Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
that I will walk in Your truth;
bind my heart
to fear Your name.
12 I will give You thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and I will glorify Your name forever.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have risen against me,
and bands of violent men have sought my life;
they have not set You before them.
15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
give Your strength to Your servant,
and save the humble son of Your female servant.
17 Show me a sign of Your favor,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed
because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.
The Birth of Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had a maidservant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Please go in to my maid; it may be that I will obtain children through her.”
Abram listened to Sarai. 3 So after Abram had been living for ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, his wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived.
When she saw that she had conceived, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid into your arms; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her presence.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. It was the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?”
And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they will be too many to count.”
11 Then the angel of the Lord said to her,
“You are pregnant
and will bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 He will be a wild man;
his hand will be against every man,
and every man’s hand will be against him.
And he will dwell
in the presence of all his brothers.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord that spoke to her, “You are the God who sees,” for she said, “Have I now looked on Him who sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the son she bore Ishmael.
The Message to Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write:
“He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, says these things: 2 I know your works, your labor and your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles, but are not, and have found them to be liars. 3 You have endured, and have been patient, and for My name’s sake have labored and have not grown weary.
4 “But I have something against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your candlestick from its place, unless you repent. 6 But this you have: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give permission to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.