Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Hannah’s Triumphant Prayer
2 Hannah prayed:(A)
My heart rejoices in the Lord;(B)
my horn is lifted up by the Lord.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
because I rejoice in Your salvation.(C)
2 There is no one holy like the Lord.(D)
There is no one besides You!(E)
And there is no rock like our God.(F)
3 Do not boast so proudly,
or let arrogant words come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and actions are weighed by Him.(G)
4 The bows of the warriors are broken,(H)
but the feeble are clothed with strength.(I)
5 Those who are full hire themselves out for food,
but those who are starving hunger no more.
The woman who is childless gives birth to seven,(J)
but the woman with many sons pines away.(K)
6 The Lord brings death and gives life;(L)
He sends some to Sheol, and He raises others up.(M)
7 The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth;(N)
He humbles and He exalts.(O)
8 He raises the poor from the dust(P)
and lifts the needy from the garbage pile.(Q)
He seats them with noblemen(R)
and gives them a throne of honor.[a]
For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;(S)
He has set the world on them.(T)
9 He guards the steps[b] of His faithful ones,(U)
but the wicked perish in darkness,(V)
for a man does not prevail by his own strength.(W)
10 Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered;[c](X)
He will thunder in the heavens against them.(Y)
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.(Z)
He will give power to His king;
He will lift up the horn of His anointed.(AA)
The Birth of Isaac
21 The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.(A) 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.(B) 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac.(C) 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.(D) 5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.(E)
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”[a](F) 7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him[b] in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son mocking[c]—the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham.(G) 10 So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!”(H)
11 Now this was a very difficult thing for[d] Abraham because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned[e] about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.(I) 13 But I will also make a nation of the slave’s son(J) because he is your offspring.”
14 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away.[f] She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she[g] wept loudly.(K)
17 God heard the voice of the boy, and the[h] angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is. 18 Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes,(L) and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Sarah and Hagar: Two Covenants
21 Tell me, those of you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham(A) had two sons, one by a slave(B) and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born according to the impulse of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things are illustrations,[a] for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai(C) and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar.(D) 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia(E) and corresponds to the present Jerusalem,(F) for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above(G) is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:(H)
Rejoice, childless woman,(I)
who does not give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate are many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband.(J)[b]
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac,(K) are children of promise.(L) 29 But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit,(M) so also now.(N) 30 But what does the Scripture say?
Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.(O)[c]
31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.(P)
Freedom of the Christian
5 Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm(Q) then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.(R)
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