Wednesday, 10 January

1.   Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children . And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2.   So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children . Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3.   Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4.   So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. 5.   Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me." 6.   So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. 7.   Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8.   And He said, "Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." 9.   The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand." 10.   Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude." 11.   And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction. 12.   He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." 13.   Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You–Are–the–God–Who–Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?" 14.   Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15.   So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16.   Abram was eighty–six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

1.   When Abram was ninety–nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2.   "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." 3.   Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4.   "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5.   "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6.   "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7.   "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8.   "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." 9.   And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10.   "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11.   "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12.   "He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13.   "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14.   "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant." 15.   Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16.   "And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her." 17.   Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child ?" 18.   And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!" 19.   Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. 20.   "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21.   "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year." 22.   Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. 23.   So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. 24.   Abraham was ninety–nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25.   And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26.   That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; 27.   and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

1.   The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, 2.   that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3.   And they said to me, "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire." 4.   So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5.   And I said: "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, 6.   "please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. 7.   "We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8.   "Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘ If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; 9.   ‘but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ 10.   "Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11.   "O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." For I was the king’s cupbearer.

1.   And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2.   Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid, 3.   and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?" 4.   Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5.   And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it." 6.   Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), "How long will your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7.   Furthermore I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, 8.   "and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy." And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9.   Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10.   When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it , they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well–being of the children of Israel. 11.   So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12.   Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. 13.   And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. 14.   Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. 15.   So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16.   And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. 17.   Then I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach." 18.   And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work . 19.   But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it , they laughed at us and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?" 20.   So I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem."

1.   When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2.   And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 3.   Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4.   And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 5.   Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6.   saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7.   And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8.   The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9.   "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one , ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it ." 10.   When Jesus heard it , He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11.   "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12.   "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13.   Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. 14.   Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15.   So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. 16.   When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon–possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17.   that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."