The Birth of Isaac

21 The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised.^{(A) 2} Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.^{(B) 3} Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.^{(C) 4} And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.^{(D) 5} Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.^{(E) 6} Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”^{(F) 7} And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ⁹ But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.^{[a](G) 10} So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.”^{(H) 11} The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son.^{(I) 12} But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you.^{(J) 13} As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”^{(K) 14} So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.^{(L) 18} Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”^{(M) 19} Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.^(N)

²⁰ God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.^{(O) 21} He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.^(P)

Abraham and Abimelech Make a Covenant

²² At that time Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do;^{(Q) 23} now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have resided as an alien.” ²⁴ And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵ When Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized,^{(R) 26} Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” ²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.^{(S) 28} Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock. ²⁹ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” ³⁰ He said, “These seven ewe lambs you shall accept from my hand in order that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”^{(T) 31} Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba,^[b] because there both of them swore an oath.^{(U) 32} When they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham^[c] planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.^{[d](V) 34} And Abraham resided as an alien many days in the land of the Philistines.

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

¹⁷ While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves and said to them on the way, ¹⁸ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death;^{(A) 19} then they will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”^(B)

The Request of the Mother of James and John

²⁰ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him.^{(C) 21} And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”^{(D) 22} But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”^[a] They said to him, “We are able.”^{(E) 23} He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”^(F)

²⁴ When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.^{(G) 25} But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.^{(H) 26} It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,^{(I) 27} and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸ just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”^(J)

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁹ As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord,^[b] have mercy on us, Son of David!”^{(K) 31} The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet, but they shouted even more loudly, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!” ³² Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³ They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.

The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”^{(A) 3} So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together.^{(B) 7} Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”^{(C) 8} Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.^{(D) 10} Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill^[a] his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”^{(E) 13} And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,”^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[c]

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,^{(F) 17} I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,^{(G) 18} and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”^{(H) 19} So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba, and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

Life in the Spirit

8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{(A) 2} For the law of the Spirit^[a] of life in Christ Jesus has set you^[b] free from the law of sin and of death.^{(B) 3} For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin,^[c] he condemned sin in the flesh,^{(C) 4} so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.^{[d](D) 5} For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit^[e] set their minds on the things of the Spirit.^{[f](E) 6} To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit^[g] is life and peace.^{(F) 7} For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot,^{(G) 8} and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,^[h] since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.^{(H) 10} But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit^[i] is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus^[j] from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through^[k] his Spirit that dwells in you.^(I)

¹² So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.^{(J) 14} For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.^{(K) 15} For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba!^[l] Father!”^{(L) 16} it is that very Spirit bearing witness^[m] with our spirit that we are children of God,^{(M) 17} and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.^(N)