Meditate

21. The Birth of Isaac

The Birth of Isaac

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The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised.²Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.³Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.⁴And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.⁶Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”⁷And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

⁸ The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.⁹But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.¹⁰So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.”¹¹The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son.¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you.¹³As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.¹⁸Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”¹⁹Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Abraham and Abimelech Make a Covenant

²² At that time Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do;²³now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have resided as an alien.”²⁴And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵ When Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized,²⁶Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.²⁸Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”³⁰He said, “These seven ewe lambs you shall accept from my hand, in order that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”³¹Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there both of them swore an oath.³²When they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.³⁴And Abraham resided as an alien many days in the land of the Philistines.

6. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?¹⁷But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted,¹⁸and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

35. Psalm 35

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Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,

or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.

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For they do not speak peace,

but they conceive deceitful words

against those who are quiet in the land.

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They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, “Aha, Aha,

our eyes have seen it.”

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You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!

O Lord, do not be far from me!

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Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

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Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and do not let them rejoice over me.

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Do not let them say to themselves,

“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”

Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.”

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Let all those who rejoice at my calamity

be put to shame and confusion;

let those who exalt themselves against me

be clothed with shame and dishonor.

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Let those who desire my vindication

shout for joy and be glad,

and say evermore,

“Great is the Lord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant.”

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Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all day long.