Luke 12:1-31; Genesis 21; Psalms 14

Luke 12:1-31

1 In these circumstances, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to His disciples first: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known.

3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

4 "And I say to you, My friends, don't fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.

5 But I will show you the One to fear: Fear Him who has authority to throw [people] into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear!

6 Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.

7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!

8 "And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God,

9 but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

10 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

11 Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don't worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say.

12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said."

13 Someone from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

14 "Friend," He said to him, "who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

15 He then told them, "Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions."

16 Then He told them a parable: "A rich man's land was very productive.

17 He thought to himself, 'What should I do, since I don't have anywhere to store my crops?

18 I will do this,' he said. 'I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there.

19 Then I'll say to myself, "You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself." '

20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared-whose will they be?'

21 "That's how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

22 Then He said to His disciples: "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.

23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.

24 Consider the ravens: they don't sow or reap; they don't have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds?

25 Can any of you add a cubit to his height by worrying?

26 If then you're not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?

27 "Consider how the wildflowers grow: they don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!

28 If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you-you of little faith?

29 Don't keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious.

30 For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

31 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.

Genesis 21

1 The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.

2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.

3 Abraham named his son who was born to him-the one Sarah bore to him-Isaac.

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

5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me."

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

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

9 But Sarah saw the son mocking-the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham.

10 So she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a co-heir with my son Isaac!"

11 Now this was a very difficult thing for Abraham because of his son.

12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be concerned about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.

13 But I will also make a nation of the slave's son because he is your offspring."

14 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, [put them] on Hagar's shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba.

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

16 Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, "I can't [bear to] watch the boy die!" So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly.

17 God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is.

18 Get up, help the boy up, and sustain him, for I will make him a great nation."

19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer.

21 He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

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

23 Now swear to me here by God that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have kept faith with you, so you will keep faith with me and with the country where you are a resident alien."

24 And Abraham said, "I swear [it]."

25 But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the water well that Abimelech's servants had seized.

26 Abimelech replied, "I don't know who did this thing. You didn't report anything to me, so I hadn't heard about it until today."

27 Then Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.

28 But Abraham had set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock.

29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, "Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?"

30 He replied, "You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that this act will serve as my witness that I dug this well."

31 Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

32 After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.

33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he worshiped the Lord, the Everlasting God.

34 And Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines for many days.

Psalms 14

1 The fool says in his heart, "God does not exist." They are corrupt; their actions are revolting. There is no one who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

4 Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on the Lord.

5 Then they will be filled with terror, for God is with those who are righteous.

6 You [sinners] frustrate the plans of the afflicted, but the Lord is his refuge.

7 Oh, that Israel's deliverance would come from Zion! When the Lord restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.