Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Hannah Gives Thanks
2 Hannah prayed:
“The Lord has filled my heart with joy;
I feel very strong in the Lord.
I can laugh at my enemies;
I am glad because you have helped me!
2 “There is no one holy 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.
The Lord is a God who knows everything,
and he judges what people do.
4 “The bows of warriors break,
but weak people become strong.
5 Those who once had plenty of food now must work for food,
but people who were hungry are hungry no more.
The woman who could not have children now has seven,
but the woman who had many children now is sad.
6 “The Lord sends death,
and he brings to life.
He sends people to the grave,
and he raises them to life again.
7 The Lord makes some people poor,
and others he makes rich.
He makes some people humble,
and others he makes great.
8 The Lord raises the poor up from the dust,
and he lifts the needy from the ashes.
He lets the poor sit with princes
and receive a throne of honor.
“The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,
and the Lord set the world upon them.
9 He protects those who are loyal to him,
but evil people will be silenced in darkness.
Power is not the key to success.
10 The Lord destroys his enemies;
he will thunder in heaven against them.
The Lord will judge all the earth.
He will give power to his king
and make his appointed king strong.”
A Baby for Sarah
21 The Lord cared for Sarah as he had said and did for her what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. Everything happened at the time God had said it would. 3 Abraham named his son Isaac, the son Sarah gave birth to. 4 He circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded.
5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh.[a] Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. 7 No one thought that I would be able to have Abraham’s child, but even though Abraham is old I have given him a son.”
Hagar and Ishmael Leave
8 Isaac grew, and when he became old enough to eat food, Abraham gave a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. (Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave.) 10 So Sarah said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son. Her son should not inherit anything; my son Isaac should receive it all.”
11 This troubled Abraham very much because Ishmael was also his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be troubled about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you. The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac. 13 I will also make the descendants of Ishmael into a great nation because he is your son, too.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a leather bag full of water. He gave them to Hagar and sent her away. Carrying these things and her son, Hagar went and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 Later, when all the water was gone from the bag, Hagar put her son under a bush. 16 Then she went away a short distance and sat down. She thought, “My son will die, and I cannot watch this happen.” 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 Help him up and take him by the hand. I will make his descendants into a great nation.”
19 Then God showed Hagar a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 He lived in the Desert of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him in Egypt.
The Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Some of you still 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 story teaches something else: The two women are like the two agreements between God and his people. One agreement is the law that God made on Mount Sinai,[a] and the people who are under this agreement are like slaves. The mother named Hagar is like that agreement. 25 She is like Mount Sinai in Arabia and is a picture of the earthly city of Jerusalem. This city and its people are slaves to the law. 26 But the heavenly Jerusalem, which is above, is like the free woman. She is our mother. 27 It is written in the Scriptures:
“Be happy, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth,
but you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.” Isaiah 54:1
28 My brothers and sisters, you are God’s children because of his promise, as Isaac was then. 29 The son who was born in the normal way treated the other son badly. It is the same today. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son. The son of the slave woman should not inherit anything. The son of the free woman should receive it all.”[b] 31 So, my brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Keep Your Freedom
5 We have freedom now, because Christ made us free. So stand strong. Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.