Sarai and Hagar

16 Now ^(A)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had ^(B)an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. ^(C)Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will ^[a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ And so after Abram had lived ^(D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. ⁴ Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. ⁵ So Sarai said to Abram, “^(E)May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your ^[b]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her ^[c]sight. ^(F)May the Lord judge between ^[d]you and me.” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your ^[e]power; do to her what is good in your ^[f]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and ^(G)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now ^(H)the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ^(I)Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, ^(J)from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ So the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit ^[g]to her authority.” ¹⁰ The ^(K)angel of the Lord also said to her, “^(L)I will greatly multiply your ^[h]descendants so that ^[i]they will be too many to count.” ¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her further,

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “^[l]You are ^[m]a God who sees me”; for she said, “^(P)Have I even seen Him here and lived after ^[n]He saw me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^[o]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^(Q)Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was ^(R)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to ^[p]him.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(S)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(X)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(AB)kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[v]descendants after you throughout their generations as an ^(AC)everlasting covenant, ^(AD)to be God to you and ^(AE)to your ^[w]descendants after you. ⁸ And ^(AF)I will give to you and to your ^[x]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(AG)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(AH)you shall keep My covenant, you and your ^[y]descendants after you throughout their generations. ^10 (AI)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^[z]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(AJ)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² And every male among you who is ^(AK)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, including a slave who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your ^[aa]descendants. ¹³ A slave who is born in your house or ^(AL)who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^(AM)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her by the name ^[ab]Sarai, but ^[ac]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(AN)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(AO)kings of peoples will ^[ad]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(AP)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And ^(AQ)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth to a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you ^(AR)a son, and you shall name him ^[ae]Isaac; and ^(AS)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his ^[af]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(AT)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. ^(AU)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a ^(AV)great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with ^(AW)Isaac, whom ^(AX)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(AY)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were ^(AZ)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, ^(BA)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(BB)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And his son ^(BC)Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. ²⁷ And all the men of his household, those who were ^(BD)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now ^(BE)the Lord appeared to ^[ag]Abraham by the ^[ah](BF)oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three ^(BG)men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, ³ and said, “^[ai]My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not ^[aj]pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and ^(BH)wash ^[ak]your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; ⁵ and I will ^[al](BI)bring a piece of bread, so that you may ^[am]refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have ^[an]visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “^[ao]Quickly, prepare three ^[ap]measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and ^[aq]choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree ^[ar]as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “^(BJ)I will certainly return to you ^[as]at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(BK)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(BL)past ^[at]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[au]to herself, saying, “^(BM)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(BN)lord being old also?” ¹³ But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’ ^14 (BO)Is anything too ^[av]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(BP)appointed time I will return to you, ^[aw]at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ Sarah denied it, however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Charitable Giving to the Poor and Prayer

6 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, ^(A)to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

² “So when you ^[a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they ^(B)will be praised by people. ^(C)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you ^[b]give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and ^(D)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵ “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to ^(E)stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners ^(F)so that they ^[c]will be seen by people. ^(G)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But as for you, when you pray, ^(H)go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and ^(I)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their ^(J)many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for ^(K)your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

The Lord’s Prayer

⁹ “^(L)Pray, then, in this way:

^14 (S)For if you forgive other people for their ^[j]offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But ^(T)if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your ^[k]offenses.

Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth

¹⁶ “Now ^(U)whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they ^[l]distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. ^(V)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But as for you, when you fast, ^[m](W)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your ^(X)Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

¹⁹ “^(Y)Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves ^(Z)treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for ^(AA)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²² “^(AB)The eye is the lamp of the body; so then, if your eye is ^[n]clear, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if ^(AC)your eye is ^[o]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴ “^(AD)No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^[p](AE)wealth.

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

A ^[a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord ^[b]concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.

The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security