Old/New Testament

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram’s wife Sarai had never had any children by him. But she had a female slave from Egypt named Hagar. ² So she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go and sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai had said. ³ His wife Sarai gave him her slave Hagar to be his wife. That was after he had been living in Canaan for ten years. ⁴ Then he slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant.

When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to look down on the woman who owned her. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s your fault that I’m suffering like this. I put my slave in your arms. Now that she knows she’s pregnant, she looks down on me. May the Lord judge between you and me. May he decide which of us is right.”

⁶ “Your slave belongs to you,” Abram said. “Do with her what you think is best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar badly. So Hagar ran away from her.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was beside the road to Shur. ⁸ The angel said, “Hagar, you are Sarai’s slave. Where have you come from? Where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my owner Sarai,” she answered.

⁹ Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to the woman who owns you. Obey her.” ¹⁰ The angel continued, “I will give you and your family many children. There will be more of them than anyone can count.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord also said to her,

¹³ She gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her. She called him “You are the God who sees me.” That’s because she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That’s why the well was named Beer Lahai Roi. It’s still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar had a son by Abram and Abram gave him the name Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was 86 years old when Hagar had Ishmael by him.

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the Mighty God. Walk faithfully with me. Live in a way that pleases me. ² I will now act on my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase the number of your children after you.”

³ Abram fell with his face to the ground. God said to him, ⁴ “This is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will greatly increase the number of your children after you. Nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will make my covenant with you last forever. It will be between me and you and your family after you for all time to come. I will be your God. And I will be the God of all your family after you. ⁸ You are now living in Canaan as an outsider. But I will give you the whole land of Canaan. You will own it forever and so will all your family after you. And I will be their God.”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep my covenant. You and your family after you must keep it for all time to come. ¹⁰ Here is my covenant that you and your family after you must keep. You and every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹ That will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² It must be done for all time to come. Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. That includes those who are born into your own family or outside it. It also includes those bought with money from a stranger. ¹³ So any male born into your family or bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant will last forever. Your body will have the mark of my covenant on it. ¹⁴ Any male who has not been circumcised will be separated from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “Do not continue to call your wife by the name Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell with his face to the ground. He laughed and said to himself, “Can a 100-year-old man have a son? Can Sarah have a child at the age of 90?” ¹⁸ Abraham said to God, “I really wish Ishmael could receive your blessing!”

¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, I will bless Ishmael. But your wife Sarah will have a son by you. And you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. That covenant will last forever. It will be for Isaac and his family after him. ²⁰ I have heard what you said about Ishmael. I will surely bless him. I will make his family very large. He will be the father of 12 rulers. And I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac. By this time next year, Sarah will have a son by you.” ²² When God had finished speaking with Abraham, God left him.

²³ On that same day Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael. He also circumcised every male who was born into his family or bought with his money. He did exactly as God had told him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵ His son Ishmael was 13. ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. ²⁷ And every male in Abraham’s household was circumcised along with him. That included those born into his family or bought from a stranger.

Adultery

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ (Exodus 20:14) ²⁸ But here is what I tell you. Do not even look at a woman in the wrong way. Anyone who does has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, poke it out and throw it away. Your eye is only one part of your body. It is better to lose an eye than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Your hand is only one part of your body. It is better to lose a hand than for your whole body to go into hell.

Divorce

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Suppose a man divorces his wife. If he does, he must give her a letter of divorce.’ (Deuteronomy 24:1) ³² But here is what I tell you. Anyone who divorces his wife makes her a victim of adultery. And anyone who gets married to the divorced woman commits adultery. A man may divorce his wife only if she has not been faithful to him.

Promises

³³ “Again, you have heard what was said to your people long ago. They were told, ‘Do not break the promises you make to the Lord. Keep your promises to the Lord that you have made.’ ³⁴ But here is what I tell you. Do not make any promises like that at all. Do not make them in the name of heaven. That is God’s throne. ³⁵ Do not make them in the name of the earth. That is the stool for God’s feet. Do not make them in the name of Jerusalem. That is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not make a promise in your own name. You can’t make even one hair of your head white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Be Kind to Others

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye must be put out for an eye. A tooth must be knocked out for a tooth.’ (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21) ³⁹ But here is what I tell you. Do not fight against an evil person. Suppose someone slaps you on your right cheek. Turn your other cheek to them also. ⁴⁰ Suppose someone takes you to court to get your shirt. Let them have your coat also. ⁴¹ Suppose someone forces you to go one mile. Go two miles with them. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you for something. Don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow something from you.

Love Your Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:18) Hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But here is what I tell you. Love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. ⁴⁵ Then you will be children of your Father who is in heaven. He causes his sun to shine on evil people and good people. He sends rain on those who do right and those who don’t. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Even the tax collectors do that. ⁴⁷ If you greet only your own people, what more are you doing than others? Even people who are ungodly do that. ⁴⁸ So be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.