Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Hagar and Ishmael
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne Abraham, mocking. 10 Then she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac.” 11 And the matter displeased Abraham very much[a] on account of his son. 12 Then God said to Abraham, “Do not be displeased[b] on account of the boy and on account of the slave woman. Listen to everything that Sarah said to you,[c] for through Isaac your offspring will be named. 13 And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, for he is your offspring.” 14 Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba. 15 And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 And she went and she sat a good distance away,[d] for she said, “Let me not see the child’s death.” So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the cry[e] of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, “What is the matter[f] Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry[g] of the boy from where he is.[h] 18 Get up, take up the boy and take him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became an expert with a bow.[i] 21 And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Prayer for Help against Ruthless Men
A prayer of David.[a]
86 Incline, O Yahweh, your ear and answer me,
because I am poor and needy.
2 Watch over my life because I am faithful.
You are my God; save your servant.
I am the one who trusts you.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
because I call to you all day long.[b]
4 Make glad the soul of your servant,
because I desire you,[c] O Lord.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
and abundant in loyal love[d] for all who call to you.
6 Heed, O Yahweh, my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
and there are no works like yours.
9 All the nations that you have made will come
and bow down[e] before you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
10 For you are great and doing wondrous things;
you alone are God.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give your strength to your servant,
and grant victory to the son[a] of your maidservant.
17 Do a sign that benefits me,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame,
because you, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Formerly Dead to Sin, Now Alive in Christ
6 What therefore shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, in order that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live a new way of life[a]. 5 For if we have become identified with him in the likeness of his death, certainly also we will be identified with him in the likeness[b] of his resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, in order that the body of sin may be done away with, that we may no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For the one who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 knowing that Christ, because he[c] has been raised from the dead, is going to die no more, death no longer being master over him. 10 For that death he died, he died to sin once and never again, but that life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
24 “A disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor a slave superior to his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household?
Fear God Rather Than People
26 “Therefore do not be afraid of them, because nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but instead be afraid of the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[a] And one of them will not fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent[b] of your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all numbered! 31 Therefore do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before people, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
Not Peace, But a Sword of Divisiveness
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And the enemies of a man will be the members of his household.[c] 37 The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.
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