Genesis 21 Cross References - MSB

¹ Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised. ² So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised. ³ And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him. ⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.” ⁷ She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” ⁸ So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son, ¹⁰ and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!” ¹¹ Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned. ¹³ But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.” ¹⁴ Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷ Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies. ¹⁸ Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So 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 and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer. ²¹ And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ²² 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 before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.” ²⁴ And Abraham replied, “I swear it.” ²⁵ But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized, ²⁶ Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.” ²⁷ So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. ²⁸ Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock, ²⁹ and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?” ³⁰ He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.” ³¹ So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. ³² After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. ³⁴ And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

¹⁶ And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

¹⁹ But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

²¹ But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

¹⁰ Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

¹⁶ Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

³¹ and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶ When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab.

²¹ So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

⁶ The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.

⁴ Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people; visit me with Your salvation,

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist. ¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged neither the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) nor the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

²³ His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.

²⁸ Now we, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

¹⁶ And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.” ¹⁷ But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

²⁴ After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared, ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

³⁶ Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.

⁸ Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ For this is what the promise stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

¹¹ By faith Sarah, even though she was beyond the proper age, received power and was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.

⁶ Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

² “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

³ But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

⁷ Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

¹⁰ This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

⁴⁸ If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it.

³ And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.

³² See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.

⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.

²¹ When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.

²² But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.) ²³ If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath?

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged neither the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) nor the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

¹² So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” ¹³ And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

²⁶ “Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.

⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!

² Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

²¹ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’”

¹ “Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.

¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

⁴⁶ Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! ⁴⁸ For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. ⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His name. ⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. ⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble. ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, ⁵⁵ as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

²¹ A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

²⁷ For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” ²⁸ Now we, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

¹¹ And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

²³ For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

³² Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported? ³³ Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

⁸ O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.

¹⁰ For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.

⁸ Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.

¹⁰ His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

¹⁰ on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.

³ But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

³⁰ So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

²² So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.

²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

¹⁰ Then his father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as was customary for the bridegroom.

¹² “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.

²² but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.”

³⁶ When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

²⁰ When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.

¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

³ In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.

² Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

⁸ After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son.

¹ Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

³ So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife. ⁴ And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.” ⁶ “Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

²³ From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

¹⁰ And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people scorned and mocked them.

¹⁶ But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

¹ Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews ² before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” ³ Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!” ⁴ Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.

¹ “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

¹⁰ Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us. ¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

¹¹ Even a young man is known by his actions—whether his conduct is pure and upright.

⁷ In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall.

²⁹ At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.

³⁶ Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

¹¹ Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’

¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

⁶ But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

¹⁹ This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,

⁶ Later, Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the people of his household, along with his livestock, all his other animals, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan, and he moved to a land far away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land where they stayed could not support them because of their livestock.

¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

³⁵ A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever.

¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.

⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir of God through Christ.

²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. ²³ His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise. ²⁴ These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar. ²⁵ For Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, and she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is the mother of us all. ²⁷ For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” ²⁸ Now we, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now. ³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” ³¹ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. ² “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

³³ The king was shaken and went up to the gate chamber and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

³⁷ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

¹¹ No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.

⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

⁹ Now listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

⁷ Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” ⁸ So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.

¹⁰ Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”

¹⁸ Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

¹² This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes. ¹⁷ Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

⁷ Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.

²⁷ Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

³¹ So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

³³ And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

³ So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

¹⁹ Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.

⁵⁴ Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”

³¹ And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

³³ So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.

¹⁵ a man found him wandering in the field and asked, “What are you looking for?”

¹ So Israel set out with all that he had, and when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

³ And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.

⁶⁰ I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.

¹⁴ If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.

¹⁰ Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.

²³ His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise. ²⁴ These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar. ²⁵ For Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, and she is in slavery with her children.

¹⁴ Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water. ²³ And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.) ²⁴ So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” ²⁵ And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

¹ Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?” ³ But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

⁹ So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.

¹ A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.

¹² The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.

³ The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

³⁴ For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”

⁴ When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.

⁹ May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud

¹⁶ When David had finished saying these things, Saul called back, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud

⁴ So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

²⁶ Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

⁶ For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”

¹⁰ Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

¹ After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

⁹ So the angel of the LORD told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.”

¹¹ The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.

³ “I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

⁷ The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

¹³ But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.

²³ If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.

²⁷ because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

²³ When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”

⁵ Just then Saul was returning from the field, behind his oxen. “What troubles the people?” asked Saul. “Why are they weeping?” And they relayed to him the words of the men from Jabesh.

⁴ Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.

²³ But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

² O You who listen to prayer, all people will come to You.

¹⁵ When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell. ⁵ They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them. ⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.

¹ This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,

¹⁰ Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

¹³ For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you. ¹⁴ Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹ Now this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.

³² Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”

³⁶ But Jesus overheard their conversation and immediately said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”

¹³ But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”

²⁹ These are their genealogies: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ³⁰ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, ³¹ Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael.

³¹ Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. And Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.

¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹ And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria. ²⁰ When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. ⁶ Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along with sadness on your faces?” ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?” ¹⁹ “What things?” He asked. “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people. ²⁰ Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place. ²² Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early, ²³ but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.” ²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself. ²⁸ As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther. ²⁹ But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight.

⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; so it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”

¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

³ Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.

¹⁵ Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

² And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did,

²¹ the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

²³ The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility. ²⁴ Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

¹² And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

⁴⁰ And the Child grew and became strong in spirit. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

³ and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling, ⁴ but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”

¹² and the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai, traveling from place to place until the cloud settled in the Wilderness of Paran.

¹⁶ After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

³ So at the consent of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,

²⁶ and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

² So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”

¹ When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

³⁸ So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.

² Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

²⁶ Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

²⁸ “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

²⁷ But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.”

⁷ Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

¹ Now Solomon son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and highly exalted him.

¹⁰ Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”

²³ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

²³ “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

³¹ What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

²⁵ and so the secrets of his heart will be made known. So he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is truly among you!”

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

⁹ Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

²² But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

¹⁴ So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.

³ and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

⁴⁴ Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”

⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

¹³ Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.

¹² Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

¹³ But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.

¹⁷ And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

⁴² And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

²¹ So now, swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s house.” ²² So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

¹⁵ “Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

² and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”

²³ I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

¹⁶ Men indeed swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.

¹³ Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

¹⁸ If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.

⁷ And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.

¹⁵ So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹ Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there. ²⁰ But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. ²² He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

⁸ But they replied, “We cannot, until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well. ¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.

¹⁵ “Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

¹⁰ A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.

⁹ Argue your case with your neighbor without betraying another’s confidence,

⁵ Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.

¹⁵ If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, while not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi pursued Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” ²² “Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’” ²³ But Naaman insisted, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged Gehazi to accept them. Then he tied up two talents of silver in two bags along with two sets of clothing and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they departed.

²⁸ “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you ²⁹ that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.” ³⁰ So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

⁸ A bribe is a charm to its giver; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

¹⁶ A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.

²⁴ A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

¹⁴ A gift in secret soothes anger, and a covert bribe pacifies great wrath.

⁸ But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.

¹³ He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,

³¹ They are senseless, faithless, heartless, unforgiving, merciless.

¹⁵ Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.

⁸ “What do you mean by sending this whole company to meet me?” asked Esau. “To find favor in your sight, my lord,” Jacob answered.

²⁶ When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’

¹⁴ But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”

⁴⁴ Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.” ⁴⁵ So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar, ⁴⁶ and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸ Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.

⁵² This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm me.

²⁷ Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’ ²⁸ Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”

²³ From there Isaac went up to Beersheba,

²⁸ Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,

¹ Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.

¹¹ Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.

²⁵ Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

¹⁴ the Pathrusites, the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites.

²⁷ So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.

⁸ When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

¹⁴ He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

¹ Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

²⁶ And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

⁸ From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

²¹ Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

²⁷ The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’

⁷ So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

² Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.

¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.

¹⁴ Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹ Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,

¹⁵ For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

¹² Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.

⁹ By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

¹³ All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

¹¹ Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.