The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram(A) in a vision:(B)

“Do not be afraid,(C) Abram.
    I am your shield,[a](D)
    your very great reward.[b](E)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(F) what can you give me since I remain childless(G) and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?(H) And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant(I) in my household(J) will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.(K) He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”(M)

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.(N)

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out(O) of Ur of the Chaldeans(P) to give you this land to take possession of it.”(Q)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(R) how can I know(S) that I will gain possession of it?”(T)

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,(U) a goat and a ram, each three years old,(V) along with a dove and a young pigeon.(W)

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;(X) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.(Y) 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,(Z) but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,(AA) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years(AB) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved(AC) and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out(AD) with great possessions.(AE) 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors(AF) in peace and be buried at a good old age.(AG) 16 In the fourth generation(AH) your descendants will come back here,(AI) for the sin of the Amorites(AJ) has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch(AK) appeared and passed between the pieces.(AL) 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram(AM) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,(AN) from the Wadi[e] of Egypt(AO) to the great river, the Euphrates(AP) 19 the land of the Kenites,(AQ) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,(AR) Perizzites,(AS) Rephaites,(AT) 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”(AU)

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai,(AV) Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.(AW) But she had an Egyptian slave(AX) named Hagar;(AY) so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.(AZ) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”(BA)

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan(BB) ten years,(BC) Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar,(BD) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.(BE) Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”(BF)

“Your slave is in your hands,(BG)” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated(BH) Hagar; so she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord(BI) found Hagar near a spring(BJ) in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.(BK) And he said, “Hagar,(BL) slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”(BM)

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”(BN)

11 The angel of the Lord(BO) also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.(BP)
You shall name him(BQ) Ishmael,[f](BR)
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.(BS)
12 He will be a wild donkey(BT) of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward[g] all his brothers.(BU)

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,(BV)” for she said, “I have now seen[h] the One who sees me.”(BW) 14 That is why the well(BX) was called Beer Lahai Roi[i];(BY) it is still there, between Kadesh(BZ) and Bered.

15 So Hagar(CA) bore Abram a son,(CB) and Abram gave the name Ishmael(CC) to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old(CD) when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,(CE) the Lord appeared to him(CF) and said, “I am God Almighty[j];(CG) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.(CH) Then I will make my covenant between me and you(CI) and will greatly increase your numbers.”(CJ)

Abram fell facedown,(CK) and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you:(CL) You will be the father of many nations.(CM) No longer will you be called Abram[k]; your name will be Abraham,[l](CN) for I have made you a father of many nations.(CO) I will make you very fruitful;(CP) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.(CQ) I will establish my covenant(CR) as an everlasting covenant(CS) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God(CT) and the God of your descendants after you.(CU) The whole land of Canaan,(CV) where you now reside as a foreigner,(CW) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;(CX) and I will be their God.(CY)

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,(CZ) you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.(DA) 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.(DB) 11 You are to undergo circumcision,(DC) and it will be the sign of the covenant(DD) between me and you. 12 For the generations to come(DE) every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,(DF) including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.(DG) My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.(DH) 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised(DI) in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;(DJ) he has broken my covenant.(DK)

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai(DL) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.(DM) 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.(DN) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;(DO) kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Abraham fell facedown;(DP) he laughed(DQ) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?(DR) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”(DS) 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael(DT) might live under your blessing!”(DU)

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,(DV) and you will call him Isaac.[m](DW) I will establish my covenant with him(DX) as an everlasting covenant(DY) for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.(DZ) He will be the father of twelve rulers,(EA) and I will make him into a great nation.(EB) 21 But my covenant(EC) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you(ED) by this time next year.”(EE) 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.(EF)

23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household(EG) or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.(EH) 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old(EI) when he was circumcised,(EJ) 25 and his son Ishmael(EK) was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household(EL), including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
  2. Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
  3. Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  4. Genesis 15:5 Or seed
  5. Genesis 15:18 Or river
  6. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears.
  7. Genesis 16:12 Or live to the east / of
  8. Genesis 16:13 Or seen the back of
  9. Genesis 16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.
  10. Genesis 17:1 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  11. Genesis 17:5 Abram means exalted father.
  12. Genesis 17:5 Abraham probably means father of many.
  13. Genesis 17:19 Isaac means he laughs.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath(A)

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.(B) Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”(C)

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?(D) He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat.(E) And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man(F) is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath(G) he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely(H) to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.(I) But Jesus knew what they were thinking(J) and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious(K) and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles(L)

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.(M) 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:(N) 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew,(O) Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes(P)

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,(Q) 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him,(R) because power was coming from him and healing them all.(S)

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.(T)
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.(U)
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.(V)
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you(W) and insult you(X)
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.(Y)

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,(Z) because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.(AA)

24 “But woe to you who are rich,(AB)
    for you have already received your comfort.(AC)
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
    for you will go hungry.(AD)
Woe to you who laugh now,
    for you will mourn and weep.(AE)
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
    for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.(AF)

Love for Enemies(AG)

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,(AH) 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.(AI) 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.(AJ) 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.(AK)

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?(AL) Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?(AM) Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them,(AN) and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children(AO) of the Most High,(AP) because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful,(AQ) just as your Father(AR) is merciful.

Judging Others(AS)

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.(AT) Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.(AU) 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.(AV) For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”(AW)

39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?(AX) 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.(AY)

41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit(AZ)

43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.(BA) People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.(BB)

The Wise and Foolish Builders(BC)

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’(BD) and do not do what I say?(BE) 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice,(BF) I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

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