Genesis 21
21
Isaac Is Born
1And the Lord #1 Sam. 2:21visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah #Gen. 17:16, 19, 21; 18:10, 14; (Gal. 4:23, 28)as He had spoken. 2For Sarah #Acts 7:8; Gal. 4:22; Heb. 11:11, 12conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, #Gen. 17:21; 18:10, 14; Gal. 4:4at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—#Gen. 17:19, 21Isaac. 4Then Abraham #Acts 7:8circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, #Gen. 17:10, 12; Lev. 12:3as God had commanded him. 5Now #Gen. 17:1, 17Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6And Sarah said, #Gen. 18:13; Ps. 126:2; Is. 54:1“God has made me laugh, and all who hear #Luke 1:58will laugh with me.” 7She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? #Gen. 18:11, 12For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Depart
8So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar #Gen. 16:1, 4, 15the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, #(Gal. 4:29)scoffing. 10Therefore she said to Abraham, #Gen. 25:6; 36:6, 7; Gal. 3:18; 4:30“Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” 11And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight #Gen. 17:18because of his son.
12But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for #Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:34; (Rom. 9:7, 8); Heb. 11:18in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13Yet I will also make #Gen. 16:10; 17:20; 21:18; 25:12–18a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”
14So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and #John 8:35sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy 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 boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
17And #Ex. 3:7; Deut. 26:7; Ps. 6:8God heard the voice of the lad. Then the #Gen. 22:11angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for #Gen. 16:10; 21:13; 25:12–16I will make him a great nation.”
19Then #Gen. 3:7; Num. 22:31; 2 Kin. 6:17; Luke 24:31God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 20So God #Gen. 28:15; 39:2, 3, 21was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, #Gen. 16:12and became an archer. 21He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother #Gen. 24:4took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Covenant with Abimelech
22And it came to pass at that time that #Gen. 20:2, 14; 26:26Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, #Gen. 26:28; Is. 8:10“God is with you in all that you do. 23Now therefore, #Josh. 2:12; 1 Sam. 24:21swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”
24And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants #Gen. 26:15, 18, 20–22had seized. 26And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” 27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them #Gen. 26:31; 31:44; 1 Sam. 18:3made a covenant. 28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29Then Abimelech asked Abraham, #Gen. 33:8“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”
30And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that #Gen. 31:48, 52they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” 31Therefore he #Gen. 21:14; 26:33called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
32Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and #Gen. 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25there called on the name of the Lord, #Gen. 35:11; Ex. 15:18; Deut. 32:40; 33:27; Ps. 90:2; 93:2; Is. 40:28; Jer. 10:10; Hab. 1:12; Heb. 13:8the Everlasting God. 34And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
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Genesis 21: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 21
21
1The Lord came to help Sarah as he'd said he would. The Lord did for Sarah what he'd promised. 2She became pregnant and had a son for Abraham when he was old, at the exact time God said she would. 3Abraham named their son Isaac. 4Abraham circumcised him when Isaac was eight days old, following God's command. 5Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born.
6Sarah declared, “God has made me laugh,#21:6. Isaac means “he laughs.” and all those who hear about this will laugh with me.” 7She also said, “Would anyone have announced to Abraham that Sarah was going to have children to nurse? But now I have had a son for Abraham even when he was old!”
8The baby grew up, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a large feast. 9But Sarah noticed that Ishmael, Hagar the Egyptian's son she'd had for Abraham, was making fun of Isaac. 10So she went to Abraham and told him, “You have to get rid of this slave woman and this son of hers! A slave woman's son is not going to be one of your heirs and inherit together with my son Isaac!”
11Abraham felt very bad about it because Ishmael was his son. 12But God told Abraham, “Don't feel bad about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it's through Isaac that your descendants will be counted. 13Don't worry—I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation because he's your son.”
14Abraham got up early the next morning. He packed up some food and a skin of water which he gave to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder. Then he sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered through the Desert of Beersheba.
15When the water ran out, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16She went and sat down some way off, a few hundred yards away,#21:16. “A few hundred yards away”: literally, “a bowshot.” saying, “I can't bear to watch my son die!” As she sat down she burst into tears.
17God heard the boy's cries, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What's the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from where he is. 18Get up, go over and help the boy up, and encourage him, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19God opened her eyes and she saw a well nearby. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20God blessed Ishmael and he grew up, living in the desert. He became a skilled archer. 21He lived in the Desert of Paran. His mother chose a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22Around this time Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army, to see Abraham. “God blesses you in everything you do,” Abimelech said. 23“So swear to me right here and now that you won't betray me, my children, or my descendants. In the same way I've proved I'm trustworthy to you, do the same to me and my country where you're currently living.”
24“I so swear,” Abraham replied. 25Then Abraham raised an issue with Abimelech of a well that Abimelech's servants had taken by force.
26“I don't know who did this, and you didn't mention it before. I haven't heard anything about it until today,” Abimelech responded.
27Then Abraham gave Abimelech some of his sheep and cattle, and the two of them made an agreement. 28Abraham also separated out seven female lambs from the flock.
29“What are these seven female lambs for that you've separated from the flock?” Abimelech asked.
30“I'm giving you these seven female lambs in return for your admission that I dug this well,” Abraham replied. 31That's why he called the place Beersheba,#21:31. Beersheba means both “well of swearing” and “well of seven.” because the two of them swore an oath to each other.
32After making the agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army left and went home to the country of the Philistines. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and there he worshiped the Lord, the Eternal God. 34Abraham lived in the country of the Philistines for a long time.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com