Book of Common Prayer

²¹ Tell me, you people that want the law to control you, why do you not listen to the law?

²² The holy writings say that Abraham had two sons. One was the son of the slave woman. The other one was the son of the free woman.

²³ The child of the slave woman was born as any child is born. But the child of the free woman was born because God promised he would be born.

²⁴ These things have another meaning. These two women are like two agreements. One agreement came from Mount Sinai. The children are born slaves. That agreement is like Hagar.

²⁵ So Hagar means Mount Sinai in the country of Arabia. She is like the city of Jerusalem today, because Jerusalem is a slave and her children are too.

²⁶ But the city of Jerusalem in heaven is free, and that is our mother.

²⁷ The holy writings say, `The woman who has not had a child, be happy! You who do not feel the pain of bearing a child, open your mouth and shout. The woman who is left alone has more children than the woman who has a husband!'

²⁸ My brothers, we are like Isaac. We are born because God made a promise.

²⁹ Abraham's child who was born as any child is born, troubled the other child who was born by the Spirit. It is that way today.

³⁰ But what does the holy writings say? They says, `Put away the slave woman and her son. The son of the slave woman will have nothing when the father dies. The son of the free woman will have everything.'

³¹ So, my brothers, we are not the children of the slave woman, but we are children of the free woman.

5 Christ has made us really free. So, stay free! Do not let yourselves be made slaves again.

¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus. They wanted to test him. So they asked him to show them a sign from the sky.

¹² He sighed deeply in his spirit and said, `Why do people today want a sign? I tell you the truth. No sign will be given to them.'

¹³ He left them and went to the other side in a boat.

¹⁴ The disciples forgot to take food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.

¹⁵ Jesus said, `Watch! Take care. Do not let the bread yeast of the Pharisees and Herod spoil you.'

¹⁶ The disciples talked to one another about the matter. They said, `He says that because we have no bread.'

¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were saying. He asked, `Why are you saying, "We have no bread"? Do you not yet understand? Are your minds so slow?

¹⁸ Can you not see with your eyes or hear with your ears? Do you not remember?

¹⁹ When I broke five loaves for five thousand people, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you gather?' They said, `Twelve.'

²⁰ He said, `When I broke seven loaves for four thousand people, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you gather?' They said, `Seven.'

²¹ He said to them, `How is it that you do not yet understand?'