Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
ו Vav
41 Let Your faithful love come to me, Lord,(A)
Your salvation, as You promised.(B)
42 Then I can answer the one who taunts me,(C)
for I trust in Your word.
43 Never take the word of truth from my mouth,
for I hope in Your judgments.(D)
44 I will always obey Your instruction,
forever and ever.(E)
45 I will walk freely in an open place(F)
because I seek Your precepts.(G)
46 I will speak of Your decrees before kings
and not be ashamed.(H)
47 I delight in Your commands,
which I love.(I)
48 I will lift up my hands(J) to Your commands,
which I love,
and will meditate on Your statutes.(K)
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.[a] 3 So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. 4 He slept with[b] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering![c] I put my slave in your arms,[d] and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”(A)
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
7 The Angel of the Lord(B) found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.”[e] 10 The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,(C) and they will be too many to count.”
11 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:
You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,[f]
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.
12 This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with[g] all his brothers.(D)
13 So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees,[h] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen(E) the One who sees me?”[i] 14 That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[j] It is located between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son Hagar had.
Separation to God
14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?(A) Or what fellowship does light(B) have with darkness?(C) 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial?[a] Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols?(D) For we[b] are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said:
I will dwell among them(E)
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,(F)
and they will be My people.(G)[c]
17 Therefore, come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord;
do not touch any unclean thing,
and I will welcome you.(H)[d]
18 I will be a Father(I) to you,
and you will be sons(J) and daughters to Me,
says the Lord Almighty.(K)[e]
7 Therefore, dear friends, since we have such promises,(L) let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit,(M) completing our sanctification[f] in the fear of God.(N)
Joy and Repentance
2 Accept us.[g] We have wronged no one, corrupted(O) no one, defrauded no one.
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