Genesis 21

1And Jehovah hath looked after Sarah as He hath said, and Jehovah doth to Sarah as He hath spoken;

2and Sarah conceiveth, and beareth a son to Abraham, to his old age, at the appointed time that God hath spoken of with him;

3and Abraham calleth the name of his son who is born to him, whom Sarah hath born to him — Isaac;

4and Abraham circumciseth Isaac his son, [being] a son of eight days, as God hath commanded him.

5And Abraham [is] a son of a hundred years in Isaac his son being born to him,

6and Sarah saith, ‘God hath made laughter for me; every one who is hearing laugheth for me.’

7She saith also, ‘Who hath said to Abraham, Sarah hath suckled sons, that I have born a son for his old age?’

8And the lad groweth, and is weaned, and Abraham maketh a great banquet in the day of Isaac's being weaned;

9and Sarah seeth the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she hath borne to Abraham, mocking,

10and she saith to Abraham, ‘Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid hath no possession with my son — with Isaac.’

11And the thing is very wrong in the eyes of Abraham, for his son's sake;

12and God saith unto Abraham, ‘Let it not be wrong in thine eyes because of the youth, and because of thy handmaid: all that Sarah saith unto thee — hearken to her voice, for in Isaac is a seed called to thee.

13As to the son of the handmaid also, for a nation I set him, because he [is] thy seed.’

14And Abraham riseth early in the morning, and taketh bread, and a bottle of water, and giveth unto Hagar (placing [it] on her shoulder), also the lad, and sendeth her out; and she goeth on, and goeth astray in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba;

15and the water is consumed from the bottle, and she placeth the lad under one of the shrubs.

16And she goeth and sitteth by herself over-against, afar off, about a bow-shot, for she said, ‘Let me not look on the death of the lad;’ and she sitteth over-against, and lifteth up her voice, and weepeth.

17And God heareth the voice of the youth; and the messenger of God calleth unto Hagar from the heavens, and saith to her, ‘What to thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath hearkened unto the voice of the youth where he [is];

18rise, lift up the youth, and lay hold on him with thy hand, for for a great nation I set him.’

19And God openeth her eyes, and she seeth a well of water, and she goeth and filleth the bottle [with] water, and causeth the youth to drink;

20and God is with the youth, and he groweth, and dwelleth in the wilderness, and is an archer;

21and he dwelleth in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother taketh for him a wife from the land of Egypt.

22And it cometh to pass at that time that Abimelech speaketh — Phichol also, head of his host — unto Abraham, saying, ‘God [is] with thee in all that thou art doing;

23and now, swear to me by God here: thou dost not lie to me, or to my continuator, or to my successor; according to the kindness which I have done with thee thou dost with me, and with the land in which thou hast sojourned.’

24And Abraham saith, ‘I — I do swear.’

25And Abraham reasoned with Abimelech concerning the matter of a well of water which Abimelech's servants have taken violently away,

26and Abimelech saith, ‘I have not known who hath done this thing, and even thou didst not declare to me, and I also, I have not heard save to-day.’

27And Abraham taketh sheep and oxen, and giveth to Abimelech, and they make, both of them, a covenant;

28and Abraham setteth seven Lambs of the flock by themselves.

29And Abimelech saith unto Abraham, ‘What [are] they — these seven lambs which thou hast set by themselves?’

30And he saith, ‘For — the seven lambs thou dost accept from my hand, so that it becometh a witness for me that I have digged this well;’

31therefore hath he called that place ‘Beer-Sheba,’ for there have both of them sworn.

32And they make a covenant in Beer-Sheba, and Abimelech riseth — Phichol also, head of his host — and they turn back unto the land of the Philistines;

33and [Abraham] planteth a tamarisk in Beer-Sheba, and preacheth there in the name of Jehovah, God age-during;

34and Abraham sojourneth in the land of the Philistines many days.

Genesis 21

1-4 God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.

5-6Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.

Sarah said,

God has blessed me with laughter

and all who get the news will laugh with me!

7She also said,

Whoever would have suggested to Abraham

that Sarah would one day nurse a baby!

Yet here I am! I’ve given the old man a son!

8The baby grew and was weaned. Abraham threw a big party on the day Isaac was weaned.

9-10One day Sarah saw the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, poking fun at her son Isaac. She told Abraham, “Get rid of this slave woman and her son. No child of this slave is going to share inheritance with my son Isaac!”

11-13The matter gave great pain to Abraham—after all, Ishmael was his son. But God spoke to Abraham, “Don’t feel badly about the boy and your maid. Do whatever Sarah tells you. Your descendants will come through Isaac. Regarding your maid’s son, be assured that I’ll also develop a great nation from him—he’s your son, too.”

14-16Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, “I can’t watch my son die.” As she sat, she broke into sobs.

17-18Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying. The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy and knows the fix he’s in. Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight. I’m going to make of him a great nation.”

19Just then God opened her eyes. She looked. She saw a well of water. She went to it and filled her canteen and gave the boy a long, cool drink.

20-21God was on the boy’s side as he grew up. He lived out in the desert and became a skilled archer. He lived in the Paran wilderness. And his mother got him a wife from Egypt.

22-23At about that same time, Abimelech and the captain of his troops, Phicol, spoke to Abraham: “No matter what you do, God is on your side. So swear to me that you won’t do anything underhanded to me or any of my family. For as long as you live here, swear that you’ll treat me and my land as well as I’ve treated you.”

24Abraham said, “I swear it.”

25-26At the same time, Abraham confronted Abimelech over the matter of a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had taken. Abimelech said, “I have no idea who did this; you never told me about it; this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

27-28So the two of them made a covenant. Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. Abraham set aside seven sheep from his flock.

29Abimelech said, “What does this mean? These seven sheep you’ve set aside.”

30Abraham said, “It means that when you accept these seven sheep, you take it as proof that I dug this well, that it’s my well.”

31-32That’s how the place got named Beersheba (the Oath-Well), because the two of them swore a covenant oath there. After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and his commander, Phicol, left and went back to Philistine territory.

33-34Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped God there, praying to the Eternal God. Abraham lived in Philistine country for a long time.

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Genesis 21

Genesis 21