Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
2 There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides Thee; neither is there any rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.
4 “The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased hungering, so that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
6 “The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.
7 The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich; He bringeth low and lifteth up.
8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’S, and He hath set the world upon them.
9 “He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto His king and exalt the horn of His anointed.”
21 And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him.
6 And Sarah said, “God hath made me laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me.”
7 And she said, “Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8 And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking.
10 Therefore she said unto Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.”
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, “Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.”
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water; and he gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16 And she went and sat down apart from him a good way off, as it were, a bowshot; for she said, “Let me not see the death of the child.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said unto her, “What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise; lift up the lad and hold him in thine 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 bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 And he dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
21 Tell me, ye who desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 These things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants: The one is from Mount Sinai, which engendereth bondage; this is Hagar.
25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem as it is now, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But the Jerusalem which is above is free, and is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written: “Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she who hath a husband.”
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29 But as then, he that was born according to the flesh persecuted him that was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
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