Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A prayer of David.
86 I am a poor, helpless man.
Lord, please listen to me and answer my prayer!
2 I am your follower, so please protect me.
I am your servant, and you are my God.
I trust in you, so save me.
3 My Lord, be kind to me.
I have been praying to you all day.
4 My Lord, I put my life in your hands.
I am your servant, so make me happy.
5 My Lord, you are good and merciful.
You love all those who call to you for help.
6 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for mercy.
7 I am praying to you in my time of trouble.
I know you will answer me.
8 My Lord, there is no God like you.
No one can do what you have done.
9 My Lord, you made everyone.
I wish they all would come worship you and honor your name.
10 You are great and do amazing things.
You and you alone are God.
11 Lord, teach me your ways,
and I will live and obey your truths.
Help me make worshiping your name
the most important thing in my life.
12 My Lord God, I praise you with all my heart.
I will honor your name forever!
13 You have such great love for me.
You save me from the place of death.
14 Proud people are attacking me, God.
A gang of cruel men is trying to kill me.
They don’t respect you.
15 My Lord, you are a kind and merciful God.
You are patient, loyal, and full of love.
16 Show that you hear me and be kind to me.
I am your servant, so give me strength.
I am your slave, as my mother was, so save me!
17 Lord, show me a sign that you care for me.
My enemies will see it and be disappointed,
because you helped and comforted me.
Hagar the Servant Girl
16 Sarai was Abram’s wife, but she did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai told Abram, “The Lord has not allowed me to have children, so sleep with my slave. Maybe she can have a son, and I will accept him as my own.” Abram did what Sarai said.
3 So after living ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai gave her Egyptian slave to Abram as a second wife. 4 Abram slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized this, she became very proud and began to feel that she was better than Sarai her owner. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My slave girl now hates me, and I blame you for this. I gave her to you, and she became pregnant. Then she began to feel that she is better than I am. I want the Lord to judge which of us is right.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “She is your slave. You can do anything you want to her.” So Sarai was cruel to Hagar, and Hagar ran away.
Hagar’s Son Ishmael
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was by the road to Shur. 8 The angel said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl, why are you here? Where are you going?”
Hagar said, “I am running away from Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Sarai is your owner. Go home to her and obey her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said, “From you will come many people—too many people to count.”
11 Then the angel of the Lord said,
“Hagar, you are now pregnant,
and you will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,[a]
because the Lord has heard that you were treated badly.
12 Ishmael will be wild and free
like a wild donkey.
He will be against everyone,
and everyone will be against him.
He will move from place to place
and camp near his brothers.”
13 The Lord talked to Hagar. She began to use a new name for God. She said to him, “You are ‘God Who Sees Me.’” She said this because she thought, “I see that even in this place God sees me and cares for me!” 14 So the well there was called Beer Lahai Roi.[b] It is between Kadesh and Bered.
Jesus Welcomes Children(A)
15 Some people brought their small children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them to bless them. But when the followers saw this, they told the people not to do this. 16 But Jesus called the little children to him and said to his followers, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. 17 The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International