Genesis 16–18; Mark 6

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Genesis 16–18

Sarai and Hagar

aNow Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was bHagar. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children1 by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram chad lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, dshe looked with contempt on her mistress.2 And Sarai said to Abram, May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May ethe Lord judge between you and me! But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please. Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to fShur. And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? She said, I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit to her. 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, gI will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

Behold, you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,3

hbecause the Lord has listened to your affliction.

12  He shall be ia wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell jover against all his kinsmen.

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing,4 for she said, kTruly here I have seen him who looks after me.5 14 Therefore the well was called lBeer-lahai-roi;6 it lies between mKadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty;7 walk before me, and be nblameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and omay multiply you greatly. Then Abram pfell on his face. And God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be qthe father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram,8 but ryour name shall be Abraham,9 sfor I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make tyou into nations, and ukings shall come from you. And I will vestablish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, wto be God to you and to your offspring after you. And xI will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and yI will be their God.

And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a zsign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is aeight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bbought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.

Isaac’s Birth Promised

15 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah10 shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will cgive11 you a son by her. I will bless her, and dshe shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. 17 Then Abraham efell on his face fand laughed and said to himself, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? 18 And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before you! 19 God said, No, but gSarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name hIsaac.12 I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and imultiply him greatly. He jshall father twelve princes, and kI will make him into a great nation. 21 But lI will establish my covenant with Isaac, mwhom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.

22 When he had finished talking with him, nGod went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very 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 day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

And the Lord appeared to him by the ooaks13 of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. pWhen he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, O Lord,14 if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a qlittle water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that ryou may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass onssince you have come to your servant. So they said, Do as you have said. And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, Quick! Three seahs15 of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is tin the tent. 10 The Lord said, I will surely return to you uabout this time next year, and vSarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now wAbraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 xSo Sarah laughed to herself, saying, yAfter I am worn out, and zmy lord is old, shall I have pleasure? 13 The Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? 14 aIs anything too hard16 for the Lord? bAt the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 But Sarah denied it,17 saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. He said, No, but you did laugh.

16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, cShall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be dblessed in him? 19 For I have echosen18 him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. 20 Then the Lord said, Because fthe outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 gI will go down to see whether they have done altogether19 according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, hI will know.

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

22 iSo the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham jstill stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, kWill you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, lso that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! mShall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? 26 And the Lord said, nIf I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.

27 Abraham answered and said, oBehold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there. 29 Again he spoke to him and said, Suppose forty are found there. He answered, For the sake of forty I will not do it. 30 Then he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there. He answered, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31 He said, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there. He answered, For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it. 32 Then he said, pOh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there. He answered, For the sake of ten I will not destroy it. 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.


Mark 6

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

bHe went away from there and came to chis hometown, and his disciples followed him. And don the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and emany who heard him were astonished, saying, Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? fIs not this gthe carpenter, the son of Mary and hbrother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And ithey took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, jA prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. And khe could do no mighty work there, except that lhe laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And mhe marveled because of their unbelief.

nAnd he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

oAnd he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staffno bread, no bag, no money in their belts but to pwear sandals and not put on two tunics.1 10 And he said to them, Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, qshake off the dust that is on your feet ras a testimony against them. 12 sSo they went out and tproclaimed uthat people should repent. 13 tAnd they cast out many demons and vanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 wKing Herod heard of it, for Jesus’2 name had become known. Some3 said, xJohn the Baptist4 has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. 15 xBut others said, He is Elijah. And others said, He is ya prophet, like one of the prophets of old. 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, John, whom I beheaded, has been raised. 17 zFor it was Herod who had sent and seized John and abound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 zFor John had been saying to Herod, bIt is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod cfeared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he dheard him gladly.

21 But an opportunity came when Herod eon his birthday fgave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you. 23 And he vowed to her, Whatever you ask me, I will give you, gup to half of my kingdom. 24 And she went out and said to her mother, For what should I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s5 head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his hdisciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30 ijThe apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and kthey had no leisure even to eat. 32 lAnd they went away in mthe boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and nrecognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he osaw a great crowd, and ohe had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 pSend them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. 37 But he answered them, qYou give them something to eat. And rthey said to him, sShall we go and buy two hundred denarii6 worth of bread and give it to them to eat? 38 And he said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out, they said, tFive, and two fish. 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ulooked up to heaven and vsaid a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 wImmediately he xmade his disciples get into ythe boat and go before him to the other side, zto Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, ahe went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when bevening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about bthe fourth watch of the night7 he came to them, walking on the sea. cHe meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and dwere terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, eTake heart; it is I. eDo not be afraid. 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for fthey did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts gwere hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

53 hWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at iGennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately jrecognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring kthe sick people lon their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, mthey laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even nthe fringe of his garment. And oas many as touched it were made well.