The Daily Audio Bible
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The Birth of Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave whose name was Hagar,(A) 2 and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.(B) 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife.(C) 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!”(D) 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.(E) 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am running away 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, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.”(F) 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Now you have conceived and shall bear a son;
you shall call him Ishmael,[a]
for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.(G)
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall live at odds with all his kin.”(H)
13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are El-roi,”[b] for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?”[c](I) 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[d] it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.(J) 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him[e] Ishmael.
The Sign of the Covenant
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[f] walk before me, and be blameless.(K) 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you and will make you exceedingly numerous.”(L) 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.(M) 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,[g] but your name shall be Abraham,[h] for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.(N) 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.(O) 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.(P) 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding, and I will be their God.”(Q)
9 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.(R) 11 You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.(S) 12 Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.(T) 13 Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must 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.”(U)
15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her and also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”(V) 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”(W) 18 And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!” 19 God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac.[i] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.(X) 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.(Y) 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” 22 And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.(Z) 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.(AA) 25 And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised, 27 and all the men of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah
18 The Lord appeared to Abraham[j] by the oaks[k] of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.(AB) 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground.(AC) 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.(AD) 5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”(AE) 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, “Make ready quickly three measures[l] of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.(AF)
9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.(AG) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.(AH) 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I be fruitful?”(AI) 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.”(AJ) 15 But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Concerning Almsgiving
6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.(A)
2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.(B) 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[a](C)
Concerning Prayer
5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.(D) 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[b](E)
7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.(F) 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
10 May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.(G)
11 Give us today our daily bread.[c](H)
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.(I)
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,[d]
but rescue us from the evil one.[e](J)
14 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,(K) 15 but if you do not forgive others,[f] neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.(L)
Concerning Fasting
16 “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[g]
Concerning Treasures
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[h] consume and where thieves break in and steal,(M) 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust[i] consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.(N) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Eye
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,(O) 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Serving Two Masters
24 “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.[j](P)
Psalm 7
Plea for Help against Persecutors
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,(A)
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.(B)
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,(C)
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,(D)
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O my God;[a] you have appointed a judgment.(E)
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
and over it take your seat[b] on high.(F)
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.(G)
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.(H)
10 God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.(I)
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who has indignation every day.(J)
12 If one does not repent, God[c] will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow;(K)
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.(L)
14 See how they conceive evil
and are pregnant with mischief
and bring forth lies.(M)
15 They make a pit, digging it out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.(N)
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.(O)
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness
and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.(P)
The Value of Wisdom
2 My child, if you accept my words
and treasure up my commandments within you,(A)
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding,
3 if you indeed cry out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures—(B)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.