR)Every male child among you shall be circumcised; ¹¹ and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be ^(AS)a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² He who is eight days old among you ^(AT)shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. ¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person ^(AU)shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[n]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her ^(AV)and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother ^(AW)of nations; ^(AX)kings of peoples shall be from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face ^(AY)and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham ^(AZ)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, ^(BA)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My ^(BB)covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and ^(BC)will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget ^(BD)twelve princes, ^(BE)and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My ^(BF)covenant I will establish with Isaac, ^(BG)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this ^(BH)set time next year.” ²² Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

²³ So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same 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 same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; ²⁷ and ^(BI)all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Son of Promise^(BJ)

18 Then the Lord appeared to him by ^[o]the ^(BK)terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. ^2 (BL)So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; ^(BM)and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, ³ and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. ⁴ Please let ^(BN)a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ And ^(BO)I will bring a morsel of bread, that ^(BP)you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, ^(BQ)inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Do as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” ⁷ And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. ⁸ So ^(BR)he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

So he said, “Here, ^(BS)in the tent.”

¹⁰ And He said, “I will certainly return to you ^(BT)according to the time of life, and behold, ^(BU)Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) ¹¹ Now ^(BV)Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and ^[p]Sarah ^(BW)had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah ^(BX)laughed within herself, saying, ^(BY)“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my ^(BZ)lord being old also?”

¹³ And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ ^14 (CA)Is anything too hard for the Lord? ^(CB)At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Do Good to Please God

6 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² Therefore, ^(A)when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ³ But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret ^(B)will Himself reward you ^[a]openly.

The Model Prayer^(C)

⁵ “And when you pray, you shall not be like the ^[b]hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ⁶ But you, when you pray, ^(D)go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you ^[c]openly. ⁷ And when you pray, ^(E)do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. ^(F)For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

⁸ “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father ^(G)knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. ⁹ In this ^(H)manner, therefore, pray:

^14 (Q)“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But ^(R)if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Fasting to Be Seen Only by God

¹⁶ “Moreover, ^(S)when you fast, do not be like the ^[e]hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, ^(T)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you ^[f]openly.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven^(U)

^19 (V)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ^20 (W)but 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.

The Lamp of the Body^(X)

^22 (Y)“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is ^[g]good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is ^[h]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

You Cannot Serve God and Riches

^24 (Z)“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. ^(AA)You cannot serve God and ^[i]mammon.

Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies

A ^(A)Meditation^[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord ^(B)concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.

The Value of Wisdom