Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ The child grew stronger, and he began to eat food. On that day, Abraham prepared a big party meal.

⁹ Then Sarah saw that Ishmael was laughing at Isaac. (Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian servant.) ¹⁰ So Sarah said to Abraham, ‘Send that slave woman and her son away from here. Ishmael must never receive any of our family's things. Everything must belong to my own son, Isaac.’

¹¹ This made Abraham very sad, because Ishmael was his own son.

¹² God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be upset about Ishmael or about Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you. Your family's descendants will come through Isaac, not Ishmael. ¹³ But, because Ishmael is also your son, I will make his descendants become a great nation of people too.’

¹⁴ Abraham woke up early the next morning. He took some food and some water in a bottle that was made from animal skin. He gave them to Hagar and he put them on her shoulders. Then he sent Hagar away, with their son, Ishmael.

She went and she travelled round the wilderness of Beersheba.^{[a] 15} After they had drunk all the water, Hagar put her son in the shade under a bush. ¹⁶ She herself went and sat down about 100 metres away from him. She thought, ‘I cannot watch the boy die.’ As she sat there, she began to cry.

¹⁷ Ishmael was crying and God heard him. The angel of God spoke to Hagar from heaven. He said, ‘What is the trouble, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy while he is crying there. ¹⁸ Go over to him and lift him up. Take hold of his hand and help him to stand. I will make him become a great nation of people.’^[b]

¹⁹ Then God helped Hagar to see clearly. She saw a well with water in it. She went to the well and she filled the bottle with water. She gave the boy some water to drink.

²⁰ God took care of Ishmael while he grew up. The boy lived in the desert. He became a hunter of wild animals. ²¹ He lived in the Paran wilderness. Hagar, his mother, found an Egyptian wife for him to marry.

David's prayer.

A prayer for help

Sin does not rule us any longer

6 Someone might say, ‘Perhaps we should continue to do wrong things. Then God can be kind to us in more and more ways.’ ² No! Certainly we should not do that! Sin does not rule our lives any longer. That old life is dead! So it is not right that we should continue to do wrong things. ³ Remember what your baptism shows: When they baptized you, it shows that you are united with Christ Jesus. It also shows that, because Christ died, your old life also died.^{[a] 4} Your baptism shows that they buried you, just like they buried Christ after his death. It is like you died with him and they buried you with him. Because of that, God will also raise us, just as he raised Christ from death. God, the Father, is so great and powerful that he raised Christ to a new life. That means that we also can live our lives in a new way.

⁵ We have become united with Christ, and we have died like he died. Because of that, we will also be united with him in his new life. Just like Christ rose, we also will rise to a new life. ⁶ We know that God has caused our old nature to die with Christ on the cross. This happened so that God could make us free from the power of sin in our lives. We are no longer like slaves who have sin as their master. ⁷ Sin no longer has any authority over someone who has died.

⁸ So, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ God raised Christ, so that he became alive again after his death. Because of that, we know that he will never die again. Death has no authority over him any more. ¹⁰ When Christ died, he died once to destroy the power of sin for ever. Now that he is alive again, he lives to serve God. ¹¹ So you also should think about yourselves in the same way. Sin has no power over you, as if you were dead. In your new life, you live to serve God, because you belong to Christ Jesus.

²⁴ A student is not more important than his teacher is. A servant is not more important than his master is. ²⁵ A student should be happy if he becomes like his teacher. A servant should be happy if he becomes like his master. People have called me, the master of the house, Beelzebul. You are like those people who live in my house. So do not be surprised when people call you even worse names than they call me.

²⁶ So do not be afraid of these people. They hide the things that they do. But there will be a time when other people will see those things. Everyone will know all their secrets. ²⁷ I tell you things secretly, like people do in the dark. But you must tell people these things clearly in the light of day. I have said things very quietly into your ears. But now you must shout those things loudly from the tops of the houses.^[a]

²⁸ Do not be afraid of those people who can kill only your body. These people cannot kill your soul. No, it is God that you should be afraid of. He can kill your body, and then he can also destroy your soul in hell. ²⁹ Think about this. People sell two birds for just one small coin. But God takes care of these little birds. Not one of them can fall to the ground unless God lets it happen. ³⁰ God even knows how many hairs there are on your head. ³¹ So do not be afraid of those people who are against you. You are more valuable to God than many little birds.

³² You should say clearly to other people, “I believe in Jesus.” If you do that, I will say to my Father in heaven, “This is someone who is my disciple.” ³³ But if you say to other people, “I do not believe in Jesus,” I will then say to my Father in heaven, “I do not know that person. He is not one of my disciples.”

³⁴ I will tell you why I have come into the world. I did not come so that everyone would agree with each other. No, I came to put people against one another, to fight against each other.^[b]

³⁷ Nobody should love his own father and mother more than he loves me. If he does, he cannot be my disciple. Nobody should love his own son or daughter more than he loves me. If he does, then he cannot be my disciple. ³⁸ If you really want to be one of my disciples, you must be ready to die for me. Live like a person who carries his own cross to go and die. ³⁹ Whoever wants to keep his life safe will lose it. But whoever gives his life to serve me will have true life.’