Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Chapter 2
1 And Hannah prayed:[a]
“My heart exults in the Lord,
my horn is exalted by my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in your victory.(A)
2 There is no Holy One like the Lord;
there is no Rock like our God.(B)
3 Speak boastfully no longer,
Do not let arrogance issue from your mouths.[b]
For an all-knowing God is the Lord,
a God who weighs actions.(C)
4 “The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.(D)
5 The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry no longer have to toil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.(E)
6 “The Lord puts to death and gives life,
casts down to Sheol and brings up again.(F)
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich,
humbles, and also exalts.
8 He raises the needy from the dust;
from the ash heap lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.
“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and he has set the world upon them.(G)
9 He guards the footsteps of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall perish in the darkness;
for not by strength does one prevail.
10 The Lord’s foes shall be shattered;
the Most High in heaven thunders;
the Lord judges the ends of the earth.
May he give strength to his king,
and exalt the horn of his anointed!”(H)
Chapter 21
Birth of Isaac.[a] 1 The Lord took note of Sarah as he had said he would; the Lord did for her as he had promised.(A) 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had stated.(B) 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to this son of his whom Sarah bore him.(C) 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded.(D) 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah then said, “God has given me cause to laugh,[b] and all who hear of it will laugh with me.(E) 7 Who would ever have told Abraham,” she added, “that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great banquet on the day of the child’s weaning.
9 Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing with her son Isaac; 10 so she demanded of Abraham: “Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac!”(F) 11 Abraham was greatly distressed because it concerned a son of his.[c] 12 But God said to Abraham: Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Obey Sarah, no matter what she asks of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants will bear your name.(G) 13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also,[d] since he too is your offspring.
14 Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. Then, placing the child on her back,[e] he sent her away. As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba, 15 the water in the skin was used up. So she put the child down under one of the bushes, 16 and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away; for she said to herself, “I cannot watch the child die.” As she sat opposite him, she wept aloud. 17 God heard the boy’s voice, and God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven: “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not fear; God has heard the boy’s voice in this plight of his.(H) 18 Get up, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert bowman. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman.(A) 23 The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise.(B) 24 Now this is an allegory. These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.(C) 25 Hagar represents Sinai,[a] a mountain in Arabia; it corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery along with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother.(D) 27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children;(E)
break forth and shout, you who were not in labor;
for more numerous are the children of the deserted one
than of her who has a husband.”[b]
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise.(F) 29 But just as then the child of the flesh persecuted the child of the spirit, it is the same now. 30 But what does the scripture say?
“Drive out the slave woman and her son!
For the son of the slave woman shall not share the inheritance with the son”(G)
of the freeborn. 31 Therefore, brothers, we are children not of the slave woman but of the freeborn woman.(H)
V. Exhortation to Christian Living
Chapter 5
The Importance of Faith.[c] 1 For freedom[d] Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.(I)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.