Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Hannah Gives Thanks
2 Hannah said,
“My heart is happy in the Lord.
I feel very strong[a] in my God.
I laugh at my enemies.[b]
I am very happy in my victory.
2 There is no holy God like the Lord.
There is no God but you.
There is no Rock like our God.
3 Don’t continue bragging.
Don’t speak proud words,
because the Lord God knows everything.
He leads and judges people.
4 The bows of strong soldiers break,
and weak people become strong.
5 People who had plenty of food in the past
must now work to get food.
But those who were hungry in the past
now grow fat on food.
The woman who was not able to have children
now has seven children.
But the woman who had many children
is sad because her children are gone.
6 The Lord causes people to die,
and he causes them to live.
He sends people down to the grave,
and he can raise them up to live again.
7 The Lord makes some poor,
and he makes others rich.
He humbles some people,
and he honors others.
8 He raises the poor from the dust,
and he takes away their sadness.[c]
He makes them important
and seats them with princes and at the places for honored guests.
The Lord made the whole world,
and the whole world belongs to him.[d]
9 He protects his holy people.
He keeps them from stumbling.
But evil people will be destroyed.
They will fall in the darkness.
Their power won’t help them win.
10 The Lord destroys his enemies.
God Most High will thunder in heaven against people.
The Lord will judge even the lands that are far away.
He will give power to his king.
He will make his chosen king[e] strong.”
Finally, a Baby for Sarah
21 The Lord came back to visit Sarah as he said he would, and he kept his promise to her. 2 At exactly the time God said it would happen, Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. 3 Abraham named his son Isaac.[a] 4 Abraham did what God commanded and circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old.
5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. 6 Sarah said, “God has made me happy, and everyone who hears about this will be happy with me. 7 No one thought that I, Sarah, would be able to have Abraham’s child. But I have given Abraham a son, even though he is old.”
Trouble at Home
8 Isaac continued to grow, and soon he was old enough to begin eating solid food. So Abraham gave a big party. 9 Sarah saw Hagar’s son playing. (Hagar was the Egyptian slave woman who gave birth to Abraham’s first son.) 10 Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. Send them away! When we die, our son Isaac will get everything we have. I don’t want that slave woman’s son sharing these things with my son Isaac!”
11 This upset Abraham very much. He was worried about his son Ishmael. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Don’t worry about the boy and the slave woman. Do what Sarah wants. Your descendants will be those who come through Isaac. 13 But I will also bless the son of your slave woman. He is your son, so I will make a great nation from his family also.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and water and gave them to Hagar. She carried them and left with her boy. She left that place and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 After some time, when all their drinking water was gone, Hagar put her son under a bush. 16 Then she walked a short distance away and sat down. She thought her son would die because there was no water. She did not want to watch him die. She sat there and began to cry.
17 God heard the boy crying, and God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven. He said, “What is wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying there. 18 Go help the boy. Hold his hand and lead him. I will make him the father of many people.”
19 Then God allowed Hagar to see a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water. Then she gave water to the boy to drink.
20 God continued to be with the boy while he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert and became a hunter. He learned to shoot a bow very well. 21 His mother found a wife for him in Egypt. They continued to live in the Paran desert.
The Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Some of you people want to be under the law. Tell me, do you know what the law says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one son was a slave woman, and the mother of the other son was a free woman. 23 Abraham’s son from the slave woman was born in the normal human way. But the son from the free woman was born because of the promise God made to Abraham.
24 This true story makes a picture for us. The two women are like the two agreements between God and his people. One agreement is the law that God made on Mount Sinai. The people who are under this agreement are like slaves. The mother named Hagar is like that agreement. 25 So Hagar is like Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is a picture of the earthly Jewish city of Jerusalem. This city is a slave, and all its people are slaves to the law. 26 But the heavenly Jerusalem that is above is like the free woman, who is our mother. 27 The Scriptures say,
“Be happy, woman—you who cannot have children.
Be glad you never gave birth.
Shout and cry with joy!
You never felt those labor pains.
The woman who is alone[a] will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.” (A)
28 My brothers and sisters, you are children who were born because of God’s promise, just as Isaac was. 29 But the other son of Abraham, who was born in the normal way, caused trouble for the one who was born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same today. 30 But what do the Scriptures say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son! The son of the free woman will receive everything his father has, but the son of the slave woman will receive nothing.”[b] 31 So, my brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman. We are children of the free woman.
Keep Your Freedom
5 We have freedom now, because Christ made us free. So stand strong in that freedom. Don’t go back into slavery again.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International