Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
11 Lord, teach me ·what you want me to do [L your way],
and I will ·live [walk] ·by your truth [in your faithfulness].
·Teach me to respect you completely [L Give me an undivided heart to fear your name].
12 Lord, my God, I will ·praise [thank] you with all my heart,
and I will ·honor [glorify] your name forever.
13 You have great ·love [loyalty] for me.
You have ·saved [T delivered] me from ·death [L Sheol down below; C the grave or the underworld].
14 God, ·proud [arrogant] people ·are attacking [rise up against] me;
a ·gang [assembly] of ·cruel [violent] people ·is trying to kill me [seek my life].
They do not ·respect you [L set you before them].
15 But, Lord, you are a God who shows ·mercy [compassion] and is ·kind [merciful; compassionate].
You ·don’t become angry quickly [are patient/longsuffering].
You have great ·love [loyalty] and ·faithfulness [truth; Ex. 34:6–7].
16 Turn to me and ·have mercy [be gracious].
Give me, your servant, strength.
·Save [Give victory to] me, the son of your female servant.
17 ·Show [L Give] me a sign of your goodness.
When my enemies look, they will be ashamed.
You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Ishmael Is Born
16 Sarai, Abram’s wife, had no children, but she had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Look, the Lord has ·not allowed me to have [L prevented/restrained me from having] children, so ·have sexual relations with [L go to] my slave girl. If she has a child, maybe I can ·have my own family [reproduce; have a child; L build] through her [C taking a second wife or concubine was common for a childless couple at the time].”
Abram did what Sarai said. 3 It was after he had lived ten years in Canaan that Sarai gave Hagar to her husband Abram as a ·wife [or concubine]. (Hagar was her slave girl from Egypt.)
4 Abram ·had sexual relations with [L went in to] Hagar, and she ·became pregnant [conceived]. When Hagar learned she ·was pregnant [conceived], she began to ·treat [look on] her mistress Sarai ·badly [with contempt]. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “·This is your fault [L May the wrong/violence done to me be on you]. I gave my slave girl ·to you [into your embrace; L into your lap], and when she ·became pregnant [L conceived], she began to ·treat [look on] me ·badly [with contempt]. Let the Lord ·decide who is right—[judge between] you or me.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “·You are Hagar’s mistress [L Your slave girl is in your hand/power]. Do ·anything you want [L what is good in your eyes] to her.” Then Sarai ·was hard on [afflicted; abused] Hagar, and Hagar ·ran away [L fled from her presence].
7 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [C the angel of the Lord was either a representative of the Lord or the Lord himself; v. 13; Judg. 6:11, 14] found Hagar beside a spring of water in the ·desert [wilderness], by the road to Shur [C likely a location in southern Canaan; 20:1; 25:18; Ex. 15:22; 1 Sam. 15:7]. 8 ·The angel [L He] said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl, where have you come from? Where are you going?”
Hagar answered, “I am ·running away [fleeing] from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [16:7] said to her, “Go home to your mistress and ·obey [submit to] her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said, “I will ·give you so many descendants [L greatly multiply your seed so that] they cannot be counted.”
11 The ·angel [messenger] added,
“You ·are now pregnant [have conceived],
and you will ·have [L give birth to] a son.
You will name him Ishmael [C sounds like the verb “to hear”],
because the Lord has heard ·your cries [L of your affliction].
12 Ishmael will be ·like a wild donkey [L a wild donkey/ass of a man].
·He [L His hand] will be against everyone,
and ·everyone [L everyone’s hand] will be against him.
He will ·attack [L dwell against] all his brothers.”
13 The slave girl gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are ‘·God who sees me [or God of seeing; Hebrew El-Roi]’ ” because she said to herself, “Have I really seen God who sees me?” 14 So the well there, between Kadesh [C also known as Kadesh Barnea in northeast Sinai] and Bered [C location unknown], was called Beer Lahai Roi [C the well of the Living One who sees me].
15 Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named ·him [L his son which Hagar bore him] Ishmael.
To the Church in Ephesus
2 “Write this to the ·angel [or messenger; see 1:20] of the church in Ephesus [C an important city in western Asia Minor]:
“The One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands [C the resurrected Jesus; 1:16, 20] says ·this [L these things]: 2 I know ·what you do [L your works], ·how you work hard [L your toil] and ·never give up [L your perseverence/endurance]. I know you do not put up with ·the false teachings of evil people [L evildoers; or evil]. You have tested those who say they are apostles but really are not, and you found they are ·liars [or false]. 3 You have ·patience [perseverance; endurance] and have ·suffered troubles [endured much] for my name and have not ·given up [L grown weary].
4 “But I have this against you: You have ·left [abandoned] ·the love you had in the beginning [or your first love]. 5 So ·remember [consider] ·where you were before you fell [L how far you have fallen]. ·Change your hearts [Repent] and do ·what [L the works] you did at first. If you do not ·change [repent], I will come to you and will take away your lampstand from its place. 6 But ·there is something you do that is right [L this you have]: You hate what the Nicolaitans do [C we know little about this heresy, which possibly entailed false worship and immorality], as much as I.
7 “Every person who has ears should ·listen to [hear; obey] what the Spirit says to the churches. To those who ·win the victory [overcome; conquer] I will give the right to eat the fruit from the ·tree of life, which is in the ·garden [or paradise] of God [22:2; Gen. 2:9].
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