In Every Season: Trusting God in Life’s Transitions

Washed by the Word (New Testament)

A Thrill of Hope

Waiting for (Christ)mas

Essentials for the New Year

Kingdom Marriages: A 5-Day Plan to Build a Christ-Centered Relationship

And He Shall Be Called: Advent Devotionals, Week 4

The God of Times and Seasons

Prayer: From Natural to Supernatural

The Holy Spirit

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="GEN.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">The Birth of Isaac</div><div class="p"> 1Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3Abraham gave the name Isaac#21:3 Isaac means he laughs. to the son Sarah bore him. 4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.</div><div class="p"> 6Sarah said, &#8220;God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.&#8221; 7And she added, &#8220;Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away</div><div class="p"> 8The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10and she said to Abraham, &#8220;Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman&#8217;s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12But God said to him, &#8220;Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring#21:12 Or seed will be reckoned. 13I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.</div><div class="p"> 15When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, &#8220;I cannot watch the boy die.&#8221; And as she sat there, she#21:16 Hebrew; Septuagint the child began to sob.</div><div class="p"> 17God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, &#8220;What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Then 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.</div><div class="p"> 20God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.</div><div class="s1">The Treaty at Beersheba</div><div class="p"> 22At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, &#8220;God is with you in everything you do. 23Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24Abraham said, &#8220;I swear it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek&#8217;s servants had seized. 26But Abimelek said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. 28Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29and Abimelek asked Abraham, &#8220;What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30He replied, &#8220;Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31So that place was called Beersheba,#21:31 Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath. because the two men swore an oath there.</div><div class="p"> 32After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch22" data-usfm="GEN.22">
 <div class="label">22</div><div class="s1">Abraham Tested</div><div class="p"> 1Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, &#8220;Abraham!&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Here I am,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 2Then God said, &#8220;Take your son, your only son, whom you love&#8212;Isaac&#8212;and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5He said to his servants, &#8220;Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, &#8220;Father?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes, my son?&#8221; Abraham replied.</div><div class="p">&#8220;The fire and wood are here,&#8221; Isaac said, &#8220;but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Abraham answered, &#8220;God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.&#8221; And the two of them went on together.</div><div class="p"> 9When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, &#8220;Abraham! Abraham!&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Here I am,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;Do not lay a hand on the boy,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram#22:13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, &#8220;On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16and said, &#8220;I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and through your offspring#22:18 Or seed all nations on earth will be blessed,#22:18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) because you have obeyed me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.</div><div class="s1">Nahor&#8217;s Sons</div><div class="p"> 20Some time later Abraham was told, &#8220;Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.&#8221; 23Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham&#8217;s brother Nahor. 24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="MAT.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">Giving to the Needy</div><div class="p"> 1 &#8220;Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.</div><div class="p"> 2 &#8220;So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.</div><div class="s1">Prayer</div><div class="p"> 5 &#8220;And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.</div><div class="p"> 9 &#8220;This, then, is how you should pray:</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Our Father in heaven,</div><div class="q1"> hallowed be your name,</div><div class="q1"> 10 your kingdom come,</div><div class="q1"> your will be done,</div><div class="q2"> on earth as it is in heaven.</div><div class="q1"> 11 Give us today our daily bread.</div><div class="q1"> 12 And forgive us our debts,</div><div class="q2"> as we also have forgiven our debtors.</div><div class="q1"> 13 And lead us not into temptation, # 6:13 The Greek for temptation can also mean testing. </div><div class="q2"> but deliver us from the evil one. # 6:13 Or from evil ; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. &#8217;</div><div class="m"> 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.</div><div class="s1">Fasting</div><div class="p"> 16 &#8220;When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.</div><div class="s1">Treasures in Heaven</div><div class="p"> 19 &#8220;Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.</div><div class="p"> 22 &#8220;The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, # 6:22 The Greek for healthy here implies generous. your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy,#6:23 The Greek for unhealthy here implies stingy. your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!</div><div class="p"> 24 &#8220;No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.</div><div class="s1">Do Not Worry</div><div class="p"> 25 &#8220;Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life#6:27 Or single cubit to your height?</div><div class="p"> 28 &#8220;And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you&#8212;you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, &#8216;What shall we eat?&#8217; or &#8216;What shall we drink?&#8217; or &#8216;What shall we wear?&#8217; 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.</div>
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