Genesis 21
21
Sarah Has a Son
1The Lord was good to Sarah and kept his promise. 2#He 11.11. Although Abraham was very old, Sarah had a son exactly at the time God had said. 3Abraham named his son Isaac, 4#Gn 17.12; Ac 7.8. and when the boy was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, just as God had commanded.
5Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, 6and Sarah said, “God has made me laugh.#21.6 God has made me laugh: In Hebrew “Isaac” sounds like “laugh.” And now everyone will laugh with me. 7Who would have dared to tell Abraham that someday I would have a child? But in his old age, I have given him a son.”
8The time came when Sarah no longer had to nurse Isaac,#21.8 no longer had to nurse Isaac: In ancient Israel mothers nursed their children until they were about three years old. Then there was a family celebration. and on that day Abraham gave a big feast.
Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away
9-10 #
Ga 4.29,30. One day, Sarah noticed Hagar's son Ishmael#21.9,10 Ishmael: The son of Abraham and Hagar, who was Sarah's slave woman (see 16.1-16). playing,#21.9,10 playing: Hebrew; one ancient translation “playing with her son Isaac.” and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that Egyptian slave woman and her son! I don't want him to inherit anything. It should all go to my son.”#21.9,10 Get rid … son: When Abraham accepted Ishmael as his son, it gave Ishmael the right to inherit part of what Abraham owned. But slaves who were given their freedom lost the right to inherit such property.
11Abraham was worried about Ishmael. 12#Ro 9.7,8; He 11.17,18. But God said, “Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name, 13but the son of the slave woman is also your son, and I will make his descendants into a great nation.”
14Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar an animal skin full of water and some bread. Then he put the boy on her shoulder and sent them away.
They wandered around in the desert near Beersheba, 15and after they had run out of water, Hagar put her son under a bush. 16Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly.
17When God heard the boy crying, the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven and said, “Hagar, why are you worried? Don't be afraid. I have heard your son crying. 18Help him up and hold his hand, because I will make him the father of a great nation.” 19Then God let her see a well. So she went to the well and filled the skin with water, then gave some to her son.
20-21God blessed Ishmael, and as the boy grew older, he became an expert at hunting with his bow and arrows. He lived in the Paran Desert, and his mother chose an Egyptian woman for him to marry.
A Peace Treaty
22 #
Gn 26.26. About this time Abimelech and his army commander Phicol said to Abraham, “God blesses everything you do! 23Now I want you to promise in the name of God that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants, just as I have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner.” 24And so, Abraham promised he would.
25One day, Abraham told Abimelech, “Some of your servants have taken over one of my wells.”
26“This is the first I've heard about it,” Abimelech replied. “Why haven't you said something before? I don't have any idea who did it.” 27Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, then the two men made a peace treaty.
28Abraham separated seven female lambs from his flock of sheep, 29and Abimelech asked, “Why have you done this?”
30Abraham replied, “I want you to accept these seven lambs as proof that I dug this well.” 31So they called the place Beersheba,#21.31 Beersheba: Meaning “Well of Good Fortune” or “Peace Treaty Well.” because they made a treaty there.
32When the treaty was completed, Abimelech and his army commander Phicol went back to the land of the Philistines. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree#21.33 tamarisk tree: A tall shade tree that has deep roots and needs little water. in Beersheba and worshiped the eternal Lord God. 34Then Abraham lived a long time as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines.
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Genesis 21
21
The Birth of Isaac
1#Ge 18:10; 18:14The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2#Gal 4:22; Heb 11:11For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had spoken to him. 3#Ge 17:19Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4#Ac 7:8Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5#Ge 17:17; 17:1Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6#Isa 54:1; Ge 17:17And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. All who hear will laugh with me.” 7#Ge 18:11–12Also she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Depart
8So the child grew and was weaned. Then Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9#Ge 16:15; Gal 4:29; Ge 16:1Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 10#Jn 8:35; 1Jn 2:19Therefore she said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
11#Ge 17:18; Heb 12:11This matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12#Heb 11:18; Ge 17:19But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset concerning the boy and your slave wife. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to what she says, for in Isaac your descendants will be called. 13#Ge 21:18; 16:10; 17:20Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the slave woman, because he is your offspring.”
14So 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 sent her away with the child. So she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15When the water in the skin was gone, she placed the child under one of the shrubs. 16Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the child.” She sat across from him, and lifted up her voice and wept.
17#Ge 16:11; Ex 3:7And God heard the boy’s voice. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18#Ge 21:13; 16:10Arise, pick up the boy and hold him in your hands, for I will make him a great nation.”
19#Nu 22:31Then 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.
20#Ge 28:15; 39:21God was with the boy; and he grew and lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21He lived in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
The Treaty With Abimelek
22#Ge 20:2; 26:26Now it came to pass at that time that Abimelek and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 23#Jos 2:12; Ge 20:14Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal deceitfully with me, or with my children, or with my descendants. Instead, according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you will show to me and to the land where you have lived.”
24Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25#Ge 26:15–22Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had violently seized. 26And Abimelek said, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”
27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelek, and the two of them made a covenant. 28Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29And Abimelek said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set by themselves?”
30#Ge 31:52And he said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that they may be a witness that I have dug this well.”
31#Ge 26:33; 21:14Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
32Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelek rose with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33#Ge 4:26; 12:8Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
Military Bible Association