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 for ever.34Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Genesis 21
English Standard Version
The Birth of Isaac
1The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. (Ge 17:19; Ge 18:10; Ge 18:14; 1Sa 2:21)2And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. (Ge 17:21; Ga 4:22; Heb 11:11)3Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.[1] (Ge 17:19)4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. (Ge 17:10; Ge 17:12; Ac 7:8)5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. (Ge 17:1; Ge 17:17; Ro 4:19)6And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” (Isa 54:1; Ga 4:27)7And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Ge 18:11)
God Protects Hagar and Ishmael
8And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.9But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.[2] (Ge 16:1; Ge 16:15; Ga 4:29)10So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” (Ga 4:30)11And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.12But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. (Ro 9:7; Heb 11:18)13And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” (Ge 16:10; Ge 17:20; Ge 21:18)14So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. (Ge 21:31)15When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.16Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.17And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.18Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”19Then 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. (Nu 22:31; 2Ki 6:17; 2Ki 6:20; Lu 24:16; Lu 24:31)20And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. (Ge 16:12)21He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Treaty with Abimelech
22At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. (Ge 20:2; Ge 26:1; Ge 26:26; Ge 26:28)23Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” (Ge 20:14)24And Abraham said, “I will swear.”25When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, (Ge 26:15; Ge 26:18; Ge 26:20)26Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. (Ge 26:31)28Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.29And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”30He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this[3] may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”31Therefore that place was called Beersheba,[4] because there both of them swore an oath. (Ge 26:33)32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. (Ge 4:26; Ge 12:8; Ps 90:2; Isa 40:28)34And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.