Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 86[a]
Prayer in Suffering and Distress
1 A prayer of David.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.[b]
2 Preserve my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who puts his trust in you.
3 You are my God;[c] have pity on me, O Lord,
for to you I cry out all day long.
4 Give joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.[d]
5 O Lord, you are kind and forgiving,
filled with kindness[e] for all who cry to you.
6 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and listen to my voice in supplication.
7 In the time of trouble I call to you,
for you will answer me.
8 There is no one among the gods like you, O Lord,
nor can any deeds compare with yours.
9 All the nations[f] you have made
will come and bow down before you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
10 For you are great and you do marvelous deeds;[g]
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your ways, O Lord,
so that I may walk in your truth;
let me worship your name
with an undivided heart.[h]
12 I will praise you with all my heart,[i]
O Lord, my God,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 Your kindness[j] toward me is great;
you have rescued me from the depths of the netherworld.
14 Arrogant men are rising up against me, O God;
a violent mob seeks my life;
they do not keep you before their eyes.[k]
15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and compassionate God,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness and faithfulness.[l]
16 Turn to me and grant me your gracious favor;
endow your servant with strength
and rescue the child of your handmaid.[m]
17 Grant me a sign of your favor,[n]
so that those who hate me
may see it and be put to shame,
because you, O Lord,
have helped and comforted me.
Chapter 16
Abram’s Son Ishmael.[a] 1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Behold, the Lord has kept me from having children; sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have children through her.”
Abram did what Sarai had told him to do. 3 Thus, ten years after Abram had begun to live in the land of Canaan, Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant.
But once she realized that she was pregnant, she no longer treated her mistress with respect. 5 Therefore, Sarai said to Abram, “May this affront fall upon you! I gave you my maid to embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she stopped treating me with respect. Let the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your slave is in your hands. Do with her as you see fit.” Sarai then maltreated her so much that Hagar ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord[b] found her near a spring in the desert. The spring was on the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and be obedient to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord continued, “I will multiply the number of your descendants so much that you will not be able to count them.”
11 The angel of the Lord added,
“Behold, you are pregnant:
you will bear a son
and call him Ishmael,
for the Lord has listened to you in your distress.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against all
and the hands of all will be against him.
He will be opposed to all of his brothers.”
13 Hagar gave a name to the Lord who had spoken to her, “You are the God of the Vision.”[c] Therefore, she said, “Here I remained alive after having received this vision.” 14 Because of this, the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kedesh and Bered.
15 Jesus Blesses the Children.[a] People were bringing even infants to Jesus so that he might touch them. When the disciples observed this, they rebuked them. 16 However, Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 17 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
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