Genesis 21
21
Genesis 21
1¶ And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did with Sarah as he had spoken.
2For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded him.
5And Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him.
6Then Sarah said, God has made me to laugh so that all that hear will laugh with me.
7And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? For I have born him a son in his old age.
8And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great banquet the day that Isaac was weaned.
9¶ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10Therefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12Then God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah has said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13And also of the son of the bondwoman I will make a nation because he is thy seed.
14¶ So Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child and sent her away; and she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under a tree.
16And she went and sat her down over against him a good way off as it were a bowshot; for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him and lifted up her voice and wept.
17And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said unto her, What ails thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18Arise, lift up the lad and hold him in thy 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 bottle with water and gave the lad drink.
20And God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.
21And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
22¶ And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the prince of his host, spoke unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.
23Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son; but according to the mercy that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me and to the land in which thou hast sojourned.
24And Abraham said, I will swear.
25And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s slaves had violently taken away.
26And Abimelech said, I know not who has done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither have I heard of it, but today.
27And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
30And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand that they may be a witness unto me that I have dug this well.
31Therefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they swore, both of them.
32Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech rose up and Phichol, the prince of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33¶ And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the eternal God.
34And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Genesis 21
21
A Baby for Sarah
1The Lord cared for Sarah as he had said. He did for her what he had promised. 2Sarah became pregnant. And she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. Everything happened at the time God had said it would. 3Abraham named his son Isaac. Sarah gave birth to this son of Abraham. 4Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded.
5Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. 6And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh.# The Hebrew words for “he laughed” and “Isaac” sound the same. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. 7No one thought that I would be able to have Abraham’s child. But I have given Abraham a son while he is old.”
Hagar and Ishmael
8Isaac grew and became old enough to eat food. At that time Abraham gave a great feast. 9But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. (Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave.) 10So Sarah said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son. When we die, our son Isaac will inherit everything we have. I don’t want her son to inherit any of our things.”
11This troubled Abraham very much because Ishmael was also his son. 12But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be troubled about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you. The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac. 13I will also make the descendants of Ishmael into a great nation. I will do this because he is your son, too.”
14Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a leather bag full of water. He gave them to Hagar and sent her away. Hagar carried these things and her son. She went and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15Later, all the water was gone from the bag. So Hagar put her son under a bush. 16Then she went away a short distance and sat down. Hagar thought, “My son will die. I cannot watch this happen.” 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. 18Help the boy up. Take him by the hand. I will make his descendants into a great nation.”
19Then God showed Hagar a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water. Then she gave the boy a drink.
20God was with the boy as he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert. He learned to shoot with a bow very well. 21He lived in the Desert of Paran. His mother found a wife for him in Egypt.
Abraham’s Bargain with Abimelech
22Then Abimelech came with Phicol, 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 my children and my descendants. Be kind to me and to this land where you have lived as a stranger. Be as kind to me as I have been to you.”
24And Abraham said, “I promise.” 25Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about Abimelech’s servants. They had captured a well of water.
26But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You never told me about this before today.”
27Then Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle. And they made an agreement. 28Abraham also put seven female lambs in front of Abimelech.
29Abimelech asked Abraham, “Why did you put these seven female lambs by themselves?”
30Abraham answered, “Accept these lambs from me. That will prove that you believe I dug this well.”
31So that place was called Beersheba# This name means “well of the promise” or “well of seven.” because they made a promise to each other there.
32So Abraham and Abimelech made an agreement at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.
33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba. There Abraham prayed to the Lord, the God who lives forever. 34And Abraham lived as a stranger in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.