Genesis 21
21
Isaac Is Born
1The Lord was gracious to Sarah, just as he had said he would be. The Lord did for Sarah what he had promised to do. 2Sarah became pregnant. She had a son by Abraham when he was old. The child was born at the exact time God had promised. 3Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah had by him. 4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. He did it exactly as God had commanded him. 5Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6Sarah said, “God has given laughter to me. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would breast-feed children? But I’ve had a son by him when he is old.”
Abraham Sends Hagar and Ishmael Away
8Isaac grew. The time came for his mother to stop breast-feeding him. On that day Abraham prepared a big celebration. 9But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. Ishmael was the son Hagar had by Abraham. Hagar was Sarah’s Egyptian slave. 10Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman! Get rid of her son! That woman’s son will never have a share of the family’s property. All of it belongs to my son Isaac.”
11What Sarah said upset Abraham very much. After all, Ishmael was his son. 12But God said to Abraham, “Do not be so upset about the boy and your slave Hagar. Listen to what Sarah tells you, because your family line will continue through Isaac. 13I will also make the son of your slave into a nation. I will do it because he is your child.”
14Early the next morning Abraham got some food and a bottle of water. The bottle was made out of animal skin. He gave the food and water to Hagar, placing them on her shoulders. Then he sent her away with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15When the water in the bottle was gone, she put the boy under a bush. 16Then she sat down about as far away as a person can shoot an arrow. She thought, “I can’t stand to watch the boy die.” As she sat there, she began to sob.
17God heard the boy crying. Then the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven. He said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18Lift up the boy and take him by the hand. I will make him into a great nation.”
19Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the boy a drink.
20God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and learned to shoot a bow and arrow. 21While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
The Agreement at Beersheba
22At that time Abimelek and his army commander, Phicol, spoke to Abraham. They said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23Now make a promise to me here while God is watching. Give me your word that you will treat me fairly. Promise that you will treat my children and their children the same way. I’ve been kind to you. Now you be kind to me and the country where you are living as an outsider.”
24Abraham said, “I give you my word that I’ll do it.”
25Then Abraham complained to Abimelek that his servants had taken over a well of water. 26But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You didn’t tell me. And today is the first time I heard about it.”
27So Abraham gave Abimelek sheep and cattle. The two men came to an agreement. 28Then Abraham picked out seven female lambs from his flock. 29Abimelek asked Abraham, “What’s the meaning of these seven female lambs? Why have you picked them out and set them apart?”
30Abraham replied, “Accept the seven lambs from me. They will be a witness that I dug this well.”
31So that place was named Beersheba. That’s because there the two men came to an agreement.
32After the agreement had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek went back to the land of the Philistines. His army commander, Phicol, went with him. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. There he called on the name of the Lord, the God who lives forever. 34Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
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Genesis 21: NIrV
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Genesis 21
21
The Birth of Isaac
1#Ge 18:10; 18:14The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2#Gal 4:22; Heb 11:11For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had spoken to him. 3#Ge 17:19Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4#Ac 7:8Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5#Ge 17:17; 17:1Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6#Isa 54:1; Ge 17:17And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. All who hear will laugh with me.” 7#Ge 18:11–12Also she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Depart
8So the child grew and was weaned. Then Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9#Ge 16:15; Gal 4:29; Ge 16:1Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 10#Jn 8:35; 1Jn 2:19Therefore she said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
11#Ge 17:18; Heb 12:11This matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12#Heb 11:18; Ge 17:19But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset concerning the boy and your slave wife. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to what she says, for in Isaac your descendants will be called. 13#Ge 21:18; 16:10; 17:20Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the slave woman, because he is your offspring.”
14So Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and sent her away with the child. So she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15When the water in the skin was gone, she placed the child under one of the shrubs. 16Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the child.” She sat across from him, and lifted up her voice and wept.
17#Ge 16:11; Ex 3:7And God heard the boy’s voice. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18#Ge 21:13; 16:10Arise, pick up the boy and hold him in your hands, for I will make him a great nation.”
19#Nu 22:31Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20#Ge 28:15; 39:21God was with the boy; and he grew and lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21He lived in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
The Treaty With Abimelek
22#Ge 20:2; 26:26Now it came to pass at that time that Abimelek and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 23#Jos 2:12; Ge 20:14Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal deceitfully with me, or with my children, or with my descendants. Instead, according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you will show to me and to the land where you have lived.”
24Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25#Ge 26:15–22Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had violently seized. 26And Abimelek said, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”
27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelek, and the two of them made a covenant. 28Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29And Abimelek said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set by themselves?”
30#Ge 31:52And he said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that they may be a witness that I have dug this well.”
31#Ge 26:33; 21:14Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
32Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelek rose with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33#Ge 4:26; 12:8Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
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