Through the Bible – Day 7

Bible text(s)

Genesis 20

Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac

Abraham and Sarah at Gerar

1Abraham moved to the Southern Desert, where he settled between Kadesh and Shur. Later he went to Gerar, and while there 2he told everyone that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3But God came to Abimelech in a dream and said, “You have taken a married woman, and for this you will die!”

4-5Abimelech said to the Lord, “Don't kill me! I haven't slept with Sarah. Didn't they say they were brother and sister? I am completely innocent.”

6God spoke to Abimelech in another dream and said:

I know you are innocent. That's why I kept you from sleeping with Sarah and doing anything wrong. 7Her husband is a prophet. Let her go back to him, and his prayers will save you from death. But if you don't return her, you and all your people will die.

8Early the next morning Abimelech sent for his officials, and when he told them what had happened, they were frightened. 9Abimelech then called in Abraham and said:

Look what you've done to us! What have I ever done to you? Why did you make me and my nation guilty of such a terrible sin? 10What were you thinking when you did this?

11Abraham answered:

I did it because I didn't think any of you respected God, and I was sure that someone would kill me to get my wife. 12Besides, she is my half-sister. We have the same father, but different mothers. 13When God made us leave my father's home and start wandering, I told her, “If you really love me, you will tell everyone that I am your brother.”

14Abimelech gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, and slaves. He sent Sarah back 15and told Abraham that he could settle anywhere in his country. 16Then he said to Sarah, “I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver as proof to everyone that you have done nothing wrong.”

17-18Meanwhile, God had kept Abimelech's wife and slaves from having children. But Abraham prayed, and God let them start having children again.

Genesis 21

Sarah has a son

1The LORD was good to Sarah and kept his promise. 2Although Abraham was very old, Sarah had a son exactly at the time God had said. 3Abraham named his son Isaac, 4and when the boy was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, just as the LORD had commanded.

5Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, 6and Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Now everyone will laugh with me. 7Who would have dared to tell Abraham that some day I would have a child? But in his old age, I have given him a son.”

8The time came when Sarah no longer had to nurse Isaac, and on that day Abraham gave a big feast.

Hagar and Ishmael are sent away

9-10One day, Sarah noticed Hagar's son Ishmael playing, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that Egyptian slave woman and her son! I don't want him to inherit anything. It should all go to my son.”

11Abraham was worried about Ishmael. 12But God said, “Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name, 13but the son of the slave woman is also your son, and I will make his descendants into a great nation.”

14Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar an animal skin full of water and some bread. Then he put the boy on her shoulder and sent them away.

They wandered around in the desert near Beersheba, 15and after they had run out of water, Hagar put her son under a bush. 16Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly.

17When God heard the boy crying, the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven and said, “Hagar, why are you worried? Don't be afraid. I have heard your son crying. 18Help him up and hold his hand, because I will make him the father of a great nation.” 19Then God let her see a well. So she went to the well and filled the skin with water, then gave some to her son.

20-21God blessed Ishmael, and as the boy grew older, he became an expert with his bow and arrows. He lived in the Paran Desert, and his mother chose an Egyptian woman for him to marry.

A peace treaty

22About this time Abimelech and his army commander Phicol said to Abraham, “God blesses everything you do! 23Now I want you to promise in the name of God that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants, just as I have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner.” 24And so, Abraham promised.

25One day, Abraham told Abimelech, “Some of your servants have taken over one of my wells.”

26“This is the first I've heard about it,” Abimelech replied. “Why haven't you said something before? I don't have any idea who did it.” 27Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and then the two men made a peace treaty.

28Abraham separated seven female lambs from his flock of sheep, 29and Abimelech asked, “Why have you done this?”

30Abraham told him, “I want you to accept these seven lambs as proof that I dug this well.” 31So they called the place Beersheba, because they made a treaty there.

32When the treaty was completed, Abimelech and his army commander Phicol went back to the land of the Philistines. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshipped the eternal LORD God. 34Then Abraham lived a long time as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines.

Genesis 22

The LORD tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice

1Some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him.

Abraham answered, “Here I am, LORD.”

2The LORD said, “Go and get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar.” 3So Abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire. He put a saddle on his donkey and left with Isaac and two servants for the place where God had told him to go.

4Three days later Abraham looked into the distance and saw the place. 5He told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, while my son and I go over there to worship. We will come back.”

6Abraham put the wood on Isaac's shoulder, but he carried the hot coals and the knife. As the two of them walked along, 7-8Isaac said, “Father, we have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”

“My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the lamb.”

The two of them walked on, and 9when they reached the place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it. Next, he tied up his son and put him on the wood. 10He then took the knife and got ready to kill his son. 11But the LORD's angel shouted from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am!” he answered.

12“Don't hurt the boy or harm him in any way!” the angel said. “Now I know that you truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son.”

13Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes. So he took the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son.

14Abraham named that place “The LORD will Provide”. And even now people say, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

15The LORD's angel called out from heaven a second time:

16You were willing to offer the LORD your only son, and so he makes you this solemn promise, 17“I will bless you and give you such a large family, that some day your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand along the beach. They will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their enemies live. 18You have obeyed me, and so you and your descendants will be a blessing to all nations on earth.”

19Abraham and Isaac went back to the servants who had come with him, and they returned to Abraham's home in Beersheba.

The children of Nahor

20-23Abraham's brother Nahor had married Milcah, and Abraham was later told that they had eight sons. Uz was their firstborn; Buz was next, and then there was Kemuel who became the father of Aram; their other five sons were: Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, who became the father of Rebekah. 24Nahor also had another wife. Her name was Reumah, and she had four sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 20:1-22:24CEVOpen in Bible reader

Matthew 6

Giving

Jesus said:

1When you do good deeds, don't try to show off. If you do, you won't get a reward from your Father in heaven.

2When you give to the poor, don't blow a loud horn. That's what show-offs do in the meeting places and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

3When you give to the poor, don't let anyone know about it. 4Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

Jesus continued:

5When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

6When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you.

7When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. 8Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask.

9You should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

help us to honour

your name.

10Come and set up

your kingdom,

so that everyone on earth

will obey you,

as you are obeyed

in heaven.

11Give us our food for today.

12Forgive us for doing wrong,

as we forgive others.

13Keep us from being tempted

and protect us from evil.

14If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. 15But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Worshipping God by going without eating

Jesus continued:

16When you go without eating, don't try to look gloomy as those show-offs do when they go without eating. I can assure you that they already have their reward. 17Instead, comb your hair and wash your face. 18Then others won't know that you are going without eating. But your Father sees what is done in private, and he will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-18CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.24.4
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