Genesis 21
21
The Birth of Isaac
1And Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said. And Yahweh did to Sarah as he had promised. 2And she conceived, and Sarah bore to Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5And Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him. 6And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh for me.” 7And she said, “Who would announce to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son to Abraham in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael
8And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne Abraham, mocking. 10Then she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac.” 11And the matter displeased Abraham very much#Literally “was very bad in the eyes of Abraham” on account of his son. 12Then God said to Abraham, “Do not be displeased#Literally “Do not let it be bad” on account of the boy and on account of the slave woman. Listen to everything that Sarah said to you,#Literally “Everything Sarah said to you, listen with respect to her voice” for through Isaac your offspring will be named. 13And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, for he is your offspring.” 14Then 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 he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba. 15And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16And she went and she sat a good distance away,#Literally “she sat with respect to her, opposite, far away, as the shooting of a bow” for she said, “Let me not see the child’s death.” So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept. 17And God heard the cry#Or “voice” of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, “What is the matter#Literally “What to you” Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry#Or “voice” of the boy from where he is.#Literally “in which he is there” 18Get up, take up the boy and take him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” 19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy. 20And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became an expert with a bow.#Literally “an archer with the bow” 21And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
The Covenant Between Abraham and Abimelech
22And it happened that at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you, in all that you do. 23So now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal with me falsely, or with my descendants, or my posterity. According to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall pledge to do with me and with the land where you have dwelled as an alien.” 24And Abraham said, “I swear.” 25Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized. 26And Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing, neither did you tell me, nor have I heard of it except for today.” 27And Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. And the two of them made#Literally “cut” a covenant. 28Then Abraham set off seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. 29And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe-lambs that you have set off by themselves?” 30And he said, “You shall take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand as proof on my behalf#Literally “for the sake that it shall be a witness for me” that I dug this well.” 31Therefore that place is called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. 32And they made#Literally “cut” a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech, and Phicol his army commander stood and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33And he#That is, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the everlasting God.#Literally “El-Olam” 34And Abraham dwelled as an alien in the land of the Philistines many days.
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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