Old/New Testament

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.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ^{[a] 28} But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ And if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. ^{[b] 30} And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body go into Gehenna.

³¹ “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ^{[c] 32} But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall carry out your oaths to Adonai.’ ^{[d] 34} But I tell you, do not swear at all—not by heaven, for it is the throne of God; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet;^[e] or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ^{[f] 36} And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’—anything more than this is from the evil one.”

Overcoming Evil with Good

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ^{[g] 39} But I tell you, do not resist an evildoer. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other. ⁴⁰ And the one wanting to sue you and to take your shirt, let him also have your coat. ⁴¹ Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor^[h] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than anyone else? Even the pagans do that, don’t they? ⁴⁸ Therefore be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”