Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Pleading and Trust.
A Prayer of David.
86 (A)Incline Your ear, Lord, and answer me;
For I am (B)afflicted and needy.
2 (C)Protect my [a]soul, for I am (D)godly;
You my God, save Your servant who (E)trusts in You.
3 Be (F)gracious to me, Lord,
For (G)I call upon You all day long.
4 Make the soul of Your servant joyful,
For to You, Lord, (H)I lift up my soul.
5 For You, Lord, are (I)good, and (J)ready to forgive,
And (K)abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.
6 (L)Listen, Lord, to my prayer;
And give Your attention to the sound of my pleading!
7 On (M)the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For (N)You will answer me.
8 There is (O)no one like You among the gods, Lord,
Nor are there any works (P)like Yours.
9 (Q)All nations whom You have made will come and worship before You, Lord,
And they will glorify Your name.
10 For You are (R)great, and You (S)do [b]wondrous deeds;
You alone (T)are God.
11 (U)Teach me Your way, Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
(V)Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will (W)give thanks to You, Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forever.
13 For Your graciousness toward me is great,
And You have (X)saved my soul from the [c]depths of [d]Sheol.
14 God, arrogant men have (Y)risen up against me,
And a gang of violent men have sought my [e]life,
And they have not set You before them.
15 But You, Lord, are a (Z)compassionate and gracious God,
Slow to anger and abundant in mercy and [f]truth.
16 (AA)Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
(AB)Grant Your strength to Your servant,
And save the (AC)son of Your maidservant.
17 (AD)Show me a sign of good,
That those who hate me may (AE)see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, (AF)have helped me and comforted me.
Sarai and Hagar
16 Now (A)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had (B)an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. (C)Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will [a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And so after Abram had lived (D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4 Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. 5 So Sarai said to Abram, “(E)May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your [b]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her [c]sight. (F)May the Lord judge between [d]you and me.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your [e]power; do to her what is good in your [f]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and (G)she fled from her presence.
7 Now (H)the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to (I)Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, (J)from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9 So the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit [g]to her authority.” 10 The (K)angel of the Lord also said to her, “(L)I will greatly multiply your [h]descendants so that [i]they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,
“Behold, you are pregnant,
And you will give birth to a son;
And you shall name him [j]Ishmael,
Because (M)the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 But he will be a (N)wild donkey of a man;
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will live [k](O)in defiance of all his brothers.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “[l]You are [m]a God who sees me”; for she said, “(P)Have I even seen Him here and lived after [n]He saw me?” 14 Therefore the well was called [o]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between (Q)Kadesh and Bered.
15 (A)Now they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for [a]the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not [b]forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I say to you, (B)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.