The Birth of Isaac

¹Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.

²So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

³And Abraham gave the name Isaacto the son Sarah bore to him.

⁴When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

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

⁷She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

¹⁰and 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!”

¹¹Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.

¹²But 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.

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

¹⁴Early 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.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

¹⁶Then 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.

¹⁷Then 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.

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

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.

²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

²¹And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

The Covenant at Beersheba

²²At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

²³Now, 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.”

²⁴And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”

²⁵But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

²⁶Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”

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

²⁸Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,

²⁹and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”

³⁰He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”

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

³²After 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.

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

³⁴And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Samuel Anoints Saul

¹Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

²When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

³Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oakof Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

⁴They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.

⁵After that you will come to Gibeah of God,where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

⁶Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

⁷When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.

⁸And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”

Samuel’s Signs Fulfilled

⁹As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day.

¹⁰When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah,a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.

¹¹When all those who had formerly known Saul saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹²Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹³And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.

¹⁴Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?”“To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

¹⁵“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?”

¹⁶And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

Saul Proclaimed King

¹⁷After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah

¹⁸and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

¹⁹But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

²⁰Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected.

²¹Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected.Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him.

²²So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

²³So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others.

²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.

²⁶Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.

²⁷But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.

Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

¹In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.

²Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.

³Then four great beasts came up out of the sea, each one different from the others:

⁴The first beast was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man and given the mind of a man.

⁵Suddenly another beast appeared, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. So it was told, ‘Get up and gorge yourself on flesh!’

⁶Next, as I watched, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard, and on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

⁷After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

⁸While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.

Daniel’s Vision of the Ancient of Days

⁹As I continued to watch,thrones were set in place,and the Ancient of Days took His seat.His clothing was white as snow,and the hair of His head was like pure wool.His throne was flaming with fire,and its wheels were all ablaze.

¹⁰A river of fire was flowing,coming out from His presence.Thousands upon thousands attended Him,and myriads upon myriads stood before Him.The court was convened,and the books were opened.

¹¹Then I kept watching because of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued to watch, the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.

¹²As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but they were granted an extension of life for a season and a time.

Daniel’s Vision of the Son of Man

¹³In my vision in the night I continued to watch,and I saw One like the Son of Mancoming with the clouds of heaven.He approached the Ancient of Daysand was led into His presence.

¹⁴And He was given dominion,glory, and kingship,that the people of every nation and languageshould serve Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionthat will not pass away,and His kingdom is onethat will never be destroyed.

Daniel’s Visions Interpreted

¹⁵I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit, and the visions in my mind alarmed me.

¹⁶I approached one of those who were standing there, and I asked him the true meaning of all this.So he told me the interpretation of these things:

¹⁷‘These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.

¹⁸But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever—yes, forever and ever.’

¹⁹Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others—extremely terrifying—devouring and crushing with iron teeth and bronze claws, then trampling underfoot whatever was left.

²⁰I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.

²¹As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them,

²²until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.

²³This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.

²⁴And the ten horns are ten kings who will rise from this kingdom. After them another king, different from the earlier ones, will rise and subdue three kings.

²⁵He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.

²⁶But the court will convene, and his dominion will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.

²⁷Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’

²⁸Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”

His Loving Devotion Endures Forever

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.His loving devotion endures forever.

²Give thanks to the God of gods.His loving devotion endures forever.

³Give thanks to the Lord of lords.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁴He alone does great wonders.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁵By His insight He made the heavens.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁶He spread out the earth upon the waters.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁷He made the great lights—His loving devotion endures forever.

⁸the sun to rule the day,His loving devotion endures forever.

⁹the moon and stars to govern the night.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁰He struck down the firstborn of EgyptHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹¹and brought Israel out from among themHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹²with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹³He divided the Red Seain twoHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁴and led Israel through the midst,His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁵but sweptPharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁶He led His people through the wilderness.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁷He struck down great kingsHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁸and slaughtered mighty kings—His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁹Sihon king of the AmoritesHis loving devotion endures forever.

²⁰and Og king of Bashan—His loving devotion endures forever.

²¹and He gave their land as an inheritance,His loving devotion endures forever.

²²a heritage to His servant Israel.His loving devotion endures forever.

²³He remembered us in our low estateHis loving devotion endures forever.

²⁴and freed us from our enemies.His loving devotion endures forever.

²⁵He gives food to every creature.His loving devotion endures forever.

²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven!His loving devotion endures forever.