Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him children. But she had an Egyptian slave-girl—her name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, Adonai has prevented me from having children. Go, please, to my slave-girl. Perhaps I’ll get a son by her.”

Abram listened to Sarai’s voice. ³ So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her slave-girl Hagar the Egyptian—after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan—and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ⁴ Then he went to Hagar and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, in her eyes her mistress was belittled.

⁵ So Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done to me is because of you! I myself placed my slave-girl in your embrace. Now that she saw that she became pregnant, so in her eyes I am belittled. May Adonai judge between you and me!”

⁶ Abram said to Sarai, “Look! Your slave-girl is in your hand. Do to her what is good in your eyes.”

So Sarai afflicted her, and she fled from her presence. ⁷ Then the angel of Adonai^[a] found her by the spring of water in the wilderness, next to the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave-girl, 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 Adonai said, “Return to your mistress and humble yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the angel of Adonai said to her, “I will bountifully multiply your seed, and they will be too many to count.” ¹¹ Then the angel of Adonai said to her,

¹³ So she called Adonai who was speaking to her, “You are the God who sees me.” For she said, “Would I have gone here indeed looking for Him who looks after me?” ¹⁴ That is why the well is named, the Well of the Living One Who Sees Me. (Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.)

¹⁵ Then Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abram.

Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was 99 years old, Adonai appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Continually walk before Me and you will be blameless. ² My heart’s desire is to make My covenant between Me and you, and then I will multiply you exceedingly much.”

³ Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying, ⁴ “For My part, because My covenant is with you, you will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer will your name be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, because I make you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ Yes, I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings will come forth from you. ⁷ Yes, I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, in order to be your God and your seed’s God after you. ⁸ I will give to you and to your seed after you the land where you are an outsider—the whole land of Canaan—as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ God also said to Abraham, “As for you, My covenant you must keep, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant that you must keep between Me and you and your seed after you: all your males must be circumcised. ¹¹ You must be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and this will become a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² Also your eight-day-olds must be circumcised, every male, throughout your generations, including a house-born slave or a slave bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed. ¹³ Your house-born slave and your purchased slave must surely be circumcised. So My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin—that person will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her by the name Sarai. Rather, Sarah is her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son from her. I will bless her and she will give rise to nations. Kings of the peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to his heart, “Will a son be born to a 100-year-old man? Or will Sarah—who is 90 years old—give birth?” ¹⁸ So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!”

¹⁹ But God said, “On the contrary, Sarah your wife will bear you a son and you must name him Isaac. So I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you. See, I have blessed him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him very very much. He will father twelve princes and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My covenant will I establish with Isaac whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

²² When He finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all of his house-born slaves and all his purchased slaves—every male among the men of Abraham’s house—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, just as God had spoken with him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, ²⁵ and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham and Ishmael his son were circumcised. ²⁷ Also all the men of his house, house-born slaves and slaves purchased from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Parashat Vayera

The Promise of a Son

18 Then Adonai appeared to him at Mamre’s large trees while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. ² When he lifted up his eyes to see, suddenly, three men were standing right by him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed down to the ground. ³ Then he said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought so you can wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree. ⁵ And let me bring a bit of bread so that you can refresh yourselves—then you can pass on—since you have passed by your servant.

They said, “Do just as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and prepare bread loaves!” ⁷ Then to the herd Abraham ran and took a young ox, tender and good, and he gave it to the servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Then he took butter and milk and the young ox that he had prepared and set it before them. While he was standing by them under the tree, they ate.

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

“There, in the tent,” he said.

¹⁰ Then He said, “I will most surely return to you in about a year’s time, surprisingly, Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind Him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years—Sarah had stopped having the way of women. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I’ve grown decrepit, can I have desire—and my lord so old?”

¹³ Then Adonai said to Abraham, “Why is it that Sarah laughed, saying, ‘Can I really give birth when I am so old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for Adonai? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah denied it saying, “I didn’t laugh!” For she was afraid.

But He said, “No—for you did laugh.”

Righteous Living

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² So whenever you do tzedakah, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! ³ But when you do tzedakah, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your tzedakah may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room; and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you. ⁷ And when you are praying, do not babble on and on like the pagans; for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Therefore, pray in this way:

¹⁴ “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not become sad-faced like the hypocrites, for they neglect their faces to make their fasting evident to men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! ¹⁷ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting won’t be evident to men, but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.^[b]

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

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”^[d]

Adonai Magen

Psalm 7

Seek Treasures of Wisdom