1The Lord came back to visit Sarah as he said he would, and he kept his promise to her. 2At exactly the time God said it would happen, Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. 3Abraham named his son Isaac.#21:3 Isaac This name means “he laughs” or “he is happy.” 4Abraham did what God commanded and circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old.

5Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. 6Sarah said, “God has made me happy, and everyone who hears about this will be happy with me. 7No one thought that I, Sarah, would be able to have Abraham’s child. But I have given Abraham a son, even though he is old.”

Trouble at Home

8Isaac continued to grow, and soon he was old enough to begin eating solid food. So Abraham gave a big party. 9Sarah saw Hagar’s son playing. (Hagar was the Egyptian slave woman who gave birth to Abraham’s first son.) 10Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. Send them away! When we die, our son Isaac will get everything we have. I don’t want that slave woman’s son sharing these things with my son Isaac!”

11This upset Abraham very much. He was worried about his son Ishmael. 12But God said to Abraham, “Don’t worry about the boy and the slave woman. Do what Sarah wants. Your descendants will be those who come through Isaac. 13But I will also bless the son of your slave woman. He is your son, so I will make a great nation from his family also.”

14Early the next morning Abraham took some food and water and gave them to Hagar. She carried them and left with her boy. She left that place and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

15After some time, when all their drinking water was gone, Hagar put her son under a bush. 16Then she walked a short distance away and sat down. She thought her son would die because there was no water. She did not want to watch him die. She sat there and began to cry.

17God heard the boy crying, and God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven. He said, “What is wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying there. 18Go help the boy. Hold his hand and lead him. I will make him the father of many people.”

19Then God allowed Hagar to see a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water. Then she gave water to the boy to drink.

20God continued to be with the boy while he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert and became a hunter. He learned to shoot a bow very well. 21His mother found a wife for him in Egypt. They continued to live in the Paran desert.

Abraham’s Bargain With Abimelech

22Then Abimelech and Phicol spoke with Abraham. Phicol was the commander of Abimelech’s army. They said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23So make a promise to me here before God. Promise that you will be fair with me and with my children. Promise that you will be kind to me and this country where you have lived. Promise that you will be as kind to me as I have been to you.”

24And Abraham said, “I promise to treat you the same way you have treated me.” 25Then Abraham complained to Abimelech because Abimelech’s servants had captured a well of water.

26But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You never told me about this before today!”

27So Abraham and Abimelech made an agreement. Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle as proof of the agreement. 28Abraham also put seven#21:28 seven The Hebrew word for “seven” is like the Hebrew word for “oath” or “promise,” and it is like the last part of the name Beersheba. The seven animals were proof of this promise. female lambs in front of Abimelech.

29Abimelech asked Abraham, “Why did you put these seven female lambs by themselves?”

30Abraham answered, “When you accept these lambs from me, it will be proof that I dug this well.”

31So after that, the well was called Beersheba.#21:31 Beersheba This name means “well of the oath.” Abraham gave the well this name because it was the place where they made a promise to each other.

32So Abraham and Abimelech made an agreement at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, his military commander, went back to the country of the Philistines.

33Abraham planted a special tree at Beersheba and prayed to the Lord, the God who lives forever. 34And Abraham lived as a stranger for a long time in the country of the Philistines.

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Genesis 21

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 Isaac #21:3 Isaac means he laughs. to 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

(Galatians 4:21–30)

9But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,#21:9 LXX and Vulgate; Hebrew lacks 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!”#21:10 Cited in Galatians 4:30

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.#21:12 Cited in Romans 9:7 and Hebrews 11:18 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.#21:16 Hebrew; LXX the child lifted up his 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,#21:31 Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath. 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.#21:33 Hebrew El-Olam 34And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

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Genesis 21

Genesis 21