Sarai and Hagar

16 ^(A)Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was ^(B)Hagar. 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 children^[a] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ So, after Abram ^(C)had 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, ^(D)she looked with contempt on her mistress.^{[b] 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 ^(E)the 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 ^(F)Shur. 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,”^[d] for she said, ^(K)“Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”^{[e] 14} Therefore the well was called ^(L)Beer-lahai-roi;^[f] it lies between ^(M)Kadesh 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

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[g] walk before me, and be ^(N)blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^(O)may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram ^(P)fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(Q)the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,^[h] but ^(R)your name shall be Abraham,^{[i] (S)}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^(T)you into nations, and ^(U)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(V)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^(W)to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And ^(X)I 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 ^(Y)I 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 ^(Z)sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² He who is ^(AA)eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or ^(AB)bought 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.”

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(A)sin which clings so closely, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is ^(D)set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^(E)who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^(F)the shame, and ^(G)is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

^3 (H)Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ^(I)fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. ^(M)God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, ^(N)in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^(O)the Father of spirits ^(P)and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, ^(Q)that we may share his holiness. ^11 (R)For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields ^(S)the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹² Therefore ^(T)lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and ^(U)make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint ^(V)but rather be healed. ^14 (W)Strive for peace with everyone, and for the ^(X)holiness ^(Y)without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one ^(Z)fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^(AA)“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one is ^(AB)sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that ^(AC)afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸ For you have not come to ^(AD)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and ^(AE)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(AF)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(AG)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, ^(AH)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But you have come to ^(AI)Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^(AJ)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(AK)innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to ^(AL)the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are ^(AM)enrolled in heaven, and to ^(AN)God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, ^(AO)the mediator of a new covenant, and to ^(AP)the sprinkled blood ^(AQ)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ^(AR)if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time ^(AS)his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^(AT)“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^(AU)the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^(AV)a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^(AW)let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our ^(AX)God is a consuming fire.

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

13 Let ^(AY)brotherly love continue. ^2 (AZ)Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby ^(BA)some have entertained angels unawares. ^3 (BB)Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. ^4 (BC)Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge ^(BD)the sexually immoral and adulterous. ⁵ Keep your life ^(BE)free from love of money, and ^(BF)be content with what you have, for he has said, ^(BG)“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we can confidently say,

⁷ Remember ^(BJ)your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and ^(BK)imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is ^(BL)the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be ^(BM)led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, ^(BN)not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. ¹⁰ We have an altar ^(BO)from which those who serve the tent^[b] have no right to eat. ¹¹ For ^(BP)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned ^(BQ)outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also ^(BR)suffered ^(BS)outside the gate in order to sanctify the people ^(BT)through his own blood. ¹³ Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear ^(BU)the reproach he endured. ¹⁴ For ^(BV)here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. ^15 (BW)Through him then let us continually offer up ^(BX)a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(BY)the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and ^(BZ)to share what you have, for such ^(CA)sacrifices are pleasing to God.

¹⁷ Obey ^(CB)your leaders and submit to them, ^(CC)for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to ^(CD)give an account. ^(CE)Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

^18 (CF)Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. ¹⁹ I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order ^(CG)that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction

²⁰ Now ^(CH)may the God of peace ^(CI)who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, ^(CJ)the great shepherd of the sheep, by ^(CK)the blood of the eternal covenant, ^21 (CL)equip you with everything good that you may do his will, ^(CM)working in us^[c] that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, ^(CN)to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

²² I appeal to you, brothers,^[d] bear with my word of exhortation, for ^(CO)I have written to you briefly. ²³ You should know that ^(CP)our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. ²⁴ Greet all ^(CQ)your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. ^25 (CR)Grace be with all of you.