Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
11 Lord, teach me what you want me to do.
And I will live by your truth.
Teach me to respect you completely.
12 Lord, my God, I will praise you with all my heart.
I will honor your name forever.
13 You have great love for me.
You have saved me from death.
14 God, proud men turn against me.
A gang of cruel men are trying to kill me.
They do not respect you.
15 But Lord, you are a God who shows mercy and is kind.
You don’t become angry quickly.
You have great love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be merciful.
Give me, your servant, strength.
Save me, the son of your female servant.
17 Show me a sign of your goodness.
When my enemies look, they will be ashamed.
You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Sarai, Abram’s wife, had no children. She had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Look, the Lord has not allowed me to have children. So have physical relations with my slave girl. If she has a child, maybe I can have my own family through her.”
Abram did what Sarai said. 3 This was after Abram lived ten years in Canaan. And Sarai gave Hagar to her husband Abram. (Hagar was her slave girl from Egypt.)
4 Abram had physical relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress Sarai badly. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is your fault. I gave my slave girl to you. And when she became pregnant, she began to treat me badly. Let the Lord decide who is right—you or me.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “You are Hagar’s mistress. Do anything you want to her.” Then Sarai was hard on Hagar, and Hagar ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the desert. The spring was by the road to Shur. 8 The angel said, “Hagar, you are Sarai’s slave girl. Where have you come from? Where are you going?”
Hagar answered, “I am running from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go home to your mistress and obey her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said, “I will give you so many descendants they cannot be counted.”
11 The angel also said to her,
“You are now pregnant,
and you will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,[a]
because the Lord has heard your cries.
12 Ishmael will be like a wild donkey.
He will be against everyone.
And everyone will be against him.
He will attack all his brothers.”
13 The slave girl gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her. She said to him, “You are ‘God who sees me.’” This is because she said to herself, “Have I really seen God who sees me?” 14 So the well there was called Beer Lahai Roi.[b] It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram. And Abram named him Ishmael.
To the Church in Ephesus
2 “Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
“The One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands says this to you. 2 I know what you do. You work hard, and you never give up. I know that you do not accept evil people. You have tested those who say that they are apostles but really are not. You found that they are liars. 3 You continue to serve me. You have suffered troubles for my name, and you have not given up.
4 “But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning. 5 So remember where you were before you fell. Change your hearts and do what you did at first. If you do not change, I will come to you. I will take away your lampstand from its place. 6 But there is something you do that is right: You hate what the Nicolaitans[a] do, as much as I.
7 “Every person who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who wins the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life. This tree is in the garden of God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.