Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
ו Waw
41 May your unfailing love(A) come to me, Lord,
your salvation, according to your promise;(B)
42 then I can answer(C) anyone who taunts me,(D)
for I trust in your word.
43 Never take your word of truth from my mouth,(E)
for I have put my hope(F) in your laws.
44 I will always obey your law,(G)
for ever and ever.
45 I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.(H)
46 I will speak of your statutes before kings(I)
and will not be put to shame,(J)
47 for I delight(K) in your commands
because I love them.(L)
48 I reach out for your commands, which I love,
that I may meditate(M) on your decrees.
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Now Sarai,(A) Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.(B) But she had an Egyptian slave(C) named Hagar;(D) 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.(E) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”(F)
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan(G) ten years,(H) Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar,(I) and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.(J) 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”(K)
6 “Your slave is in your hands,(L)” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated(M) Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord(N) found Hagar near a spring(O) in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.(P) 8 And he said, “Hagar,(Q) slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”(R)
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”(S)
11 The angel of the Lord(T) also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.(U)
You shall name him(V) Ishmael,[a](W)
for the Lord has heard of your misery.(X)
12 He will be a wild donkey(Y) of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward[b] all his brothers.(Z)”
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,(AA)” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.”(AB) 14 That is why the well(AC) was called Beer Lahai Roi[d];(AD) it is still there, between Kadesh(AE) and Bered.
15 So Hagar(AF) bore Abram a son,(AG) and Abram gave the name Ishmael(AH) to the son she had borne.
Warning Against Idolatry
14 Do not be yoked together(A) with unbelievers.(B) For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?(C) 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[a]?(D) Or what does a believer(E) have in common with an unbeliever?(F) 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?(G) For we are the temple(H) of the living God.(I) As God has said:
“I will live with them
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.”[b](J)
17 Therefore,
“Come out from them(K)
and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.”[c](L)
18 And,
7 Therefore, since we have these promises,(O) dear friends,(P) let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness(Q) out of reverence for God.
Paul’s Joy Over the Church’s Repentance
2 Make room for us in your hearts.(R) We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.
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