GENESIS 21

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The Birth of Isaac  21:1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” God Protects Hagar and Ishmael8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So 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 in the wilderness of Beersheba.
    15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And 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? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. A Treaty with Abimelech22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
    25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

PSALM 8

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How Majestic Is Your NameTo the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8:1

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens. 2

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.
3

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4

what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?
5

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor. 6

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet, 7

all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field, 8

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

PSALM 9

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I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9:1

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3

When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before your presence. 4

For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5

You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6

The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;

their cities you rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.
7

But the Lord sits enthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice, 8

and he judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble. 10

And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11

Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!

Tell among the peoples his deeds! 12

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13

Be gracious to me, O Lord!

See my affliction from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from the gates of death, 14

that I may recount all your praises,

that in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in your salvation.
15

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16

The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17

The wicked shall return to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.
18

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19

Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;

let the nations be judged before you! 20

Put them in fear, O Lord!

Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

PROVERBS 23

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23:1

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what is before you, 2

and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite. 3

Do not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food. 4

Do not toil to acquire wealth;

be discerning enough to desist. 5

When your eyes light on it, it is gone,

for suddenly it sprouts wings,

flying like an eagle toward heaven. 6

Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;

do not desire his delicacies, 7

for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you. 8

You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,

and waste your pleasant words. 9

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

for he will despise the good sense of your words. 10

Do not move an ancient landmark

or enter the fields of the fatherless, 11

for their Redeemer is strong;

he will plead their cause against you. 12

Apply your heart to instruction

and your ear to words of knowledge. 13

Do not withhold discipline from a child;

if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14

If you strike him with the rod,

you will save his soul from Sheol. 15

My son, if your heart is wise,

my heart too will be glad. 16

My inmost being will exult

when your lips speak what is right. 17

Let not your heart envy sinners,

but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. 18

Surely there is a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.
19

Hear, my son, and be wise,

and direct your heart in the way. 20

Be not among drunkards

or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21

for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22

Listen to your father who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23

Buy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 24

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. 25

Let your father and mother be glad;

let her who bore you rejoice.
26

My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways. 27

For a prostitute is a deep pit;

an adulteress is a narrow well. 28

She lies in wait like a robber

and increases the traitors among mankind.
29

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes? 30

Those who tarry long over wine;

those who go to try mixed wine. 31

Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly. 32

In the end it bites like a serpent

and stings like an adder. 33

Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter perverse things. 34

You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast. 35

“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I must have another drink.”