One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 35
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Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said
to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put
my servant into your arms, but now
that she’s pregnant she treats me with
contempt. The Lord will show who’s
wrong—you or me!”
6 Abram replied, “Look, she is
your servant, so deal with her as you
see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so
harshly that she finally ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar
beside a spring of water in the wilderness, 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’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.
9 The angel of the Lord said to her,
“Return to your mistress, and submit
to her authority.” 10 Then he 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
(which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord
has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son
of yours will be a wild man, as untamed
as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist
against everyone, and everyone will be
against him. Yes, he will live in open
hostility against all his relatives.”
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another
name to refer to the Lord, who had
spoken to her. She said, “You are the
God who sees me.”* She also said,
“Have I truly seen the One who sees
me?” 14 So that well was named Beer-
lahai-roi (which means “well of the
Living One who sees me”). 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 when Ishmael
was born.
17:1 When Abram was n
inety-
nine
years old, the Lord appeared to him
and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a
blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant
with you, by which I will guarantee to
give you countless descendants.”
January 7
3 At
this, Abram fell face down on
the ground. Then God said to him,
4 “This is my covenant with you: I will
make you the father of a multitude of
nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be
Abram. Instead, you will be called
Abraham,* for you will be the father
of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will
become many nations, and kings will
be among them!
7 “I will confirm my cov
enant with
you and your descendants* after you,
from generation to generation. This is
the everlasting covenant: I will always
be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give
the entire land of Canaan, where you
now live as a foreigner, to you and your
descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your
responsibility 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 You must cut off the flesh of
your foreskin as a sign of the covenant
between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, e very 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 bear the mark
of my ever
lasting cov
enant. 14 Any
male who fails to be circumcised will
be cut off from the covenant family for
breaking the covenant.”
15 Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your w
ife—her name
will no longer be Sarai. From now on
her name will be 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 of nations will be among her
descendants.”
17 Then Abra
ham bowed down to
