Thanksgiving in Times of Need

Two Equals One: A Devotional for Couples (For Wives)

Vote With Vision: Praying God’s Will Over Elections

Daily Reading Plan With Christian Mael (December)

[Deeply Rooted] Stand Strong

Worship Initiative | Advent Sundays

Preparing for Christmas

Navigating Grief

Giving Thanks in Every Season

Advent: I Love Christmas

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 ch16" data-usfm="GEN.16">
 <div class="label">16</div><div class="s1">Hagar and Ishmael</div><div class="p"> 1Now Sarai, Abram&#8217;s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2so she said to Abram, &#8220;The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.</div><div class="p">When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, &#8220;You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;Your slave is in your hands,&#8221; Abram said. &#8220;Do with her whatever you think best.&#8221; Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.</div><div class="p"> 7The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8And he said, &#8220;Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I&#8217;m running away from my mistress Sarai,&#8221; she answered.</div><div class="p"> 9Then the angel of the Lord told her, &#8220;Go back to your mistress and submit to her.&#8221; 10The angel added, &#8220;I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11The angel of the Lord also said to her:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;You are now pregnant</div><div class="q2">and you will give birth to a son.</div><div class="q1">You shall name him Ishmael,#16:11 Ishmael means God hears.</div><div class="q2">for the Lord has heard of your misery.</div><div class="q1"> 12He will be a wild donkey of a man;</div><div class="q2">his hand will be against everyone</div><div class="q2">and everyone&#8217;s hand against him,</div><div class="q1">and he will live in hostility</div><div class="q2">toward#16:12 Or live to the east / of all his brothers.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: &#8220;You are the God who sees me,&#8221; for she said, &#8220;I have now seen#16:13 Or seen the back of the One who sees me.&#8221; 14That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi#16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.</div><div class="p"> 15So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch17" data-usfm="GEN.17">
 <div class="label">17</div><div class="s1">The Covenant of Circumcision</div><div class="p"> 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, &#8220;I am God Almighty#17:1 Hebrew El-Shaddai; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4&#8220;As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram#17:5 Abram means exalted father.; your name will be Abraham,#17:5 Abraham probably means father of many. for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then God said to Abraham, &#8220;As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner&#8212;those who are not your offspring. 13Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15God also said to Abraham, &#8220;As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, &#8220;Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?&#8221; 18And Abraham said to God, &#8220;If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Then God said, &#8220;Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.#17:19 Isaac means he laughs. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.&#8221; 22When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.</div><div class="p"> 23On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27And every male in Abraham&#8217;s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch18" data-usfm="GEN.18.1+GEN.18.2+GEN.18.3+GEN.18.4+GEN.18.5+GEN.18.6+GEN.18.7+GEN.18.8+GEN.18.9+GEN.18.10+GEN.18.11+GEN.18.12+GEN.18.13+GEN.18.14+GEN.18.15">
 <div class="p">1The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.</div><div class="p"> 3He said, &#8220;If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,#18:3 Or eyes, Lord do not pass your servant by. 4Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way&#8212;now that you have come to your servant.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Very well,&#8221; they answered, &#8220;do as you say.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. &#8220;Quick,&#8221; he said, &#8220;get three seahs#18:6 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;Where is your wife Sarah?&#8221; they asked him.</div><div class="p">&#8220;There, in the tent,&#8221; he said.</div><div class="p"> 10Then one of them said, &#8220;I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, &#8220;After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then the Lord said to Abraham, &#8220;Why did Sarah laugh and say, &#8216;Will I really have a child, now that I am old?&#8217; 14Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, &#8220;I did not laugh.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But he said, &#8220;Yes, you did laugh.&#8221;</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.6.1+MAT.6.2+MAT.6.3+MAT.6.4+MAT.6.5+MAT.6.6+MAT.6.7+MAT.6.8+MAT.6.9+MAT.6.10+MAT.6.11+MAT.6.12+MAT.6.13+MAT.6.14+MAT.6.15+MAT.6.16+MAT.6.17+MAT.6.18+MAT.6.19+MAT.6.20+MAT.6.21+MAT.6.22+MAT.6.23+MAT.6.24">
 <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>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="PSA.7">
 <div class="label">7</div><div class="cl">Psalm 7#In Hebrew texts 7:1-17 is numbered 7:2-18.</div><div class="d">A shiggaion#Title: Probably a literary or musical term of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.</div><div class="q1"> 1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you;</div><div class="q2">save and deliver me from all who pursue me,</div><div class="q1"> 2or they will tear me apart like a lion</div><div class="q2">and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 3 Lord my God, if I have done this</div><div class="q2">and there is guilt on my hands&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 4if I have repaid my ally with evil</div><div class="q2">or without cause have robbed my foe&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 5then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;</div><div class="q2">let him trample my life to the ground</div><div class="q2">and make me sleep in the dust.#7:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 6Arise, Lord, in your anger;</div><div class="q2">rise up against the rage of my enemies.</div><div class="q2">Awake, my God; decree justice.</div><div class="q1"> 7Let the assembled peoples gather around you,</div><div class="q2">while you sit enthroned over them on high.</div><div class="q2"> 8Let the Lord judge the peoples.</div><div class="q1">Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,</div><div class="q2">according to my integrity, O Most High.</div><div class="q1"> 9Bring to an end the violence of the wicked</div><div class="q2">and make the righteous secure&#8212;</div><div class="q1">you, the righteous God</div><div class="q2">who probes minds and hearts.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 10My shield#7:10 Or sovereign is God Most High,</div><div class="q2">who saves the upright in heart.</div><div class="q1"> 11God is a righteous judge,</div><div class="q2">a God who displays his wrath every day.</div><div class="q1"> 12If he does not relent,</div><div class="q2">he#7:12 Or If anyone does not repent, / God will sharpen his sword;</div><div class="q2">he will bend and string his bow.</div><div class="q1"> 13He has prepared his deadly weapons;</div><div class="q2">he makes ready his flaming arrows.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 14Whoever is pregnant with evil</div><div class="q2">conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.</div><div class="q1"> 15Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out</div><div class="q2">falls into the pit they have made.</div><div class="q1"> 16The trouble they cause recoils on them;</div><div class="q2">their violence comes down on their own heads.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 17I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;</div><div class="q2">I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPRO">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="PRO.2.1+PRO.2.2+PRO.2.3+PRO.2.4+PRO.2.5">
 <div class="q1">1My son, if you accept my words</div><div class="q2">and store up my commands within you,</div><div class="q1"> 2turning your ear to wisdom</div><div class="q2">and applying your heart to understanding&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 3indeed, if you call out for insight</div><div class="q2">and cry aloud for understanding,</div><div class="q1"> 4and if you look for it as for silver</div><div class="q2">and search for it as for hidden treasure,</div><div class="q1"> 5then you will understand the fear of the Lord</div><div class="q2">and find the knowledge of God.</div><div class="q1"> </div>
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