GENESIS 16:1- 18:15
MATTHEW 6:1- 24
PSALM 7:1- 17
PROVERBS 2:1- 5
But Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children. So Sarai took her servant, an Egyptian woman named Hagar, 2 and gave her to Abram so she could bear his children. "The LORD has kept me from having any children," Sarai said to Abram. "Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her." And Abram agreed. 3 So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram first arrived in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress Sarai with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "It's all your fault! Now this servant of mine is pregnant, and she despises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of sleeping with you. The LORD will make you pay for doing this to me!" 6 Abram replied, "Since she is your servant, you may deal with her as you see fit." So Sarai treated her harshly, and Hagar ran away. 7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a desert spring along the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, "Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I am running away from my mistress," she replied. 9 Then the angel of the LORD said, "Return to your mistress and submit to her authority." 10 The angel added, "I will give you more descendants than you can count." 11 And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard about your misery. 12 This son of yours will be a wild one-- free and untamed as a wild donkey! He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers." 13 Thereafter, Hagar referred to the LORD, who had spoken to her, as "the God who sees me," for she said, "I have seen the One who sees me!" 14 Later that well was named Beer- lahairoi, and it can still be found between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty- six years old at that time. 17:1 WHEN Abram was ninety- nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to make you into a mighty nation." 3 At this, Abram fell face down in the dust. Then God said to him, 4 "This is my covenant with you:I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations! 5 What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram; now you will be known as Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them! 7" I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between me and your offspring forever. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 Yes, I will give all this land of Canaan to you and to your offspring forever. And I will be their God. 9 "Your part of the agreement," God told Abraham, "is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep:Each male among you must be circumcised; 11 the flesh of his foreskin must be cut off. This will be a sign that you and they have accepted this covenant. 12 Every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family, but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign- born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will thus bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Anyone who refuses to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for violating the covenant." 15 Then God added, "Regarding Sarai, your wife-- her name will no longer be Sarai; from now on you will call her Sarah. 16 And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings will be among her descendants!" 17 Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. "How could I become a father at the age of one hundred?" he wondered. "Besides, Sarah is ninety; how could she have a baby?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "Yes, may Ishmael enjoy your special blessing!" 19 But God replied, "Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants. 20 As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes will be among his descendants. 21 But my covenant is with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year." 22 That ended the conversation, and God left Abraham. 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and every other male in his household and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, exactly as God had told him. 24 Abraham was ninety- nine years old at that time, 25 and Ishmael his son was thirteen. 26 Both were circumcised the same day, 27 along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether they were born there or bought as servants. 18:1 THE LORD appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, 2 he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to meet them, welcoming them by bowing low to the ground. 3 "My lord," he said, "if it pleases you, stop here for a while. 4 Rest in the shade of this tree while my servants get some water to wash your feet. 5 Let me prepare some food to refresh you. Please stay awhile before continuing on your journey." "All right," they said. "Do as you have said." 6 So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick! Get three measures of your best flour, and bake some bread." 7 Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a fat calf and told a servant to hurry and butcher it. 8 When the food was ready, he took some cheese curds and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them there beneath the trees. 9 "Where is Sarah, your wife?" they asked him. "In the tent," Abraham replied. 10 Then one of them said, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. 11 And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, 12 she laughed silently to herself. "How could a worn- out woman like me have a baby?" she thought. "And when my master-- my husband-- is also so old?" 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, `Can an old woman like me have a baby? '14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But he said, "That is not true. You did laugh."
"Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give a gift to someone in need, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do-- blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone, don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you. 5" And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you. 7 "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don't be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 Pray like this:Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done here on earth,
just as it is in heaven.
11 Give us our food for today,
12 and forgive us our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
13 And don't let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
14" If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. 16 "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then no one will suspect you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in secret. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you. 19" Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth- eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. 22 "Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. 23 But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be! 24" No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. "
A psalm of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush of the tribe of Benjamin.
1 I come to you for protection, O LORD my God.
Save me from my persecutors-- rescue me!
2 If you don't, they will maul me like a lion,
tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done wrong
or am guilty of injustice,
4 if I have betrayed a friend
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 then let my enemies capture me.
Let them trample me into the ground.
Let my honor be left in the dust.
Interlude6 Arise, O LORD, in anger!
Stand up against the fury of my enemies!
Wake up, my God, and bring justice!
7 Gather the nations before you.
Sit on your throne high above them.
8 The LORD passes judgment on the nations.
Declare me righteous, O LORD,
for I am innocent, O Most High!
9 End the wickedness of the ungodly,
but help all those who obey you.
For you look deep within the mind and heart,
O righteous God.
10 God is my shield,
saving those whose hearts are true and right.
11 God is a judge who is perfectly fair.
He is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If a person does not repent,
God will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He will prepare his deadly weapons
and ignite his flaming arrows.
14 The wicked conceive evil;
they are pregnant with trouble
and give birth to lies.
15 They dig a pit to trap others
and then fall into it themselves.
16 They make trouble,
but it backfires on them.
They plan violence for others,
but it falls on their own heads.
17 I will thank the LORD because he is just;
I will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
My child, listen to me and treasure my instructions. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure. Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God
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